Explaining Effects of Transformational Leadership on Teachers’ Cooperative Professional Development through Structural Equation Model and Phantom Model Approach

This study aims to explore strategies for promoting Korean teachers’ cooperative professional development in the context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). To this end, this study aimed to provide empirical evidence that may help in explaining the mechanism through which transformative leadership affects cooperative professional development. Based on research purposes, the author constructed a serial multiple mediation model that incorporates self-efficacy and attitudes as an underlying mechanism that explains transformational leaders’ positive impact on cooperative professional development related to ESD. A total of 203 valid cases were used to test the hypothesized model. Furthermore, the author constructed structural equation modeling (SEM) and phantom models specifying the specific indirect effects of transformative leadership on cooperative professional development. In addition, bias-corrected bootstrapped point estimates for the specific indirect effects were calculated. The data were analyzed using SPSS Ver. 25.0 and AMOS Ver. 26.0. The findings strongly supported predictive links among transformational leadership, self-efficacy in ESD teachers’ attitudes toward ESD, and cooperative professional development. Therefore, findings provided greater insight into transformational leadership and ESD research and revealed mechanisms through which transformational leadership works in the ESD contexts. Finally, the major findings were discussed to encourage teachers to participate in cooperative professional development.