A Review of Empirical Research on Transformational School Leadership in China (2010–2019)

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the effectiveness of transformational school leadership (TSL) in Chinese K–12 settings between 2010 and 2019. The main objective is to provide a comprehensive understanding of TSL research in China and identify possible future research directions. Design/Approach/Methods: Vote counting method and narrative synthesis were applied in this review. Findings: This review found the majority of the studies were quantitative, which indicates that qualitative and mixed-method studies should be encouraged. This review also identified 12 major outcome variables, including 9 teacher-level variables, 2 school-level variables, and 1 student-level variable. Additionally, the effects of transformational leadership on these outcome variables were uniformly significant, including both direct and indirect effects. Future studies should expand the scope of school-level and student-level outcome variables, but particularly student-level outcome variables. Originality/Value: This is the first systematic review on the effectiveness of TSL research in China, which included both English and Chinese studies.