Leadership for learning, teacher epistemic curiosity and psychological safety: Promoting professional learning

This study examines a moderated mediation model investigating the effects of leadership for learning on teacher professional learning, with teacher epistemic curiosity as a mediator and psychological safety as a moderator. Employing data from 1034 teachers working in 94 schools across Türkiye, we conducted multilevel structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation to analyse the empirical associations among the variables. The findings demonstrated the direct and indirect effects of leadership for learning on teacher professional learning via teacher epistemic curiosity. We also found that psychological safety was a significant moderator, amplifying the effects of leadership for learning on teacher epistemic curiosity and professional learning. This study provides nuanced evidence to the global school leadership literature by suggesting that the impact of leadership for learning on teacher epistemic curiosity and professional learning depends on the extent to which teachers feel psychologically safe in their schools. We provide implications for policy and practice.