Teachers' professional learning: Do instructional leadership and teacher leadership make a difference in Turkiye?

This article examines the relationship between school principals' instructional leadership behaviours, teacher leadership, and teachers' professional learning in Turkish public primary and secondary schools. Using data from 346 teachers, the study finds that teacher leadership behaviours mediate the influence of principals' instructional leadership on teachers' professional learning, with principals' behaviours such as framing and communicating school goals, supervising instruction, and promoting teacher development positively affecting teacher leadership dimensions and, in turn, professional learning activities like collaboration, reflection, experimentation, and knowledge seeking. The findings highlight that instructional leadership has both direct and indirect effects on teachers' professional learning, emphasizing the importance of principals sharing leadership with teachers to foster a culture of continuous improvement within the centralized and hierarchical Turkish education system. The study suggests policy implications for enhancing principals' instructional leadership and teacher leadership training to support professional learning, while noting limitations related to sampling, data sources, and the cross-sectional design.