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Abstract This study examined the mediating role of teacher grit in the relationship between perceived positive leadership and positive education in Taiwan kindergartens. A total of 421 preschool teachers selected through stratified random sampling across Taiwan, completed self-report measures of perceived positive leadership and grit, and provided behavioral rating of children's wellbeing across the PERMA-H framework. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypothesized relationships. Student wellbeing was assessed using the PERMA-H framework, with teachers rating children's classroom behavioral performance across six dimensions of wellbeing. Results revealed that positive leadership was positively associated with positive education, with teacher grit partially mediating this relationship. Among the two grit dimensions, perseverance of effort (POE) reflects sustained effort through setbacks, while consistency of interest (COI), reflects stable long-term vocational passion. Among these, only POE showed a significant mediating effect, while COI did not. These findings suggest that leadership practices perceived as affirming and supportive are associated to higher levels of teacher perseverance, which in turn is associated with more positive classroom climates and student wellbeing. The study provides contextual evidence on grit as a multidimensional construct,highlighting perseverance as a key psychological mechanism associated with the link between leadership and positive education. These findings suggest that principal leadership development programs may benefit from emphasizing affirmative and supportive practices that help sustain teacher perseverance, as a foundation for sustaining wellbeing-oriented pedagogy in early childhood settings.
Chen et al. (Wed,) studied this question.