Unveiling the Association Between Principal Learning-Centered Leadership and Teacher Collaboration: The Mediating Role of Psychological Safety

This study develops and tests a theoretical model in which principal learning-centered leadership serves as the independent variable, psychological safety acts as a mediator, and teacher collaboration serves as the outcome variable. Data were gathered from 394 primary and secondary school teachers across Türkiye and analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results reveal that principal learning-centered leadership is directly and indirectly related to teacher collaboration via psychological safety. Our findings suggest that learning-centered leadership plays a pivotal role in cultivating teachers’ collaborative practices by enhancing psychological safety. This study contributes to the existing knowledge base in school leadership, particularly within non-Western developing contexts, by highlighting the positive relationships between learning-centered leadership, psychological safety, and teacher collaboration.