Looking Through Teachers’ Lenses: Proactive Leadership as a Catalyst for Collective Responsibility in Schools

This study examines the relationship between principals’ proactive behaviors and teachers’ sense of collective responsibility in schools. A convergent mixed-method design was employed, combining quantitative survey data from 466 teachers in public primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary schools with qualitative interviews conducted with 30 teachers. Structural equation modeling revealed that principals’ proactive behaviors significantly predicted teachers’ collective responsibility, with differences observed across school levels and age groups. The qualitative findings suggest that proactive leadership practices play an important role in strengthening shared accountability among teachers. The qualitative results further explain this relationship by indicating that proactive principals encourage collaboration, facilitate shared decision-making, and create supportive school environments that foster collective engagement among teachers. By integrating quantitative and qualitative evidence, the study demonstrates that proactive leadership not only influences teachers’ perceptions of collective responsibility but also shapes collaborative practices within schools. These findings contribute to the educational leadership literature by highlighting proactive leadership as an important factor in promoting collective responsibility and collaborative school cultures.