When leadership for learning supports faculty instructional innovation in Chinese universities

Instructional innovation has become a sustained expectation in universities, yet leadership does not automatically become pedagogical change. This study examines when leadership for learning is associated with faculty instructional innovation in Chinese higher education. Using survey data from 308 faculty members across 10 universities in eastern, central, and western China, the study tests whether faculty self-efficacy accounts for part of the leadership-innovation association and whether perceived organisational support moderates it. The results show that leadership for learning is positively associated with instructional innovation. Faculty self-efficacy statistically accounts for part of this association, indicating that leadership is linked with innovation partly through faculty members' confidence in their capacity to carry out teaching change. In the moderation model, perceived organisational support has no statistically significant main effect, but the leadership-innovation association is stronger at higher levels of perceived support. The findings suggest that leadership effects in universities are conditional rather than automatic. Leadership for learning is more closely linked with instructional innovation when it is associated with faculty capability beliefs and stronger perceived organisational support. The study contributes to higher education leadership research by explaining how leadership becomes connected with teaching change in a hierarchical and differentiated university system.