Feedback Attitudes, Feedback Behaviours, and Emerging Teacher Leadership Among Education Postgraduates and Graduates in Macau

Feedback literacy is often studied as an individual learning capacity, but its relationship with leadership-related professional activity remains less understood. This cross-sectional study examined associations among feedback attitudes, feedback behaviours, and emerging teacher leadership in 336 master’s and doctoral students and graduates from education-related programmes at four universities in Macau. All participants reported teaching experience and/or educational-management responsibilities. Measures comprised the Feedback Orientation Scale, Feedback Literacy Behaviour Scale, and Teacher Leadership Inventory. The three-factor measurement model showed satisfactory fit: χ ² (74) = 165.00, CFI = .953, TLI = .942, RMSEA = .061, and SRMR = .046. Structural equation modelling indicated positive associations between feedback attitudes and feedback behaviours (β = .543), feedback attitudes and emerging teacher leadership (β = .291), and feedback behaviours and emerging teacher leadership (β = .461; all p < .001). Together, feedback attitudes and behaviours explained 44.3% of the variance in emerging teacher leadership. The indirect statistical association through feedback behaviours was significant (β = .250, 95% CI [.145, .396]), representing approximately 46.2% of the total standardised association descriptively. Covariate-adjusted and robust-estimation analyses yielded substantively similar results. The Teacher Leadership Inventory showed configural, metric, and scalar invariance across current students and graduates. Seeking feedback, providing feedback, and managing affect showed the broadest leadership-related associations. These findings distinguish favourable feedback orientations from enacted practices and suggest their relevance to emerging teacher leadership. However, cross-sectional self-report data cannot establish temporal ordering, causal effects, or observed leadership performance.