How Transformational Leadership Shapes Teachers’ Innovative Behavior: A Serial Mediation Model of Creative Growth Mindset and Work Engagement

Teaching innovation plays a central role in advancing high-quality education and fulfilling the fundamental task of fostering moral development and holistic student growth. However, the internal mechanisms through which transformational leadership is associated with teachers’ innovative behavior remain insufficiently understood. Integrating the implicit theories framework and the job demands–resources (JD-R) model, this study proposes a sequential mediation framework in which transformational leadership is associated with primary and secondary school teachers’ innovative behavior through creative growth mindset and work engagement. Data were collected from 1082 primary and secondary school teachers using validated measures of transformational leadership, creative growth mindset, work engagement, and teachers’ innovative behavior. Structural equation modeling with bootstrapping was employed to test the hypothesized model. The results indicated that transformational leadership was positively associated with teachers’ innovative behavior. Creative growth mindset and work engagement each showed significant indirect associations between transformational leadership and teachers’ innovative behavior. Moreover, the sequential indirect association via creative growth mindset and work engagement was significant, supporting a cognitive–motivational pathway linking transformational leadership to teachers’ innovative behavior. These findings suggest that transformational leadership may relate to teachers’ innovative behavior not only directly but also through a cognitive–motivational pathway involving teachers’ beliefs about the malleability of creativity and their subsequent work engagement. From a practical perspective, these results highlight the potential value of leadership practices that communicate an inspiring vision, support teachers’ growth-oriented beliefs about creativity, and foster sustained motivational engagement.