Leadership for innovation: Teacher participation in decision-making, readiness for change, and collective teacher efficacy

Schools are increasingly confronted with complex and evolving demands, requiring continuous organizational and instructional improvement. School leaders are in a pivotal position to design and initiate school improvement initiatives. Effective school improvement depends on change processes at both the organizational and individual teacher levels, yet few studies have addressed this interplay—especially from a longitudinal perspective. Drawing on theoretical frameworks at both levels, this study examines how principals involve teachers in school-level decision-making and how this is associated with teachers’ perceptions of organizational readiness for change and collective teacher efficacy. Based on panel data from three measurement points over 2.5 years ( T ₁ : 619; T ₂ : 674; T ₃ : 263) collected from teachers in Germany, we find that while teachers report generally high levels of participation, relatively few are involved in concrete aspects of school improvement. Higher levels of participation are associated with increases in teachers’ perceptions of organizational readiness for change and collective teacher efficacy over time. These findings underscore the importance of leadership practices that meaningfully engage teachers in school improvement and suggest that principals need the skills to involve teachers appropriately, while school administration must ensure the structural conditions that allow teachers to act on their motivation.