THE EFFECT OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP ON PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL WELL-BEING: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CAREER CALLING

Background and Purpose: The teaching profession is recognized as a high -intensity and high -stress occupation, and teachers' professional well-being is being greatly challenged. To enhance teachers' professional well-being, researchers have begun to explore influence mechanisms from the perspective of leadership style. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the effect of principals' spiritual leadership on primary and secondary school teachers' professional well-being in the Chinese context. Methodology: The data in this study was analysed using a cross-sectional survey approach. Questionnaires were distributed to school teachers in Heze City, Shandong Province. Eventually, 380 participants were identified to be suitable for study. The data were analysed using IBM SPSS and SmartPLS 4.0.9.5 software, specifically adopting the partial least squares -structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach. Findings: The results indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between spiritual leadership, career calling, and teachers' professional well-being, and that career calling mediated the relationship between spiritual leadership and teachers' professional well-being. Contributions: The findings are valuable for school organizational management. It helps to the positive role of spiritual leadership of principals and enhances teachers' calling, thus improving their professional well-being. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying the causal relationships between spiritual leadership, career calling, and teachers' professional well-being.