The Role of Principals’ Paradoxical Leadership in Fostering Teachers’ Creative Self-Efficacy: Exploring the Moderating Effects of Innovative Organizational Culture and Distributed Leadership

This study investigated how principals’ paradoxical leadership influences teachers’ creative self-efficacy and how organizational factors, specifically innovative organizational culture and distributed leadership, moderate this relationship. A cross-sectional survey of 251 teachers from the province of Québec, Canada, was conducted. In Québec, the results-based management education policy has intensified demands on school principals through cumulative accountability requirements and recent social changes that have profoundly transformed the role, alongside a persistent teacher shortage. The results indicate that principals’ paradoxical leadership was not directly related to teachers’ creative self-efficacy. The positive link between the two manifested only in schools with a high level of innovative culture, which encouraged idea generation and experimentation. Additionally, the principals’ distributed leadership enhanced the positive link between paradoxical leadership and teachers’ creative self-efficacy, and its absence produced a negative link. The present study provides novel insights into the interaction between principals’ leadership styles and organizational dynamics in developing teachers’ creative capabilities. The study identified the complementary roles of innovative school culture and distributed leadership, and outlined key strategies for principals to cultivate creativity in complex modern school environments. The findings contribute to the growing literature on school leadership, paradoxical leadership, and organizational innovation.