Effect of Inclusive Leadership on Kindergarten Teachers' Work Engagement: Chain Mediation Effects of Perceived Organizational Support and Psychological Ownership

Abstract

Preschool teachers' work engagement plays a positive role in their own professional development, children's physical and mental health growth and the construction of high-quality preschool education public service system. A total number of 596 kindergarten teachers were polled using the Inclusive Leadership Scale, the Work Engagement Questionnaire, the Perceived Organizational Support Scale, and the Psychological Ownership Scale in order to examine the intrinsic influence mechanism between inclusive leadership style and kindergarten teachers' work engagement. The survey's findings revealed that: In general, the inclusive level of kindergarten managers, work engagement, perception of organizational support, and psychological ownership were in the middle to upper levels; inclusive leadership style, kindergarten teachers' perceptions of organizational support, psychological ownership, and work engagement were all significantly positively correlated; and perception of organizational support and psychological ownership played a full mediating role between work engagement and psychological ownership. To improve the work engagement level of kindergarten teachers, organizations should focus on developing inclusive managers, raising their inclusivity level, fostering an inclusive culture, igniting teachers' passion for their work, fortifying organizational support, enhancing teachers' perceptions of organizational support, and constructing psychological ownership to bolster teachers' sense of accountability and belonging.

Keywords

• inclusive leadership
• work engagement
• organizational support perception
• psychological ownership
• preschool teacher