Development and validation of a scale for the perception of sustainable leadership among teachers in Chinese higher vocational colleges

Development and validation of a scale for the perception of sustainable leadership among teachers in Chinese higher vocational colleges | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Development and validation of a scale for the perception of sustainable leadership among teachers in Chinese higher vocational colleges Yongjiu Gao, Pengfei Chen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3890784/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Due to internal organizational mandates for implementing sustainable development principles, Chinese vocational colleges necessitate an effective assessment tool to comprehend the current state of sustainable leadership as perceived by teachers. The study aims to develop and validate a scale for sustainable leadership as perceived by teachers in Chinese vocational colleges. Validation of the content validity index (CVI) was conducted by nine experts, and the factor structure was extracted through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), followed by reliability and validity tests. The research found that the scale comprises six dimensions with a total of 23 items, and Cronbach’s Alpha exceeds 0.700, demonstrating its robust reliability. This study marks the inaugural development and validation of a scale assessing sustainable leadership as perceived by teachers in Chinese vocational colleges, introducing a new, reliable assessment tool to the academic and practical domains. Higher vocational colleges Teacher perception Sustainable leadership Development and verification of scale 1. Introduction Sustainable development significantly influences the welfare of the global populace, with the aim of ensuring that “no one is left behind” (Hernandez-Aguilera et al., 2021 ; Wu et al., 2022 ).With the rapid evolution of societal dynamics and the escalating global challenges (Buerkle et al., 2023 ; Hazelkorn et al., 2022 ), certain nations are actively engaging with these issues through the lens of sustainable development (Bourn, 2011 ; Biancardi et al., 2023 ). In the realm of education, there is a profound appreciation for sustainable leadership, which places a strong emphasis on cultivating an educational milieu that fosters enduring, equitable, diverse, and strategically informed decision-making (Hargreaves & Fink, 2012 ; Russell et al., 2021 ). Higher vocational education plays a pivotal role in global society (Abdullah, 2021 ) and, as a component of higher education, serves as the cornerstone of societal progress. Not only does it hold significant sway over socio-economic facets (McArthur, 2011 ), but it also plays a crucial role in nurturing future leaders (Tariq et al., 2021). Educational institutions must prepare for global, civic, and societal innovation (McDonnell-Naughton & Paunescu, 2022). In the current higher education environment, researchers have been exploring different aspects of sustainable leadership (Al-Zawahreh et al., 2018; Iqbal et al., 2020 ; Russell et al., 2021 ; Yaakob et al., 2020 ). For example, Yaakob et al. ( 2020 ) explored the key success factors for sustainable leadership, especially in high-performance colleges. Al-Zawahreh et al. (2018) examined the current status of green management practices in higher education and their importance for sustainable leadership. Russell et al. ( 2021 ) discussed ways of demonstrating fair and inclusive leadership in a time of crisis, which is closely related to the core concept of sustainable leadership. In addition, studies have explored how sustainable leadership affects sustainable performance (Iqbal et al., 2020 ). Alam et al. ( 2023 ) explored how higher education achieves sustainable development education through digitization. Although these studies provide useful insights into sustainable leadership, a measurement tool for perceived sustainable leadership in vocational teachers is lacking. In the context of China, Shandong Province is representative of the development and challenges of higher education. It maintains a long-term dynamic balance among its investments in higher education expenditure, human capital investment, scientific and technological innovation, and the healthy growth of the national economy (Zhao & Yao, 2022 ). Over the past ten years, higher vocational education in Shandong Province has trained 70% of the labour force for the top 10 competitive industries, according to China Central Radio Network ( 2023 ). This role demonstrates and leads in national vocational education. Meanwhile, it has collaborated with the Ministry of Education to establish a “Shandong model” of modern vocational education with the Ministry of Education (Shandong Provincial Department of Education, 2023 ). To assess the perception of sustainable leadership in Shandong Province more accurately, a relevant scale was designed and verified. Firstly, it provides a proven evaluation tool for researchers and practitioners in Shandong Province. Secondly, it offers reference and inspiration for the formulation and practice of educational policies. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Sustainable Leadership Sustainable leadership has become a hot topic in education, centred on understanding and fostering excellence in learning, teaching and leadership (Hargreaves & Fink, 2004 ). The field of higher education needs to focus on sustainable academic programs and respond to inappropriate behaviours in the management of educational institutions (Spencer, 2010), while also playing a key role in providing literacy and disciplinary progress (Cortese, 2003). In order to ensure the sustainability of college organizations, some scholars have proposed a theoretical model of sustainable leadership in the education field. For instance, Hargreaves and Fink ( 2004 ) proposed the seven principles of sustainable leadership theory: depth, length, width, justice, diversity, wisdom and conservation. Davies ( 2007 ) established a sustainable leadership model established in the context of compulsory education to cultivate a leadership culture with moral goals. Lambert ( 2011 ) presented a theoretical framework of sustainable leadership applicable to continuing education colleges, encompassing the development of staff competence, strategic decision participation, consolidation, balance of long-term goals with short-term goals, diversity and protected areas. In the present study, sustainable leadership is examined from teachers’ perspectives to understand its impact on all stakeholders: teachers, students, the environment, future generations and society. The behaviours and practices for creating sustainable value encompass six principles, including teacher capacity building, principle of diversity, principle of protection, principle of participation in strategic decision-making, balance between long-term goals and short-term goals, and social equity and justice (Berchicchi et al., 2012 ; Bansal, 2003 ; Dechant & Altman, 1994 ). 2.2 Dimensions of Sustainable Leadership dimensions First, teacher capacity building emphasizes leaders' ability of leaders to promote all-round development, including leadership, management, teaching and professional and practical skills (Lambert, 2011 ). For example, the school supports teachers' professional growth through various methods such as training meetings, work tracking, guidance, etc. (Kambil, 2010 ; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011 ; Fullan, 2007 ). In Chinese higher vocational colleges, organizing teachers' teaching ability competitions is crucial for improving their professional level and promoting educational reform (Guo, 2023 ; Qin, 2023 ). Second, the core concept of the diversity principle encourages different cultures and diversified ways of thinking, promotes mutual learning and creates an inclusive environment ( Davies, 2007 ; Lambert, 2011 ). This is reflected in the organization of various community activities, support for different characteristic courses and diverse exchanges to aid cooperation with other cultural institutions (Hargreaves & Fink, 2006 ; Hargreaves & Fink, 2012 ). Third, the protective principle in sustainable leadership uses past experience as a basis for continuous improvement (Hargreaves & Fink, 2012 ). Sustainable leadership needs to consider the continuity of past experience starting with the leadership succession plan (Fink & Brayman, 2004 ) because the change in teachers’ mood is due to a change in leadership (Collie, 2023 ; Glazzard & Rose, 2020 ; Hart, 1993 ). Fourth, the core of the strategic decision on the participation dimension is to involve teachers in college decision-making management, to promote the organizational construction and improve the satisfaction levels. For example, arranging teachers to participate in important meetings of college development meetings, adopting their suggestions from teachers, and establishing a working committee to listen to teachers are all crucial measures (Davies, 2007 ; Lambert, 2011 ; Luthans, 2005 ; Moorhead & GrifCin, 2004 ; Muindi, 2011 ; Spillane et al., 2001 ; Wadesango & Bayaga, 2013 ). Fifth, the balance between long-term goals and short-term goals underscores the need for organizational goal planning to align with the organization's long-term objectives. This ensures that each employee comprehends and formulates short-term plans in harmony with it. For instance, teachers, in accordance with the school development plan, teachers should devise a professional growth plan, articulate task breakdown schedules for each department, and gain a profound understanding of the teaching situation as outlined in the college development plan (Ashton & Green, 1996 ; Middlewood et al., 1999 ; Wadesango & Bayaga, 2013 ). Sixth, the principle of social equity and justice emphasizes that college organizations should not harm the interests of other educational institutions. They should actively improve the surrounding environment to ensure that all students and teachers benefit. Examples of such measures include incorporating the recruitment of a specific number of economically disadvantaged students into the enrolment plan, adopting a multi-angle approach to teachers' evaluation, and promoting openness, transparency and democracy in legitimate recruitment publicity (Hargreaves & Fink, 2012 ; Hargreaves & Goodson, 2006 ). These dimensions constitute the core elements of how teachers perceive sustainable leadership – providing an inclusive environment for the development of both teachers and students, reflecting the crucial role of leaders play in the field of education, and collaboratively promoting the sustainability of educational organizations. Although there are many scales on leadership scales, most of them were developed in Western cultures (Zhou & Xu, 2023 ), and their applicability in other cultural settings remains unverified. Additionally, existing scales do not fully consider the characteristics and needs of higher vocational education (Zhang, 2014 ; Zou, 2019 ). Therefore, developing a new sustainable leadership scale specifically for higher vocational education in Shandong Province can not only provide a more accurate and practical assessment tool for educational researchers and practitioners (Ling et al., 2021 ), It can also further promote the research and practice of sustainable leadership in education. 3. Scale Development Process The scale of teachers’ perceived sustainable leadership in this study was divided into four main stages. First, it involved project generation, based on the theoretical frameworks of Hargreaves and Fink ( 2012 ), Davies ( 2007 ) and Lambert ( 2011 ), to construct the theoretical model of teachers’ perception of sustainable leadership in higher vocational colleges. This model includes six dimensions: teacher capacity building, diversity principle, protective principle, strategic decision participation, the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals, and social justice. In the second stage, the first draft underwent revision based on the assessment of the scale by nine experts. In the third stage, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability and validity analysis were conducted to finalize the formal questionnaire. In the fourth stage, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability tests were performed based on the formal sample. 4. Methods 4.1 Item Generation This paper evaluates the current situation of sustainable leadership among leaders in higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province from the perspective of teachers. It employs a literature review and deductive method to ensure a close connection with theory (Hinkin & Schriesheim, 1989 ). The item is encoded with “Sustainable Leadership (SL)” (e.g., the first dimension is SL1,and the item is SL1-1). The scale comprises six dimensions and a total of 26 items: teacher capacity building (four items), diversity principle (four items), protective principle (four items), principle of strategic participation (five items), balance of long-term goals with short-term goals (five items) and the principle of social justice (four items). The items are encoded with “Sustainable Leadership (SL)” (e.g., SL1-1). A5-point Likert scale is utilized. It is scored on the basis of frequency – “never, few, sometimes, often, always”, scoring from 1 to 5 points, respectively (Batterton & Hale, 2017 ; Wu, 2000). 4.2 Expert Content Validity This empirical technique assessed the content validity of the scales by nine experts (I-CVI and S-CVI) to evaluate item fitness on a3-point ordinal scale (Lynn, 1986 ). I-CVI represents the proportion of experts with a “fit” rating. An item is deleted if experts exceed 6, I-CVI is more than or equal to .830, or I-CVI is less than .700. The S-CVI/AVE value is calculated by dividing the sum of I-CVI by the total number of items and should not be no lower than .900 (Zamanzadeh et al., 2015 ). According to expert evaluation results, each item’s I-CVI value ranges from .778 to 1.000. SL5-1 has an I-CVI value of .778, indicating a need for correction. SL3-2 has an I-CVI value of .667, which is lower than the .700 threshold, necessitating deletion. The S-CVI/AVE values for each dimension range between .889 and 1.000, which is greater than .800, confirming that the scale has good validity. After correcting and deleting the items, six dimensions with 25 items are obtained, which can be used as the pre-test scale, as illustrated in Table 1 . 4.3 Participants and Data Collection This paper employs quantitative research methods, focusing on both full-time and part-time teachers in higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province, China. A pre-test and a formal survey were conducted using an online questionnaire based on the principle of convenience sampling. Of the 178 samples were recovered, 132 were deemed valid samples in the pre-test. In the final sample, 662 samples were recovered, with 640 considered valid and meeting the study criteria. The ethical basis adheres to Articles 1 and 20 of 3.2.3 in the 2015 Human Research Policy and Guidelines of the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). Table 1 I-CVI and S-CVI/AVE Dimension Item I-CVI S-CVI/AVE SL1 SL1-1 1.000 .945 SL1-2 1.000 SL1-3 .889 SL1-4 .889 SL2 SL2-1 1.000 1.000 SL2-2 1.000 SL2-3 1.000 SL2-4 1.000 SL3 SL3-1 1.000 .889 SL3-2 .667 SL3-3 .889 SL3-4 1.000 SL4 SL4-1 .889 .963 SL4-2 1.000 SL4-3 1.000 SL4-4 1.000 SL4-5 1.000 SL4-6 .889 SL5 SL5-1 .778 .917 SL5-2 1.000 SL5-3 .889 SL5-4 1.000 SL6 SL6-1 .889 .889 SL6-2 .889 SL6-3 .889 SL6-4 .889 Note . SL1 = the teacher capacity building; SL2 = the diversity principle; SL3 = the protective principle; SL4 = the principle of strategic participation; SL5 = the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6 = the principle of social justice. 4.4 Research Ethics and Declaration When conducting the questionnaire survey in this study, participants were informed of the content and purpose of the study, and they signed an informed consent form. The informed consent form provides detailed explanations of the research objectives, procedures to be followed by both researchers and participants, the duration of the study, and potential uses of the research results. Ensuring that all collected information is anonymous, any information related to schools, teachers, etc., mentioned in the report is also anonymized. All methods in this study have been carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. This study has obtained approval from the Ethics Review Committee of Dhurakij Pundit University in Thailand. Additionally, researchers have completed training on topics related to human research and have obtained relevant certificates. Furthermore, this study has also obtained approval from the Academic Committee of Binzhou Polytechnic, located in Shandong Province, China, where the researchers are affiliated. The review number is: BZ-2023-03. The subjects of this study were teachers from vocational colleges in China, aged between 20 and 60 years old. The study did not involve research on minors or the use of human subjects or tissue samples. 5. Common Method Variance Testing (CMV) The study employs Harman’s single-factor test with an EFA of all measured items without rotation. The results indicate extraction of six common factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. The total explanatory amount of the first common factor is 31.103%, which is below the standard value (40%). Hence, no serious common method variance was observed in the data of this study. 6. Results This study employed item analysis, EFA, and reliability analysis to construct a formal scale. CFA, along with reliability and validity testing (Cronbach’s Alpha), was conducted on the formal samples. 6.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) To assess sustainable leadership’s validity of expert content, the study employed item analysis, including the extreme group test-critical ratio, homogeneity test and consistency test. The CR values of SL4-4 and SL5-4 are less than 3, which is not significant ( p > .050), indicating poor discrimination and suggesting that the items should be deleted. Correlation analysis revealed the coefficients of these two items as below the standard value of .400. Furthermore, a Cronbach’s Alpha value of .891 shows high reliability quality. Despite a slight range variation (.883–.902) after individual item deletion, no significant improvement occurs. So there should not delete the item. However, the CITC values for SL4-3 and SL5-3 (-.009 and − .132, respectively) are below .200, indicating a weak relationship because of which removal is recommended removal. For further analysis, EFA, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett tests were performed first; the results are presented in Table 2 . Table 2 KMO and Bartlett’s test KMO Bartlett’s test Approximate chi square df p .857 2129.404 253 .000 The KMO measure for the sustainable leadership scale registered a value of .857, indicating that the data is highly suitable for factor analysis as it surpasses the standard threshold for adequacy. EFA was applied using the principal component method combined with the maximum oblique rotation technique. The analysis results revealed factor load coefficients ranging between .740 and .887. Importantly, none of the items had factor loadings below .400, ensuring the relevance and significance of each item in the scale. The results further showed that the variance interpretation rates for the six extracted factors were: 16.321%, 13.614%, 13.560%, 13.451%, 11.153% and 10.866%. Cumulatively, these six factors accounted for a substantial 78.965% of the total variance, which signifies that they effectively capture the essence of the study’s item information. In conclusion, the sustainable leadership scale was distilled into six distinct factors. Detailed items and their corresponding factor analysis can be found in Table 3 . Table 3 Items with their factor loadings Number Item Factor load coefficient Communality SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 SL5 SL6 SL1-1 My college would hold various teacher professional development training meetings for teachers. .853 .801 SL1-2 My college regularly holds teachers' teaching ability competitions. .850 .752 SL1-3 My college would appoint teachers with senior professional titles in teaching management positions. .805 .751 SL1-4 My college would set up a famous teacher (master) studio. .854 .827 SL2-1 My college would hold various club activities. .807 .774 SL2-2 My college would allow teachers to offer courses with different characteristics (e.g., specialty courses). .771 .767 SL2-3 My college would communicate and cooperate with other cultural institutions. .846 .824 SL2-4 My college would enrol students from all over the country. .843 .820 SL3-1 My college would conscientiously implement the training agreement signed by the previous leaders and the teachers. .854 .849 SL3-2 The new leader of my college would hold a meeting to ask all the entire staff to continue completing the five-year plan task formulated by the previous leader. .887 .861 SL3-3 The new leadership of my college would take the aforementioned plan as the fundamental to furthering the current leadership’s mission and related tasks. .885 .831 Table 3 Items with their factor loadings (Continued) Number Item Factor load coefficient Communality SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 SL5 SL6 SL4-1 My college would arrange for the teachers to participate in important meetings pertaining to the development of the college. .740 .655 SL4-2 My college would take reasonable suggestions from teachers. .846 .780 SL4-3 My college would set up a special working committee to listen to the teachers. .865 .772 SL4-4 Teachers in my college would speak freely and actively contribute to the development of the college. .807 .736 SL4-5 My college would use the secondary college as the unit to gather opinions on revising the draft student management system for front-line teachers. .849 .763 SL5-1 My college would make professional development plans for teachers in accordance with the college development plan. .850 .845 SL5-2 My college would publish the task breakdown schedule of each department and identify the person in charge in accordance with the college’s development plan. .853 .818 SL5-3 The secondary college of my institution will assess whether the teachers' curriculum objectives meet the requirements for college development. .885 .863 Table 3 . Items with their factor loadings (Continued) Factor load coefficient Number Item SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 SL5 SL6 Communality SL6-1 The process of teacher evaluation in my college is open, fair, just and transparent. .860 .800 SL6-2 The enrolment plan of my college stipulates recruiting a certain number of students from poor families. .814 .733 SL6-3 The teaching evaluation in my college considers students’ performance in addition to teachers’ teaching methods and efficiency, thereby ensuring the fairness of teaching evaluation. .837 .783 SL6-4 The recruitment publicity of my college would do not harm the interests of other colleges or institutions. .802 .758 Eigenvalue 3.754 3.131 3.119 3.094 2.565 2.499 .736 Percentage of variance 16.321 13.614 13.560 13.451 11.153 10.866 .763 Cumulative percentage 16.321 29.935 43.495 56.946 68.099 78.965 .845 Note . SL1 = the teacher capacity building; SL2 = the diversity principle; SL3 = the protective principle; SL4 = the principle of strategic participation; SL5 = the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6 = the principle of social justice. After deleting the items, 23 formal scale items were identified. The Cronbach's Alpha test for the six dimensions and total tables was conducted, which resulted in values between .891 and .912. All values exceeded .700, indicating excellent scale reliability. 6.2 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) This section examines the constructive validity, convergent validity and discriminant validity of the sustainable leadership scale using CFA. In CFA, latent variables cannot be directly observed and constructed, whereas observed variables are directly measurable (Mandrou et al., 2020 ; Kin et al., 2020 ). The normality test revealed that the absolute KU and SK of sustainable leadership were both less than 1, and the Mardia value was 16.662, which is below 575. This aligns with a singular multivariate normal distribution. The model fit index indicates a good fit: χ 2 / df = 1.367, GFI = .962, CFI = .992, RMSEA = .024 and the NFI = .969 (Table 4 ). Table 4 Results of confirmatory factor analysis Model χ 2 / df GFI CFI RMSEA NFI Sustainable Leadership 1.367 .962 .992 .024 .969 In the convergence validity analysis, the standardized factor load values for all items range from .040 to .048. The CR value of each dimension range from .881 to .910, and the AVE values range from .669 to .734, indicating good convergent validity. The HTMT criteria were evaluated for all constructs, with AVE square root values ranging from .826 to .856. These values exceeded the correlation coefficient between pairwise surfaces, demonstrating robust discriminant validity among the dimensions (Table 5 ). The sustainable leadership scale exhibited strong construct, convergent and discriminant validity in the CFA validation. Table 5 Discriminant validity of sustainable leadership scale (n = 640) Dimension Number Correlation coefficient SL1 SL2 SL3 SL4 SL5 SL6 SL1 4 .826 SL2 4 .257 *** .827 SL3 3 .358 *** .374 *** .844 SL4 5 .311 *** .331 *** .332 *** .818 SL5 3 .265 *** .328 *** .229 *** .314 *** .856 SL6 4 .345 *** .282 *** .247 *** .294 *** .355 *** .838 Note 1 . The value of the diagonal is the square root of the average variation extraction (AVE) of each surface and must be greater than the value of the off-diagonal; * p ＜.05； ** p ＜.01； *** p ＜.001 Note 2 SL1 = the teacher capacity building; SL2 = the diversity principle; SL3 = the protective principle; SL4 = the principle of strategic participation; SL5 = the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6 = the principle of social justice. 6.3 Reliability Analysis The six major dimensions of the scale were assessed for internally consistency by calculating Cronbach’s Alpha. The Cronbach’s Alpha for these dimensions is between .892 and .910, which is greater than standard values of .700, demonstrating the excellent reliability of the scale in all dimensions, as shown in Table 6 . Table 6 The reliability analysis of sustainable leadership (n = 640) Dimension Number Cronbach’s Alpha SL1 4 .895 SL2 4 .896 SL3 3 .881 SL4 5 .910 SL5 3 .892 SL6 4 .904 Total 23 .898 Note . SL1 = the teacher capacity building; SL2 = the diversity principle; SL3 = the protective principle; SL4 = the principle of strategic participation; SL5 = the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6 = the principle of social justice. Through the above analysis and validation, the six dimensions of the scale were established, and all the Cronbach's alphas exceeded .700, demonstrating good internal consistency and providing a reliable quantitative tool for in-depth research in this field. 7. Discussion This develops a scale to assess how teachers perceive sustainable leadership, encompassing six dimensions with 23 items in higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province. Validity and reliability are determined through statistical analysis. First, the level of sustainable leadership is measured from the teacher’s perspective and is consistent with the perspective of the sustainable leadership scale developed by Cayak and Cetin (2018). Second, the division of the six dimensions aligns with Hargreaves and Fink’s ( 2006 ) depth, breadth and length of leadership concept. It corresponds to the five dimensions of the sustainable leadership scale by Farooq and Ibrahim (2017) – employee capacity building, diversity, conservation and strategic leadership allocation – albeit with distinct application contexts. This study, conducted within the specific context and needs of higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province, provides a more targeted assessment tool to help develop more effective strategies for sustainable development. Despite the valuable insights, limitations exist. First, the study sample was mainly from Shandong Province and may not fully represent the views of vocational teachers in other regions or countries. This echoes the cross-national study of Sarabia-Andreu et al. ( 2020 ), where the performance of the same scale varies in different countries. Secondly, this study is carried out through the quantitative investigation method, and its research method is one-sided and lacks more in-depth discussion. Additionally, this study was only conducted in higher vocational education, and its applicability in other cultural or educational contexts requires further validation (Santos-de-Araújo et al., 2023 ). Future studies should, therefore, consider a broader sample, including teachers from higher vocational colleges in various regions and countries, to gain a more comprehensive understanding. Furthermore, combining qualitative and quantitative research methods may provide deeper insights. Given the differences in cultural and educational backgrounds, future studies should also explore the scale's applicability of the scale in diverse contexts. Declarations Author Contribution Gao: Provided crucial feedback on research methods, conducted in-depth discussions on the interpretation of research results, and ensured the manuscript's language quality.Chen: Played a pivotal role in ensuring the language quality of the manuscript, ensuring accuracy and clarity in expression. Not only contributed to the academic quality of the research but also provided readers with easily understandable text, enhancing the dissemination and impact of the research findings. References Abdullah, K. H. (2021). Four decades research on higher vocational education: A bibliometric review. Journal of Vocational Education Studies , 4 (2), 173–187. https://doi.org/10.12928/joves.v4i2.4297 Al-Zawahreh, A., Khasawneh, S., & Al-Jaradat, M. (2019). Green management practices in higher education: The status of sustainable leadership. Tertiary Education and Management , 25 , 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-018-09014-9 Alam, M. J., Hassan, R., & Ogawa, K. 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Research on the reform of management system of higher vocational education in China based on personality standard. Current Psychology , 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01480-6 Luthans, F. (2005). Organisational Behavior (10th ed). McGraw-Hill Irwin. Lynn, M. R. (1986). Determination and quantification of content validity. Nursing research , 35 (6), 382–386. https://rb.gy/t3urm Mandrou, E., Tsounis, A., & Sarafis, P. (2020). Validity and reliability of the Greek version of Implementation Leadership Scale (ILS). BMC Psychology, 8 (1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00413-5 McArthur, J. (2011). Reconsidering the social and economic purposes of higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 30 (6), 737-749. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2010.539596 McDonnell-Naughton, M., & Păunescu, C. (2022). Facets of Social Innovation in Higher Education. In C. Păunescu, K. L. Lepik, & N. Spencer (Eds.), Social Innovation in Higher Education: Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer . https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84044-0_2 Middlewood, D., Coleman, M., & Lumby, J. (1999). Practitioner research in education: Making a difference. Sage. Moorhead, G., & GrifCin, R. (2004). Organisational Behaviour: Managing People and Organisations, (7th ed) . Houghton Mifflin Company. Muindi, F. K. (2011). The relationship between participation in decision making and job satisfaction among academic staff in the school of business, university of Nairobi. Journal of Human Resources Management Research , 20 (2011), 9–34. https://doi.org/10.5171/2011.246460 Qin, N. (2023). Research on the connotation, characteristics, and promotion path of teacher leadership in higher vocational colleges. Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 7 (4), 91-96. https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v7i4.4895 Russell, J. A., Gonzales, L. D., & Barkhoff, H. (2021). Demonstrating equitable and inclusive crisis leadership in higher education. Kinesiology Review , 10 (4), 383–389. https://doi.org/10.1123/kr.2021-0051 Santos-de-Araújo, A. D., Dibai-Filho, A. V., Pontes-Silva, A., Rêgo, A. S., Santos, D. L. D., Mendes Júnior, A. A., Pereira, F. H. F., de Almeida Bacelar, S. N., Oliveira, B. E. C., de Jesus Tavarez, R. R., & Bassi-Dibai, D. (2023). Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation of health and self-management in diabetes questionnaire (HASMID-10) into Brazilian Portuguese. Sao Paulo Medical Journal , 142, Article e2022681. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-3180.2022.0681.R1.10042023 Sarabia-Andreu, F., Sarabia-Sanchez, F. J., Parra-Meroño, M. C., & Moreno-Albaladejo, P. (2020). Attitudes toward organic products: a cross-national comparison and scale validation. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC , 24 (1), 115–132. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11069 Shandong Provincial Department of Education. (2023). A press conference held on the new model of modern vocational education system jointly built by the ministry. http://edu.shandong.gov.cn/art/2023/5/30/art_11973_10315685.html Spillane, J. P., Halverson, R., & Diamond, J. B. (2001). Investigating school leadership practice: A distributed perspective. Educational researcher , 30 (3), 23–28. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X030003023 Tamrat, W. (2022). Addressing the higher education for sustainable development agenda at the College of Open and Distance Learning, St. Mary’s University, Ethiopia: opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education , 23 (1), 177–195. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-08-2020-0316 Wadesango, N., & Bayaga, A. (2013). Management of schools: Teachers’ involvement in decision making processes. African Journal of Business Management , 7 (17), 1689. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJBM12.1263 Wang, S., Lin, X., Xiao, H., Bu, N., & Li, Y. (2022). Empirical study on human capital, economic growth and sustainable development: Taking Shandong province as an example. Sustainability , 14 (12), Article e7221. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127221 Wu, X., Fu, B., Wang, S., et al. (2022). Decoupling of SDGs followed by re-coupling as sustainable development progresses. Nature Sustainability, 5 (5), 452–459. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00868-x Yaakob, M. F. M., Hashim, N. H., Yusof, M. R., Fauzee, M. S. O., Aziz, M. N. A., Khun-Inkeeree, H., & Bing, K. (2020). Critical success factors of sustainable leadership: Evidence from high-achievement school. Universal Journal of Educational Research , 8 (5), 1665–1675. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.080502 Zamanzadeh, V., Ghahramanian, A., Rassouli, M., Abbaszadeh, A., Alavi-Majd, H., & Nikanfar, A. R. (2015). Design and implementation content validity study: development of an instrument for measuring patient-centered communication. Journal of Caring Sciences , 4 (2), 165–178. https://doi.org/10.15171/jcs.2015.017 Zhang, H. (2014). Teachers’ leadership styles in China’s higher vocational colleges. International Forum of Teaching & Studies , 10 (2), 21–31. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Teachers'-Leadership-Styles-in-China's-Higher-Zhang/f616d5c4b0daba868512b1f347157248c80da245 Zhao, H., & Yao, W. (2022). Research on correlation between higher education investment, scientific and technological innovation and economic growth in Shandong Province under the background of big data. In 2022 12th International Conference on Information Technology in Medicine and Education (ITME) (pp. 792–796). Xiamen, China. https://doi.org/k2qz Zhou , Y., & Xu, G. (2023). Vocational School–Enterprise Cooperation in China: A Review of Policy Reforms, 1978–2022. ECNU Review of Education , 6 (3), 433–450. https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311231167895 Zou, Y. (2019). OECD and educational policy in China. In C. Ydesen (Eds.), The OECD’s historical rise in Education: Global Histories of Education . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33799-5_8 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files ResearchData.xlsx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3890784","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":272600681,"identity":"76482682-f071-4be1-9592-cc0c34f9fd2a","order_by":0,"name":"Yongjiu Gao","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACfmbG9g8fKv7LMbY3EKlFsp35GOOMM8zGzD0HiNRicJ4tjZm3jTmxfUYCsbY085g95mFjY+yd+XjjDYYam2iCWviZecwN5/DwMEvOTiu2YDiWlttAhC0GEm8kJNgMZ+eYSTA2HCasxeAwUAuPgQGP/c0zRGthS5PkSUiQYJzBQ6QWyWbmw4YzDhwwYOwB+iWBGL/w8x9sfPDx34H6xvbDG298qLEhrAXFkRIJpCiHaCFVxygYBaNgFIwMAABl5j6NddSmQQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Binzhou Polytechnic，BinZhou","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yongjiu","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":272600682,"identity":"f5e60c32-2df8-4fc5-9f66-11e1caa58753","order_by":1,"name":"Pengfei Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Dhurakij Pundit University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Pengfei","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-23 10:29:36","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3890784/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3890784/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":77092902,"identity":"5b1176ab-e40c-4f20-80bf-fa57df5d2b26","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-25 05:41:00","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1035214,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3890784/v1/452badcd-f967-4bac-a3dd-63311fb93950.pdf"},{"id":51159129,"identity":"f480114f-234f-41bc-8ef2-e6625b17bbd6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-15 06:47:59","extension":"xlsx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":86387,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ResearchData.xlsx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3890784/v1/5cee23bebc396a0cbdd537f6.xlsx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Development and validation of a scale for the perception of sustainable leadership among teachers in Chinese higher vocational colleges","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eSustainable development significantly influences the welfare of the global populace, with the aim of ensuring that \u0026ldquo;no one is left behind\u0026rdquo; (Hernandez-Aguilera et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Wu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).With the rapid evolution of societal dynamics and the escalating global challenges (Buerkle et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Hazelkorn et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), certain nations are actively engaging with these issues through the lens of sustainable development (Bourn, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Biancardi et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). In the realm of education, there is a profound appreciation for sustainable leadership, which places a strong emphasis on cultivating an educational milieu that fosters enduring, equitable, diverse, and strategically informed decision-making (Hargreaves \u0026amp; Fink, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e; Russell et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Higher vocational education plays a pivotal role in global society (Abdullah, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) and, as a component of higher education, serves as the cornerstone of societal progress. Not only does it hold significant sway over socio-economic facets (McArthur, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), but it also plays a crucial role in nurturing future leaders (Tariq et al., 2021). Educational institutions must prepare for global, civic, and societal innovation (McDonnell-Naughton \u0026amp; Paunescu, 2022).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the current higher education environment, researchers have been exploring different aspects of sustainable leadership (Al-Zawahreh et al., 2018; Iqbal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Russell et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Yaakob et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). For example, Yaakob et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) explored the key success factors for sustainable leadership, especially in high-performance colleges. Al-Zawahreh et al. (2018) examined the current status of green management practices in higher education and their importance for sustainable leadership. Russell et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e) discussed ways of demonstrating fair and inclusive leadership in a time of crisis, which is closely related to the core concept of sustainable leadership. In addition, studies have explored how sustainable leadership affects sustainable performance (Iqbal et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). Alam et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) explored how higher education achieves sustainable development education through digitization. Although these studies provide useful insights into sustainable leadership, a measurement tool for perceived sustainable leadership in vocational teachers is lacking.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the context of China, Shandong Province is representative of the development and challenges of higher education. It maintains a long-term dynamic balance among its investments in higher education expenditure, human capital investment, scientific and technological innovation, and the healthy growth of the national economy (Zhao \u0026amp; Yao, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Over the past ten years, higher vocational education in Shandong Province has trained 70% of the labour force for the top 10 competitive industries, according to China Central Radio Network (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). This role demonstrates and leads in national vocational education. Meanwhile, it has collaborated with the Ministry of Education to establish a \u0026ldquo;Shandong model\u0026rdquo; of modern vocational education with the Ministry of Education (Shandong Provincial Department of Education, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo assess the perception of sustainable leadership in Shandong Province more accurately, a relevant scale was designed and verified. Firstly, it provides a proven evaluation tool for researchers and practitioners in Shandong Province. Secondly, it offers reference and inspiration for the formulation and practice of educational policies.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Literature Review","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Sustainable Leadership\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eSustainable leadership has become a hot topic in education, centred on understanding and fostering excellence in learning, teaching and leadership (Hargreaves \u0026amp; Fink, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e). The field of higher education needs to focus on sustainable academic programs and respond to inappropriate behaviours in the management of educational institutions (Spencer, 2010), while also playing a key role in providing literacy and disciplinary progress (Cortese, 2003).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn order to ensure the sustainability of college organizations, some scholars have proposed a theoretical model of sustainable leadership in the education field. For instance, Hargreaves and Fink (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e) proposed the seven principles of sustainable leadership theory: depth, length, width, justice, diversity, wisdom and conservation. Davies (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e) established a sustainable leadership model established in the context of compulsory education to cultivate a leadership culture with moral goals. Lambert (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e) presented a theoretical framework of sustainable leadership applicable to continuing education colleges, encompassing the development of staff competence, strategic decision participation, consolidation, balance of long-term goals with short-term goals, diversity and protected areas.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the present study, sustainable leadership is examined from teachers\u0026rsquo; perspectives to understand its impact on all stakeholders: teachers, students, the environment, future generations and society. The behaviours and practices for creating sustainable value encompass six principles, including teacher capacity building, principle of diversity, principle of protection, principle of participation in strategic decision-making, balance between long-term goals and short-term goals, and social equity and justice (Berchicchi et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e; Bansal, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e; Dechant \u0026amp; Altman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1994\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Dimensions of Sustainable Leadership dimensions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFirst, teacher capacity building emphasizes leaders' ability of leaders to promote all-round development, including leadership, management, teaching and professional and practical skills (Lambert, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). For example, the school supports teachers' professional growth through various methods such as training meetings, work tracking, guidance, etc. (Kambil, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Ingersoll \u0026amp; Strong, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Fullan, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). In Chinese higher vocational colleges, organizing teachers' teaching ability competitions is crucial for improving their professional level and promoting educational reform (Guo, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Qin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSecond, the core concept of the diversity principle encourages different cultures and diversified ways of thinking, promotes mutual learning and creates an inclusive environment ( Davies, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e; Lambert, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). This is reflected in the organization of various community activities, support for different characteristic courses and diverse exchanges to aid cooperation with other cultural institutions (Hargreaves \u0026amp; Fink, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e; Hargreaves \u0026amp; Fink, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThird, the protective principle in sustainable leadership uses past experience as a basis for continuous improvement (Hargreaves \u0026amp; Fink, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Sustainable leadership needs to consider the continuity of past experience starting with the leadership succession plan (Fink \u0026amp; Brayman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e) because the change in teachers\u0026rsquo; mood is due to a change in leadership (Collie, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Glazzard \u0026amp; Rose, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Hart, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1993\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFourth, the core of the strategic decision on the participation dimension is to involve teachers in college decision-making management, to promote the organizational construction and improve the satisfaction levels. For example, arranging teachers to participate in important meetings of college development meetings, adopting their suggestions from teachers, and establishing a working committee to listen to teachers are all crucial measures (Davies, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e; Lambert, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Luthans, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e; Moorhead \u0026amp; GrifCin, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e; Muindi, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Spillane et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2001\u003c/span\u003e; Wadesango \u0026amp; Bayaga, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFifth, the balance between long-term goals and short-term goals underscores the need for organizational goal planning to align with the organization's long-term objectives. This ensures that each employee comprehends and formulates short-term plans in harmony with it. For instance, teachers, in accordance with the school development plan, teachers should devise a professional growth plan, articulate task breakdown schedules for each department, and gain a profound understanding of the teaching situation as outlined in the college development plan (Ashton \u0026amp; Green, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1996\u003c/span\u003e; Middlewood et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e; Wadesango \u0026amp; Bayaga, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSixth, the principle of social equity and justice emphasizes that college organizations should not harm the interests of other educational institutions. They should actively improve the surrounding environment to ensure that all students and teachers benefit. Examples of such measures include incorporating the recruitment of a specific number of economically disadvantaged students into the enrolment plan, adopting a multi-angle approach to teachers' evaluation, and promoting openness, transparency and democracy in legitimate recruitment publicity (Hargreaves \u0026amp; Fink, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e; Hargreaves \u0026amp; Goodson, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese dimensions constitute the core elements of how teachers perceive sustainable leadership \u0026ndash; providing an inclusive environment for the development of both teachers and students, reflecting the crucial role of leaders play in the field of education, and collaboratively promoting the sustainability of educational organizations.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough there are many scales on leadership scales, most of them were developed in Western cultures (Zhou \u0026amp; Xu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR58\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), and their applicability in other cultural settings remains unverified. Additionally, existing scales do not fully consider the characteristics and needs of higher vocational education (Zhang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Zou, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, developing a new sustainable leadership scale specifically for higher vocational education in Shandong Province can not only provide a more accurate and practical assessment tool for educational researchers and practitioners (Ling et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), It can also further promote the research and practice of sustainable leadership in education.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Scale Development Process","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe scale of teachers\u0026rsquo; perceived sustainable leadership in this study was divided into four main stages. First, it involved project generation, based on the theoretical frameworks of Hargreaves and Fink (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e), Davies (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e) and Lambert (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), to construct the theoretical model of teachers\u0026rsquo; perception of sustainable leadership in higher vocational colleges. This model includes six dimensions: teacher capacity building, diversity principle, protective principle, strategic decision participation, the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals, and social justice. In the second stage, the first draft underwent revision based on the assessment of the scale by nine experts. In the third stage, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability and validity analysis were conducted to finalize the formal questionnaire. In the fourth stage, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and reliability tests were performed based on the formal sample.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.1 Item Generation\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper evaluates the current situation of sustainable leadership among leaders in higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province from the perspective of teachers. It employs a literature review and deductive method to ensure a close connection with theory (Hinkin \u0026amp; Schriesheim, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1989\u003c/span\u003e). The item is encoded with \u0026ldquo;Sustainable Leadership (SL)\u0026rdquo; (e.g., the first dimension is SL1,and the item is SL1-1). The scale comprises six dimensions and a total of 26 items: teacher capacity building (four items), diversity principle (four items), protective principle (four items), principle of strategic participation (five items), balance of long-term goals with short-term goals (five items) and the principle of social justice (four items). The items are encoded with \u0026ldquo;Sustainable Leadership (SL)\u0026rdquo; (e.g., SL1-1). A5-point Likert scale is utilized. It is scored on the basis of frequency \u0026ndash; \u0026ldquo;never, few, sometimes, often, always\u0026rdquo;, scoring from 1 to 5 points, respectively (Batterton \u0026amp; Hale, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Wu, 2000).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.2 Expert Content Validity\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis empirical technique assessed the content validity of the scales by nine experts (I-CVI and S-CVI) to evaluate item fitness on a3-point ordinal scale (Lynn, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1986\u003c/span\u003e). I-CVI represents the proportion of experts with a \u0026ldquo;fit\u0026rdquo; rating. An item is deleted if experts exceed 6, I-CVI is more than or equal to .830, or I-CVI is less than .700. The S-CVI/AVE value is calculated by dividing the sum of I-CVI by the total number of items and should not be no lower than .900 (Zamanzadeh et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to expert evaluation results, each item\u0026rsquo;s I-CVI value ranges from .778 to 1.000. SL5-1 has an I-CVI value of .778, indicating a need for correction. SL3-2 has an I-CVI value of .667, which is lower than the .700 threshold, necessitating deletion. The S-CVI/AVE values for each dimension range between .889 and 1.000, which is greater than .800, confirming that the scale has good validity. After correcting and deleting the items, six dimensions with 25 items are obtained, which can be used as the pre-test scale, as illustrated in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.3 Participants and Data Collection\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper employs quantitative research methods, focusing on both full-time and part-time teachers in higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province, China. A pre-test and a formal survey were conducted using an online questionnaire based on the principle of convenience sampling. Of the 178 samples were recovered, 132 were deemed valid samples in the pre-test. In the final sample, 662 samples were recovered, with 640 considered valid and meeting the study criteria. The ethical basis adheres to Articles 1 and 20 of 3.2.3 in the 2015 Human Research Policy and Guidelines of the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eI-CVI and S-CVI/AVE\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDimension\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eItem\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eI-CVI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eS-CVI/AVE\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL1-1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.945\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL1-2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL1-3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL1-4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL2-1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL2-2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL2-3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL2-4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL3-1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL3-2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.667\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL3-3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL3-4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"5\" rowspan=\"6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL4-1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"5\" rowspan=\"6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.963\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL4-2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL4-3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL4-4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL4-5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL4-6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL5-1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.778\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.917\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL5-2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL5-3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL5-4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL6-1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL6-2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL6-3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSL6-4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.889\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"4\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote\u003c/em\u003e. SL1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the teacher capacity building; SL2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the diversity principle; SL3\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the protective principle; SL4\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of strategic participation; SL5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of social justice.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.4 Research Ethics and Declaration\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen conducting the questionnaire survey in this study, participants were informed of the content and purpose of the study, and they signed an informed consent form. The informed consent form provides detailed explanations of the research objectives, procedures to be followed by both researchers and participants, the duration of the study, and potential uses of the research results. Ensuring that all collected information is anonymous, any information related to schools, teachers, etc., mentioned in the report is also anonymized. All methods in this study have been carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study has obtained approval from the Ethics Review Committee of Dhurakij Pundit University in Thailand. Additionally, researchers have completed training on topics related to human research and have obtained relevant certificates. Furthermore, this study has also obtained approval from the Academic Committee of Binzhou Polytechnic, located in Shandong Province, China, where the researchers are affiliated. The review number is: BZ-2023-03.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe subjects of this study were teachers from vocational colleges in China, aged between 20 and 60 years old. The study did not involve research on minors or the use of human subjects or tissue samples.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"5. Common Method Variance Testing (CMV)","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe study employs Harman\u0026rsquo;s single-factor test with an EFA of all measured items without rotation. The results indicate extraction of six common factors with eigenvalues greater than 1. The total explanatory amount of the first common factor is 31.103%, which is below the standard value (40%). Hence, no serious common method variance was observed in the data of this study.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"6. Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study employed item analysis, EFA, and reliability analysis to construct a formal scale. CFA, along with reliability and validity testing (Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s Alpha), was conducted on the formal samples.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec13\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e6.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTo assess sustainable leadership\u0026rsquo;s validity of expert content, the study employed item analysis, including the extreme group test-critical ratio, homogeneity test and consistency test. The CR values of SL4-4 and SL5-4 are less than 3, which is not significant (\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;.050), indicating poor discrimination and suggesting that the items should be deleted. Correlation analysis revealed the coefficients of these two items as below the standard value of .400. Furthermore, a Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s Alpha value of .891 shows high reliability quality. Despite a slight range variation (.883\u0026ndash;.902) after individual item deletion, no significant improvement occurs. So there should not delete the item. However, the CITC values for SL4-3 and SL5-3 (-.009 and \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;.132, respectively) are below .200, indicating a weak relationship because of which removal is recommended removal.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFor further analysis, EFA, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett tests were performed first; the results are presented in Table \u003cspan\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKMO and Bartlett\u0026rsquo;s test\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eKMO\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eBartlett\u0026rsquo;s test\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eApproximate chi square\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.857\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2129.404\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e253\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.000\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe KMO measure for the sustainable leadership scale registered a value of .857, indicating that the data is highly suitable for factor analysis as it surpasses the standard threshold for adequacy.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEFA was applied using the principal component method combined with the maximum oblique rotation technique. The analysis results revealed factor load coefficients ranging between .740 and .887. Importantly, none of the items had factor loadings below .400, ensuring the relevance and significance of each item in the scale.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe results further showed that the variance interpretation rates for the six extracted factors were: 16.321%, 13.614%, 13.560%, 13.451%, 11.153% and 10.866%. Cumulatively, these six factors accounted for a substantial 78.965% of the total variance, which signifies that they effectively capture the essence of the study\u0026rsquo;s item information. In conclusion, the sustainable leadership scale was distilled into six distinct factors. Detailed items and their corresponding factor analysis can be found in Table \u003cspan\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eItems with their factor loadings\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eItem\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFactor load coefficient\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCommunality\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1-1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would hold various teacher professional development training meetings for teachers.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.853\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.801\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1-2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college regularly holds teachers\u0026apos; teaching ability competitions.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.850\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.752\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1-3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would appoint teachers with senior professional titles in teaching management positions.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.805\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.751\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1-4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would set up a famous teacher (master) studio.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.854\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.827\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2-1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would hold various club activities.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.807\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.774\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2-2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would allow teachers to offer courses with different characteristics (e.g., specialty courses).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.771\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.767\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2-3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would communicate and cooperate with other cultural institutions.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.846\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.824\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2-4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would enrol students from all over the country.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.843\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.820\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3-1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would conscientiously implement the training agreement signed by the previous leaders and the teachers.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.854\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.849\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3-2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe new leader of my college would hold a meeting to ask all the entire staff to continue completing the five-year plan task formulated by the previous leader.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.887\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.861\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3-3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe new leadership of my college would take the aforementioned plan as the fundamental to furthering the current leadership\u0026rsquo;s mission and related tasks.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.885\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.831\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003ctable id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eItems with their factor loadings (Continued)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eItem\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFactor load coefficient\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCommunality\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4-1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would arrange for the teachers to participate in important meetings pertaining to the development of the college.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.740\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.655\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4-2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would take reasonable suggestions from teachers.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.846\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.780\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4-3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would set up a special working committee to listen to the teachers.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.865\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.772\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4-4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTeachers in my college would speak freely and actively contribute to the development of the college.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.807\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.736\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4-5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would use the secondary college as the unit to gather opinions on revising the draft student management system for front-line teachers.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.849\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.763\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5-1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would make professional development plans for teachers in accordance with the college development plan.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.850\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.845\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5-2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eMy college would publish the task breakdown schedule of each department and identify the person in charge in accordance with the college\u0026rsquo;s development plan.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.853\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.818\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5-3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe secondary college of my institution will assess whether the teachers\u0026apos; curriculum objectives meet the requirements for college development.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.885\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.863\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Taba\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTable \u003cspan\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e. Items with their factor loadings (Continued)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eFactor load coefficient\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eItem\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCommunality\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6-1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe process of teacher evaluation in my college is open, fair, just and transparent.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.860\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.800\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6-2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe enrolment plan of my college stipulates recruiting a certain number of students from poor families.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.814\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.733\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6-3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe teaching evaluation in my college considers students\u0026rsquo; performance in addition to teachers\u0026rsquo; teaching methods and efficiency, thereby ensuring the fairness of teaching evaluation.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.837\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.783\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6-4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe recruitment publicity of my college would do not harm the interests of other colleges or institutions.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.802\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.758\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eEigenvalue\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.754\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.131\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.119\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3.094\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.565\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e2.499\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.736\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003ePercentage of variance\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.321\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13.614\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13.560\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e13.451\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e11.153\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e10.866\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.763\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCumulative percentage\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e16.321\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e29.935\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e43.495\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e56.946\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e68.099\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e78.965\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.845\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003ctfoot\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"9\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote\u003c/em\u003e. SL1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the teacher capacity building; SL2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the diversity principle; SL3\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the protective principle; SL4\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of strategic participation; SL5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of social justice.\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tfoot\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eAfter deleting the items, 23 formal scale items were identified. The Cronbach\u0026apos;s Alpha test for the six dimensions and total tables was conducted, which resulted in values between .891 and .912. All values exceeded .700, indicating excellent scale reliability.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e6.2 Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThis section examines the constructive validity, convergent validity and discriminant validity of the sustainable leadership scale using CFA. In CFA, latent variables cannot be directly observed and constructed, whereas observed variables are directly measurable (Mandrou et al., \u003cspan\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Kin et al., \u003cspan\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe normality test revealed that the absolute KU and SK of sustainable leadership were both less than 1, and the Mardia value was 16.662, which is below 575. This aligns with a singular multivariate normal distribution. The model fit index indicates a good fit: \u0026chi;\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e/\u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.367, GFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.962, CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.992, RMSEA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.024 and the NFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;.969 (Table \u003cspan\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab5\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eResults of confirmatory factor analysis\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eModel\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u0026chi;\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e/\u003cem\u003edf\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eGFI\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCFI\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eRMSEA\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNFI\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSustainable Leadership\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e1.367\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.962\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.992\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.024\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.969\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eIn the convergence validity analysis, the standardized factor load values for all items range from .040 to .048. The CR value of each dimension range from .881 to .910, and the AVE values range from .669 to .734, indicating good convergent validity.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe HTMT criteria were evaluated for all constructs, with AVE square root values ranging from .826 to .856. These values exceeded the correlation coefficient between pairwise surfaces, demonstrating robust discriminant validity among the dimensions (Table \u003cspan\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). The sustainable leadership scale exhibited strong construct, convergent and discriminant validity in the CFA validation.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab6\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003eTable 5\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDiscriminant validity of sustainable leadership scale (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;640)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDimension\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCorrelation coefficient\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.826\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.257\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.827\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.358\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.374\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.844\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.311\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.331\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.332\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.818\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.265\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.328\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.229\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.314\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.856\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.345\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.282\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.247\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.294\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.355\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.838\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003ctfoot\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote\u003c/em\u003e \u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003e1\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/span\u003e. The value of the diagonal is the square root of the average variation extraction (AVE) of each surface and must be greater than the value of the off-diagonal;\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tfoot\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e＜.05；\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e＜.01；\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e＜.001\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNote 2\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the teacher capacity building; SL2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the diversity principle; SL3\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the protective principle; SL4\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of strategic participation; SL5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of social justice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\"\u003e\n \u003ch2\u003e6.3 Reliability Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe six major dimensions of the scale were assessed for internally consistency by calculating Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s Alpha. The Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s Alpha for these dimensions is between .892 and .910, which is greater than standard values of .700, demonstrating the excellent reliability of the scale in all dimensions, as shown in Table \u003cspan\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003ctable id=\"Tab7\" border=\"1\"\u003e\n \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003eTable 6\u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThe reliability analysis of sustainable leadership (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;640)\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/caption\u003e\n \u003cthead\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eDimension\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eNumber\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003cth align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eCronbach\u0026rsquo;s Alpha\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/th\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/thead\u003e\n \u003ctbody\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL1\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.895\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL2\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.896\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.881\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.910\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL5\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.892\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eSL6\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.904\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eTotal\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"char\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e23\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003ctd align=\"left\"\u003e\n \u003cp\u003e.898\u003c/p\u003e\n \u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tbody\u003e\n \u003ctfoot\u003e\n \u003ctr\u003e\n \u003ctd colspan=\"3\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote\u003c/em\u003e. SL1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the teacher capacity building; SL2\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the diversity principle; SL3\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the protective principle; SL4\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of strategic participation; SL5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the balance of long-term goals with short-term goals; SL6\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;the principle of social justice.\u003c/td\u003e\n \u003c/tr\u003e\n \u003c/tfoot\u003e\n \u003c/table\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cp\u003eThrough the above analysis and validation, the six dimensions of the scale were established, and all the Cronbach\u0026apos;s alphas exceeded .700, demonstrating good internal consistency and providing a reliable quantitative tool for in-depth research in this field.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"7. Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis develops a scale to assess how teachers perceive sustainable leadership, encompassing six dimensions with 23 items in higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province. Validity and reliability are determined through statistical analysis.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFirst, the level of sustainable leadership is measured from the teacher\u0026rsquo;s perspective and is consistent with the perspective of the sustainable leadership scale developed by Cayak and Cetin (2018). Second, the division of the six dimensions aligns with Hargreaves and Fink\u0026rsquo;s (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e) depth, breadth and length of leadership concept. It corresponds to the five dimensions of the sustainable leadership scale by Farooq and Ibrahim (2017) \u0026ndash; employee capacity building, diversity, conservation and strategic leadership allocation \u0026ndash; albeit with distinct application contexts.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study, conducted within the specific context and needs of higher vocational colleges in Shandong Province, provides a more targeted assessment tool to help develop more effective strategies for sustainable development. Despite the valuable insights, limitations exist. First, the study sample was mainly from Shandong Province and may not fully represent the views of vocational teachers in other regions or countries. This echoes the cross-national study of Sarabia-Andreu et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), where the performance of the same scale varies in different countries. Secondly, this study is carried out through the quantitative investigation method, and its research method is one-sided and lacks more in-depth discussion. Additionally, this study was only conducted in higher vocational education, and its applicability in other cultural or educational contexts requires further validation (Santos-de-Ara\u0026uacute;jo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFuture studies should, therefore, consider a broader sample, including teachers from higher vocational colleges in various regions and countries, to gain a more comprehensive understanding. Furthermore, combining qualitative and quantitative research methods may provide deeper insights. Given the differences in cultural and educational backgrounds, future studies should also explore the scale's applicability of the scale in diverse contexts.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGao: Provided crucial feedback on research methods, conducted in-depth discussions on the interpretation of research results, and ensured the manuscript\u0026apos;s language quality.Chen: Played a pivotal role in ensuring the language quality of the manuscript, ensuring accuracy and clarity in expression. Not only contributed to the academic quality of the research but also provided readers with easily understandable text, enhancing the dissemination and impact of the research findings.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAbdullah, K. H. (2021). 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Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33799-5_8\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Higher vocational colleges, Teacher perception, Sustainable leadership, Development and verification of scale","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3890784/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3890784/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eDue to internal organizational mandates for implementing sustainable development principles, Chinese vocational colleges necessitate an effective assessment tool to comprehend the current state of sustainable leadership as perceived by teachers. The study aims to develop and validate a scale for sustainable leadership as perceived by teachers in Chinese vocational colleges. Validation of the content validity index (CVI) was conducted by nine experts, and the factor structure was extracted through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), followed by reliability and validity tests. The research found that the scale comprises six dimensions with a total of 23 items, and Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s Alpha exceeds 0.700, demonstrating its robust reliability. This study marks the inaugural development and validation of a scale assessing sustainable leadership as perceived by teachers in Chinese vocational colleges, introducing a new, reliable assessment tool to the academic and practical domains.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Development and validation of a scale for the perception of sustainable leadership among teachers in Chinese higher vocational colleges","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-02-15 06:47:54","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3890784/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"22cbc7d9-9f56-481d-966c-a439fdc34138","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 15th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-02-25T05:08:47+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-02-15 06:47:54","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-3890784","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-3890784","identity":"rs-3890784","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}