The Impact of Teacher Leadership on 

Classroom Culture Construction: The 

Role of the New Education Initiative 

Min Wang 

 
School of Education and Psychology, Minnan Normal University, 

Zhangzhou 363000, Fujian, China 
 

 

Abstract: Classroom culture is of vital significance for the 
accomplishment of educational objectives. This study is an 

examination of the differences in the impact of teacher leadership 

on classroom culture construction between schools within and 
outside the New Education Initiative (NEI) network. Its research 

findings reveal that teachers at the NEI schools outperformed their 
counterparts at non-NEI schools in the seven dimensions of 

classroom culture construction. Other factors related to the 

teacher’ performance in this regard is also discussed. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2025; 19(2):1937-1939 

DOI: 10.15354/bece.25.ar146 

How to Cite: Wang, M. (2025). The impact of teacher leadership on classroom 

culture construction: The role of the new education initiative. Best Evidence in 

Chinese Education, 2025, 19(2):1937-1939. 

Keywords: Teacher Leadership, Classroom Culture, New Education Initiative 

 

 

 

 

About the Author: Min Wang, School of Education and Psychology, Minnan Normal University, Zhangzhou 

363000, Fujian, China. E-mail: editorial-office@bonoi.org 
Correspondence to: Min Wang at Minnan Normal University in China. 

Conflict of Interests: None 

Funding: No funding sources declared. 

AI Declaration: The author affirms that artificial intelligence did not contribute to the process of preparing the 

work. 

mailto:editorial-office@bonoi.org


Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. 

BECE, Vol.19, No.2, 2025 1938 

Introduction 

LASSROOM culture, as a latent form of education, plays a crucial 

role in reaching the goals of education. The classroom’s physical 

space and rules and norms, as well as dynamic elements like the 

teacher-student relationship, learning climate, and general ethos, can all 

manifest its culture. Teacher leadership has a significant impact on the 

construction of classroom culture. This study investigates the effects of 

teacher leadership on classroom culture in schools implementing the New 

Education Initiative (NEI) and those not within the NEI network. 

Classroom culture, as a latent form of education, plays a crucial role 

in reaching the goals of education. The classroom’s physical space and rules 

and norms, as well as dynamic elements like the teacher-student relationship, 

learning climate, and general ethos, can all manifest its culture. Teacher 

leadership has a significant impact on the construction of classroom culture. 

This study investigates the effects of teacher leadership on classroom culture 

in schools implementing the New Education Initiative (NEI) and those not 

within the NEI network. 

Research Methods 

Using methods including the questionnaire survey, interview, and classroom 

observation, the study looks at the differences in classroom culture 

construction between NEI and non-NEI schools. The research subjects were 

grades 3-5 teachers from five regions across China: central, eastern, southern, 

western, and northern China. A questionnaire was designed to investigate the 

teachers’ roles in classroom culture construction in seven dimensions: 

distinctive symbols, classroom environment creation, festival culture, 

spiritual guidance, learning outcomes representation, artefacts display, and 

cultural construction accomplishments. A total of 650 questionnaires were 

distributed and 586 valid ones retrieved, including 201 from teachers at NEI 

schools and 385 from those at non-NEI schools. Software SPSS 24.0 was 

used to conduct descriptive statistics, T-tests, and correlation analysis to 

compare the differences in the performance in classroom culture 

construction between the two groups. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wang. (China). The Impact of Teacher Leadership. 

BECE, Vol.19, No.2, 2025 1939 

Research Findings 

Teachers at NEI schools outperformed their counterparts at non-NEI schools 

in classroom culture construction in all the seven dimensions. In the 

dimension of distinctive symbols, teachers at NEI schools (M= 4.41, SD= 

0.95) scored higher than those at non-NEI schools (M= 3.70, SD= 1.27), 

with statistical significance (t= 7.62, p< 0.001). The former scored 

significantly higher than the latter in the dimensions of festival culture (t= 

6.02, p< 0.001) and spiritual guidance (t = 3.65, p< 0.001). In the dimension 

of cultural construction accomplishments, the former (M=4.07, SD=0.97) 

also had better performance than the latter (M=3.81, SD=0.93), with 

statistical significance (t= 3.14, p< 0.05). The overall score of the former 

(M= 4.23, SD= 0.73) is significantly higher than that of the latter (M= 3.90, 

SD= 0.77), with statistical significance (t= 5.19, p<0.001). 

Factor like the education level, being a classroom teacher or not, and 

the school location could significantly affect the teacher’s performance in 

classroom culture construction. Among teachers from NEI schools, those 

with a bachelor’s degree performed better than their peers graduated from 

junior colleges. Being a classroom teacher was also an advantage in this 

regard. On average, urban schools outperformed their rural counterparts in 

each of the seven dimensions. 

The correlation analysis reveals that professional attitudes, classroom 

activity design, and teaching strategies of the teacher were closely connected 

with the outcomes of classroom culture construction. This indicates that 

educational ideas and teaching behaviors of the teacher have a significant 

impact on classroom culture. 

To sum up, the NEI program is effective in enhancing classroom 

culture through the teachers’ leadership. 

 

 

The Chinese version of this article has been published in Life Education, 2025; 2025(1), 80-89. The 

English version has been authorized for being publication in BECE by the author(s) and the Chinese 

journal. 

汪敏. (2025). 教师领导力对教室文化建设的影响研究——以“新教育实验”为例. 生活教育，
2025(1), 80-89. 

 

 

Received: January 20, 2025 

Revised: February 20, 2025 

Accepted: March 01, 2025