The Impact of Principal Curriculum Leadership on Students’ Modernity: Moderated Chain Mediation Effect

Although a principal’s leadership of the curriculum can have a substantial influence on student outcomes and school performance, limited research exists about the impact of a principal curriculum leadership on the development of students’ thoughts, attitudes, values, and behavioral patterns, so that they can participate effectively in modern society. Based on the theory of human development ecology, this study aimed to explore the impact mechanisms of principal curriculum leadership on students’ modernity, examine the chain mediating effects of teacher leadership and class management effectiveness, and examine the moderating effects of class collective effectiveness. The results reveal that principal curriculum leadership was unable to significantly predict students’ modernity; teacher leadership played an independent mediating role, whereas teacher leadership and class management effectiveness played a chain mediating role; and class collective effectiveness significantly positively moderated the effect of teacher leadership on class management effectiveness and the effect of class management effectiveness on students’ modernity. In order to improve principal curriculum leadership and enhance students’ modernity, the former needs to consider students’ sustainable development, and further attention should be paid to the value of “significant others”, such as principals and teachers, in the development of students, as well to the mechanisms by which the school ecosystem influences the sustainable development of students.