Demystifying the personal and social forces behind school digital transformation: An analysis of the job demands and resources theory through school leaders

Abstract

This paper explores the forces driving digital transformation in schools, focusing on the role of digital leadership, social intelligence, digital self-efficacy, digital anxiety, digital social support, and social digital pressure perceived by school leaders. The study applies the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory as a theoretical framework to examine how the personal and social dynamics of school leaders influence this digital transformation. By surveying a sample of 427 school leaders, we found that digital self-efficacy had a significant positive effect on school digital transformation (β = 0.241; CR = 6.437), while digital anxiety had a negative impact (β = −0.033; CR = −5.341). Additionally, perceived digital social support was positively related (β = 0.153; CR = 6.919), while social digital pressure negatively affected the transformation process (β = −0.234; CR = −7.015). The results also highlight the moderating role of digital leadership and social intelligence in this relationship. Practitioners could benefit from targeted professional development programmes to enhance digital self-efficacy, reduce digital anxiety, and foster digital leadership, facilitating effective digital transformation in schools. However, this study acknowledges limitations related to the use of snowball sampling and the potential for self-report bias.