Introduction and goal: Level 5 leadership, acknowledged as one of the advanced paradigms of contemporary leadership, is considered a decisive factor in strengthening teachers’ job engagement. Characterized by personal humility and professional will, this leadership style can significantly influence teachers’ commitment and professional behaviors. The present study aimed to examine the mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior in the relationship between Level 5 leadership and job engagement among elementary school teachers in Nourabad Mamasani.
Research methodology: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted in a field setting. The statistical population consisted of all elementary school teachers in Nourabad Mamasani. Given that the population size was 485, according to Morgan’s table, a sample size of 215 participants was determined. The sample was selected through stratified random sampling to respond to standardized questionnaires: Level 5 Leadership (Shariatnejad, 2018), Organizational Citizenship Behavior (Organ et al., 1988), and Job Engagement (Schaufeli, 2015). The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts, and their reliability, calculated using Cronbach’s alpha, was 0.852, 0.813, and 0.864, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess relationships between variables, independent t-tests for group comparisons, and structural equation modeling with SPSS and AMOS software to test the mediating role.
Findings: The results indicated that there is a significant and positive relationship among Level 5 leadership, organizational citizenship behavior, and job engagement. Moreover, no significant differences were found in job engagement between male and female elementary school teachers in Nourabad Mamasani.
Conclusion:. The findings suggest that Level 5 leadership, by fostering organizational citizenship behavior, plays a critical role in strengthening teachers’ job engagement. Furthermore, the absence of gender differences demonstrates that the impact of this leadership style and related behaviors on job engagement is independent of gender, making it a practical approach for improving educational quality in elementary schools.