Examining the relationship between teacher organizational commitment and school health in Turkish primary schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between teachers' perceptions of organizational commitment and school health in Turkish primary schools. The Organizational Commitment Scale and the Organizational Health Inventory were used to gather data from 323 randomly selected teachers employed in 20 primary schools in Ankara. Results indicated that teacher compliance commitment was negatively related to both identification and internalization. Three dimensions of school health, institutional integrity, principal professional leadership, and morale, negatively predicted teacher commitment based on compliance. However, teacher internalization commitment was positively predicted by these 3 health dimensions. Professional leadership was the only school health dimension that was significant in predicting identification commitment. Two other dimensions of school health, academic emphasis and resource support, were not significant predictors of the commitment factors. Results of the study are discussed in relation to developing the organizational health of schools and improving the organizational commitment of teachers.

Keywords:

• teacher
• organizational commitment
• school health

Notes

1. A Turkish version of this paper was presented at the 16th National Congress of Educational Sciences in Tokat, Turkey, September 5–7, 2007.