Teacher commitment a mediator to teachers’ caring behaviour

Abstract

Caring teachers play pertinent roles in instilling good values and harnessing efforts toward elevating meaningful relationships with students. Teacher Commitment (TC), a pertinent factor in effective teaching, strongly enhances students’ learning, yet it is under-researched, as a mediator to Teachers’ Caring Behaviour (TCB), especially in an Asian context. This study examines TC as a mediator between TCB and four exogeneous variables Modelling, Teacher-students interactions (TSI), Pedagogical Caring (PC) and Teacher’s Dispositions (TD). The survey instrument was administered to 469 fourth and fifth formers of six Malaysian secondary schools where variance-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the responses. The results demonstrated TC significantly mediates modelling, TSI, PC and TD with TCB. It also displayed that PC is the most significant and has the highest effect size in the direct relationship. The study unveils TC plays an important mediating role between modelling, TSI, PC, TD and TCB for students to be motivated to study and excel academically, besides contributing to the welfare of the students. This implies TC has a beneficial impact on students’ learning and well-being.

Keywords:

• Teacher commitment
• teacher caring behaviour
• teacher-students interactions
• modelling
• teachers’ dispositions
• pedagogical caring

Reviewing Editor:

• Brendan Hyde, Deakin University, Australia

Subjects:

• Educational Psychology
• Teachers & Teacher Education
• Secondary Education
• Education - Social Sciences

Introduction

In schools, caring teachers play an essential role in instilling good values besides imparting knowledge and adroitness to students. Various researchers have agreed that caring teachers emerged from good and effective teachings and in addition, strive the extra mile to maintain relationships of care and trust (Noddings, 2012; Zhang et al., 2019). Consequently, this relationship forms an important base hence a prerequisite for cognitive growth and development (Dietrich et al., 2023). Noddings (2012) believed that one needs to educate a child holistically which encompasses happiness to foster development. Besides, teachers play a momentous part in ensuring social-emotional functioning among students to excel in a positive learning environment (Denston et al., 2022; Dietrich et al., 2023).

Research on teacher’s caring behaviour (TCB) and teacher-students relationships pertaining to care have attracted many scholars (Denston et al., 2022; Maulana et al., 2013; Rabin & Smith, 2013) due to the fact that good teacher-student relationships can motivate or induce students to excel academically (Davis, 2003; Opdenakker et al., 2012). Students accomplish intended results, be it personal or academic excellence should their base be built on teachers’ caring qualities (Noddings, 2012; Zhang et al., 2019). Correspondingly, many studies have focussed on the significance of caring in education (Noddings, 2012; Schwab et al., 2018) and how caring produces an effect on the academic outcomes of the students and teacher-student relationships but many of those studies are done by targeting primary schools (Košir & Temen, 2014) eluding secondary schools, leaving a vacuum among students’ perceptions on caring teachers, post-primary education (Dietrich et al., 2023; Schwab et al., 2018).

In addition, TCB also strongly links to teacher commitment (TC). Since TCB typifies teacher’s responsibility to harness students’ performance, TC denotes passion, care and eagerness to contribute to teaching effectively regardless of time to sustain and motivate learning among students (Altun, 2017; Day, 2004). In actual fact, committed teachers normally fulfil their responsibilities to students (Mart, 2013). Therefore, TC is apt to accelerate TCB, hence perfectly positioned as a mediator (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Preacher & Hayes, 2008). As such numerous studies explored TC, undertaking a mediating role in caring behaviour, especially from teachers’ perspectives (Da’as et al., 2020; Hairuddin & Salisu, 2015; Rohim et al., 2023), however TC as a mediator from students’ perspective is still clouded with scarcity. Students’ perspective is deemed important (Guess & Bowling, 2015; Ilhavenil & Aravindan, 2023), for the initiatives that are being administered to enhance students’ performance. Thus, this paves the way to investigate TC as a mediator between TCB and related variables from the lens of students. This adds to the uniqueness of this research with TC as the mediating role of students’ perspectives, especially in secondary schools.

This study is structured into five sections. It begins with the research framework that touches on the Ethics of Care as the underpinning theory. The second section deals with past research on students’ perceptions of their caring teachers and emphasises the gap in this study. The third section describes the methodological aspect and the fourth section explains the data analysis involved that presents the results of the study. The fifth section critically discusses the findings of the study and lastly, the limitations, future directions as well as conclusion are presented.

Research framework

This study is underpinned by Ethics of Care theory where caring is a two-way process where one cares for the ‘cared-for’ and vice versa (Noddings, 2012). Care ethics, strongly established in moral education, enclosed four components: modelling, dialogue, practice and confirmation and in co-existence with other salient elements of ethics such as teacher-student interactions (TSI) (Maulana et al., 2013; Opdenakker et al., 2012), pedagogical caring (PC) (Hayes et al., 1994; Tosolt, 2010), teachers’ disposition (TD) (Rabin & Smith, 2013; Wake & Bunn, 2016) and TC (Day, 2004; Thien et al., 2014).

Thus, the caring framework displayed in Figure 1 was constructed to measure exogeneous and endogenous relationships, including TC as a mediator. Figure 1 illustrates exogenous variables, namely, modelling, teacher-student interactions (TSI), pedagogical caring (PC), teacher’s dispositions (TD) and an endogenous variable, teacher’s caring behaviour (TCB). TC illustrates teacher commitment.

Figure 1. Research framework.

Modelling refers to teachers setting themselves as exemplars to students leading to students mirroring the values of teachers (Osman, 2019). TSI alludes to significant relationships between teachers and students, establishing an understanding and empathic concern (Noddings, 2012). PC relates to teachers’ care and concern for students’ academic work in the classrooms, motivating students to progress academically (Au, 2022). TD links to teachers’ personalities, specifically in illustrating care and threading situations with discretions (Klassen & Kim, 2019). TC which denotes a teacher’s passion in teaching is proposed in this study as the mediator in this research framework. Hence, this quantitative study has the following questions:

1. What is the magnitude of direct relationship between Modelling and TC?

2. What is the magnitude of direct relationship between TSI and TC?

3. What is the magnitude of direct relationship between PC and TC?

4. What is the magnitude of direct relationship between TD and TC?

5. What is the magnitude of direct relationship between TC and TCB?

6. Does TC mediate the relationship between modelling, TSI, PC, TD and TCB?

Students’ perceptions of caring teachers

Many studies showed that students perceived their teachers play pertinent roles in academic achievement, especially in primary schools. At the secondary level, more studies need to be done although a few studies have demonstrated significant outcomes based on caring behaviour of teachers, from students’ perspectives. Wentzel et al. (2012) examined adolescents’ viewpoints and found that students’ academic progress was due to concerned teachers whereas Tosolt (2010) found students engaged in deep learning because teachers cared for their academic pursuit. Caring teachers not only play significant roles in students’ academic performance but also in their attitudes and overall well-being (Klassen & Kim, 2019). Research by Zhao and Li (2016) found middle school students showed a higher degree of positive attitude and more effort in their studies when teachers demonstrate care to them. Furthermore, they enjoyed their relationships with their teachers, resulting in better learning outcomes.

In Malaysia’s context, although the acquisition of academic excellence has been given importance, it has on the other hand remained very traditional pertaining to students’ perspective, seen in limited research on students’ perception of caring teachers (Barone, 2004). This condition was also reiterated by Misbah et al. (2015) by stating that research on students’ perceptions of teachers’ behaviour, especially on their interpersonal relationship with their students is relatively new in Asian region. In the Eastern context, caring is demonstrated differently although the gap in perceived caring is slowly being reduced due to globalisation.

Previous studies have shown that research on TCB is fragmented (Misbah et al., 2015; Zhao & Li, 2016). Wentzel (1997) has examined PC as one of the constructs in TCB, and Tosolt (2010) did a study on TSI, with the argument that many studies concentrated on TSI and PC only with the exemption of Ilhavenil and Aravindan (2023) study which included modelling and TD in addition to TSI and PC. Nevertheless, TC as a mediator was not examined. Therefore, this present model has TC as a mediator.

Modelling

Modelling, one of the components in Nodding’s Care Ethics Model, strongly emphasises educators demonstrate themselves as role models to youngsters (Henderson, 2024; Kristjánsson, 2015, 2020; Noddings, 2008). Modelling is exemplified to students on the connotation of care such as teachers listening to students and offering appropriate responses to students (Noddings, 2012). Additionally, teachers display a genuine concern for the students in and out of the classroom, besides greeting students and calling out their names. Being an impressionable age, students emulate the gestures of teachers. The definition above applies in this context.

Teacher-student interactions

TSI acts as analogous to the dialogue component in Ethics of Care (Noddings, 2008) and denotes meaningful interactions between teachers and students, thus establishing understanding and empathy (Yao & Wong, 2021). These care activities include teachers listening to students’ problems and giving the students opportunities to make their own decisions (Wubbels et al., 1985). The same definition is employed in this study.

Pedagogical caring

PC was originally known as a role concept where students were treated as unique individuals (Hull, 1979). PC functions as a teacher’s role in motivating each distinctive student to excel in learning (Shen et al., 2024; Wentzel et al., 2012), a pertinent aspect of academic progress. Also known as ‘Academic Caring’ (Tosolt, 2010) where it demonstrates teachers genuinely facilitating students’ work by praising them. In this study, the same definition of PC applies.

Teachers’ dispositions

TD, an essential part of care ethics, refers to teachers’ personality traits that are seen as caring in delivering subject matter and skills to students (Klassen & Kim, 2019). It includes moral sensibilities that enable a teacher to use his or her volition such as accepting students for who they are and being empathetic to them (Schussler & Knarr, 2013). This study undertakes the same meaning.

Teacher commitment

Day (2004) defined TC as educators who have passion for their teaching, love their learners and regularly review and renew classroom instructions to inspire students to achieve the best in their learning. Past literature has shown TC as an important aspect of the teaching profession because, with commitment, the schools’ goals that are in sync with the schools’ vision and mission can be accomplished (Thien et al., 2014). Furthermore, TC is also considered a critical factor for effective teaching (Altun, 2017).

Besides, TC is highly related to types of leadership in schools which include caring behaviours of leaders such as principals that promote sustainable learning among the school communities (Cherkowski, 2012; Hairuddin & Salisu, 2015) in Western and Eastern countries like Canada and Indonesia. Additionally, many studies have considered TC as a mediator between teacher self-efficacy and organisational leadership. In fact, there are studies in the middle east that show TC as a mediator of school leaders’ caring behaviour for effective teaching and learning (Al-Mahdy et al., 2022; Da’as et al., 2020). Apart from school principals, teachers are the deciding factor for quality education. Teachers need to show that they care about their students’ progress in schools. Therefore, in this study, TC functions as the mediator to TCB and other exogenous variables as there is a dearth of studies in such a framework, especially in the Malaysian context.

Methodology

This study aims to measure TC as the mediator between exogenous variables (modelling, TSI, PC and TD) and endogenous variable (TCB), specifically in the Malaysian context.

Participants

Purposive sampling was employed as it allows selecting elements in the sample for a specific purpose (Hair et al., 2020), whereby the unit of analysis was non-Muslim students. We specifically selected those public schools as there were more non-Muslim students in those schools compared to other schools. Therefore, all non-Muslim students of the fourth and fifth formers in those schools were chosen. The unit of analysis was 16- to 17-year-old non-Muslim secondary school students, with 302 males and 167 females. 469 responses were obtained from six public schools in the states of Melaka and Selangor, in Malaysia. Permissions from the gatekeepers of the schools were obtained after the state education departments gave their approval. Prior to data collection, informed consent was collected from every student who participated in this research. Gender was not taken into consideration in this study.

Procedure and research design

We employed a quantitative design and cross-sectional in this study, hence survey instrument was employed. Since the questionnaire was mainly adapted from Western researchers, the items were pretested for relevancy in the Asian context. In order for the respondents to understand all the items, a pretest was done to minimise culturally biased measures (Memon et al., 2017). Podsakoff et al. (2003) also suggested applying common method variance to overcome item ambiguity and unclear instructions. Therefore, procedural remedies were taken in the initial steps. Therefore, at the pretest level, we assigned three students to read through our questionnaire to eliminate misconceptions about items. Furthermore, clear instructions were written at every construct, including dividing the endogenous and exogenous in the questionnaire, before administering the instrument. After the pretesting stage, the survey was administered in a non-contrived environment. Hence, the interference of researchers was minimal.

Data was collected from every classroom of the fourth and fifth formers where Moral Education (ME) is taught to non-Muslim students in primary and secondary schools in Malaysia. ME encompasses moral cognition, moral emotion and moral behaviour, in tandem with Malaysia’s National Philosophy of Education to produce holistic students in terms of knowledge, skills and values. There were about four to five classes in every form, with around 10 students in each class. Students’ anonymity was protected (Creswell & Creswell, 2023; Sekaran & Bougie, 2016) for ethical practices.

Measures

Questionnaire was adapted from Ilhavenil and Aravindan’s (2023) study, originally adapted based on existing literature (Bulach, 1996; Garret et al., 2009; Hayes et al., 1994; Wake & Bunn, 2016; Wentzel, 1997; Wubbels et al., 1985; Zhao & Li, 2016).

The instrument consisted of two parts, the first part elicited demographic details, and the second part included 27 items under six variables, namely, Modelling, TSI, PC, TD, TC and TCB on a five-point Likert scale (please refer to Appendix). Five items or less for every variable were selected as too many items can lead to respondent fatigue or response biases (Robinson, 2018).

Our Modelling’s operational definition was employed from Noddings (2008) and English (2011), whereby the teacher presents herself/himself as an exemplary model to the secondary students. The items were ‘My teacher greets me when we meet’, ‘My teacher is fair to all students’, ‘My teacher asks after my well-being’ and ‘My teacher compliments/rewards me for good behaviour’ and ‘My teacher is patient with me’. All five items from ‘Modelling’ were adapted from Bulach’s. Composite reliability was 0.802.

The operational definition of TSI was adapted from Wubbels et al. (1985), which refers to consequential interactions between the teacher and the students, concerning their academic and non-academic pursuits toward excellence. Two items were adapted from Bulach’s Behavioural Characteristics of a Teacher Scale, ‘My teacher maintains eye contact with me when he/she talks to me’ and ‘My teacher makes time for me before and after school’. Two items were adapted from Wubbels et al. (1985), ‘My teacher listens to my problems’ and ‘My teacher gives me opportunities to make decisions that affect me’. Composite reliability was 0.838.

PC is referred to as teachers’ assisting of students’ academic work, as adapted from Wentzel et al. (2012). There were five items in PC, where one item was adapted from Wentzel (1997), ‘My teacher takes time to explain if I do not understand a certain topic/issue’. Two subsequent items were adapted from Hayes et al. (1994), ‘encouraged success and positive feelings’ and ‘provider of fun and humour’, which also coincided with Wentzel (1997). The other relevant items were ‘My teacher praises me if I have done well in my work’ and ‘My teacher makes his/her subject fun and interesting’. The other two items were ‘My teacher provides an orderly classroom’ and ‘My teacher returns my work with comments’, adapted from Bulach (1996). Composite reliability was 0.848.

TD’s operational definition refers to the teacher’s pleasant personality which entails accepting students for who they are and using kind words to motivate the students. TD’s definition was adapted from Cummins and Asempapa (2013), Schussler and Knarr (2013) and Wake and Bunn (2016). Two items, ‘My teacher uses kind words to me’ and ‘My teacher accepts me for who I am’, were adapted from Wake and Bunn (2016). The other two items were adapted from Tosolt (2010) and Garret et al. (2009): ‘My teacher is always smiling’ and ‘My teacher is always calm and relaxed’. The last remaining item, ‘My teacher is empathetic towards me’ was adapted from Zhao and Li (2016). Composite reliability was 0.896.

TC was adapted from Thien et al. (2014) and the operational definition is teacher is responsible in students’ learning and their achievement. Three items were adapted from the study were ‘My teacher makes sure that I am successful in my studies’, ‘My teacher makes sure that I get along well with other students’ and ‘My teacher cares about my relationship with other rival students’. Cronbach alpha was 0.820.

TCB definition is centred on teachers’ attention and care toward helping students achieve the utmost of their abilities (Noddings, 2012). All five items were adapted from Zhao and Li (2016): ‘My teacher encourages me to do the best I can’, ‘My teacher cares how much I learn’, ‘My teacher responds to my needs’, ‘My teacher gives me enough help’ and ‘My teacher makes me feel important’. Composite reliability was 0.902.

Data analysis

After data collection, screening tests such as count blank to treat missing values and straightlining examination to determine the non-violation of the straightlining rule (Hair et al., 2017).

We adopted PLS-SEM, using the SmartPLS software for further analysis. PLS-SEM, a variance-based structural equation modelling focusses primarily on predicting the endogenous variable (Hair et al., 2019; Rigdon et al. 2017) and in the present study, it is aligned to predict TCB. Furthermore, PLS-SEM has the ability to test complex models which may encapsulate many constructs, indicators and model relationships (Hair et al., 2022). In addition, PLS-SEM is apt for testing theoretically supported and additive causal models (Chin, 1998; Haenlein & Kaplan, 2004) as proposed by our theoretical framework in Figure 1, which is an exploratory model. Covariance-based SEM, on the other hand, proposes to examine the fit between the theoretical model and its observed data (Ramayah et al., 2018) and thus works well with confirmatory models, unlike ours.

In ensuring reliability and validity, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity were ascertained before proceeding with hypothesis testing. To achieve internal consistency, a composite reliability value of 0.7 is sufficient to achieve its intended purposes (Hair et al., 2017; Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Likewise, convergent validity is achieved when factor loading values are equal or greater than 0.5, while having an average variance extracted (AVE) score of more than 0.5 (Byrne, 2016). Heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations (Henseler et al., 2015), a method used for discriminant validity, with a cut off value of 0.9 (Franke & Sarstedt, 2019). Lateral collinearity with the cut-off value of 3.3 (Diamantopoulos & Siguaw, 2006), is done to eliminate misleading findings (Kock & Lynn, 2012).

Results

There were no missing values observed. Similarly, non-violation of straightlining rule was observed as standard deviation values were devoid of zero.

Normality test

This research employed PLS-SEM which generally makes no assumptions about data distributions, henceforth normality was deemed not necessary in PLS-SEM due to bootstrapping nature of analysis (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to consider the distribution while working with PLS-SEM (Hair et al. 2017). As such, a multivariate normality assessment was done referring to the suggestion by Cain et al. (2016). We employed the software available at https://webpower.psychstat.org/models/kurtosis/results.php. It appeared that data were not multivariate normal through Mardia’s multivariate skewness (B = 3.401, p < .01) and Mardia’s multivariate kurtosis (B = 65.207, p < .01) therefore, PLS-SEM, which is a non-parametric analysis, was employed in this study.

Descriptive and internal reliability

The internal reliability values were above 0.7 (Hair et al., 2017; Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). The values were modelling (0.77), TSI (0.72), PC (0.73), TD (0.84), TC (0.86) and TCB (0.83), as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and internal reliability.

Variables	Mean	Std deviation	Cronbach alpha
Modelling	3.422	0.773	0.765
Teacher-student interactions	3.362	0.777	0.719
Pedagogical caring	3.594	0.702	0.717
Teacher’s disposition	3.496	0.819	0.841
Teacher’s commitment	3.483	0.855	0.830
Teacher’s caring behaviour	3.501	0.828	0.862

Convergent validity

For convergent validity, the factor loading value was above 0.5 and supported with AVE value of above 0.5, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2. Convergent validity.

Variable	Items	Factor loading	AVE
Modelling	M1	0.687	0.515
	M2	0.707
	M3	0.750
	M4	0.726
	M5	0.717
Teacher-student interactions	TSI 1	0.584	0.547
	TSI 2	0.794
	TSI 3	0.770
	TSI 4	0.778
Pedagogical caring	PC 2	0.726	0.541
	PC 3	0.702
	PC 5	0.746
	PC 5	0.765
Teacher disposition	TD 1	0.782	0.610
	TD 2	0.760
	TD 3	0.799
	TD 4	0.798
	TD5	0.767
Teacher commitment	TC 1	0.848	0.747
	TC 2	0.885
	TC 3	0.865
Teacher caring behaviour	TCB 1	0.805	0.645
	TCB 2	0.831
	TCB 3	0.727
	TCB 4	0.830
	TCB 5	0.818

Discriminant validity

Discriminant validity was conducted using HTMT ratio of correlation which offers high detection and low arbitrary violation rates (Henseler et al., 2015). HTMT test revealed that all values were within the acceptable range of below 0.9 (Franke & Sarstedt, 2019), with the exception of PC. Therefore, we deleted the lowest loading indicator in PC. Hence, PC 1 was deleted, and the new constructs were all mutually exclusive from one another as shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Discriminant validity.

	Modelling	PC	TCB	TD	TSI
Modelling
PC	0.631
TCB	0.672	0.690
TD	0.700	0.568	0.706
TSI	0.610	0.586	0.648	0.512
TC	0.630	0.666	0.763	0.632	0.600

Hypotheses results

Hypotheses results are shown in Figure 2. Lateral collinearity assessment indicates inner VIF values of exogenous variables below 3.3 (Diamantopoulos & Siguaw, 2006), depicting that multicollinearity was not a concern in this study. Hypotheses testing reflect that all the nine relationships were supported, with PC having the highest standardised estimate value (0.324) or H3. A similar pattern was also observed when TC mediates PC and TCB which recorded standardised estimate value of 0.247 (H4). Table 4 depicts the hypotheses results with respective values.

Figure 2. Structural model.

Table 4. Hypotheses results.

Hypothesis	Relationship	Beta	Std error	t-value	p Value	CI bias correctedness 5% 95%	f^2	VIF
H1	M→TC	0.119	0.057	2.098	.036	0.003 0.234	0.013	2.546
H2	TSI→TC	0.206	0.044	4.659	.000	0.118 0.283	0.056	1.795
H3	PC→TC	0.324	0.053	6.163	.000	0.215 0.423	0.128	1.934
H4	TD→TC	0.259	0.052	4.979	.000	0.159 0.359	0.076	2.083
H5	TC→TCB	0.763	0.022	34.479	.000	0.72 0.808
H6	M -> TC -> TCB	0.091	0.044	2.082	.038	0.002 0.180
H7	TSI ->TC ->TCB	0.157	0.034	4.564	.000	0.087 0.216
H8	PC -> TC ->TCB	0.247	0.040	6.101	.000	0.165 0.324
H9	TD -> TC ->TCB	0.198	0.041	4.778	.000	0.120 0.278

Discussion

The results of this study complement the existing body of knowledge on modelling, TSI, PC, TD, TC and TCB, related to care, especially in the Asian context.

All four independent variables; Modelling, TSI, PC and TD have significant relationships to TCB, which were substantiated in other studies (Croce, 2019; Cummins & Asempapa, 2013; Wake & Bunn, 2016). The results elucidate that students view teachers as playing pertinent roles in displaying care in and out classrooms.

In Modelling, teachers play an essential role in instilling proper values such as patience, respect, fairness and kindness by modelling those traits in and outside classrooms, as it has a profound impact on the students (Berkowitz, 2021; Croce, 2019; Dabdoub et al., 2023) As the world is trending toward globalisation, moral exemplarism gives rise to admiration among students, although flawed role models is inevitable and often debatable (Osman, 2019; Sanderse, 2023).

TSI is supported in this study and many studies have found that TSI improves students’ motivation to excel academically (Maulana et al., 2013; Opdenakker et al, 2012; Yao & Wong, 2021). In Asian context, respecting the elderly is a norm in a collectivist culture, therefore interactions between teachers and students are highly harmonious, although students may not consider the teachers are caring (Jami et al., 2019).

In this study, PC is the most significant and has the highest effect size in the direct relationship. It denotes that students were motivated to gain knowledge and skills to achieve positive academic outcomes due to the teacher’s caring behaviour (Carter Andrews et al., 2021). Studies on caring pedagogy found that teachers and students engage in reciprocal engagements and teachers are culturally responsive which makes learning meaningful, especially in the current digital classrooms (Adams et al, 2023; Christopher et al., 2020). On the contrary, studies have also revealed that teachers who were only pedagogical experts were viewed as uncaring by the students (Denston et al., 2022) as interactions were seen as ungenuine by students.

Besides, TD is also significant, being one of the essential qualities of effective teachers (Altan & Lane, 2018; Fonseca-Chacana, 2019) contributing to students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes. Teachers who show positive dispositions such as being kind, accepting students and being calm would be more efficacious educators than those who do not possess such qualities. Teachers who are warm and mindful toward students’ social-emotional competence indirectly contribute toward their academic performance and support their learning in the classrooms (Altan & Lane, 2018).

The research findings also display that TC significantly plays a mediating role between the exogeneous and endogenous variables. As such, these results denote the importance of TC in the field of care ethics.

This research accentuates the primary investigation of TC as a mediator in the caring behaviour of educators. Past studies (Al-Mahdy et al., 2022; Da’as et al., 2020; Hairuddin & Salisu, 2015) displayed TC as a mediator to effective leadership and school effectiveness. Effective leadership includes the ability to interact well with others, especially with students and teachers, comprehend their environment and provide the best so that teachers can be effective educators for their students (Da’as et al., 2020; Rosnani, 2018). Effective leadership also includes modelling, the exhibition of virtuous behaviour of school heads and giving rise to moral exemplars to teachers and students (Croce, 2019). Similarly, in this study, TC plays an important mediating role between modelling, including TSI and TCB in order for students to motivate to study and excel academically.

PC being the highest standardised estimate value has suggested that TC plays a very pertinent role in the eyes of the students as passing exams with flying colours is vital in the Malaysian Education System before students embark on a tertiary level. Teachers display a greater commitment to students’ academic excellence as it demonstrates their concern for the students to achieve positive academic outcomes (Au, 2022; Wentzel et al., 2012). Studies found that pedagogically expert teachers who care for their students indirectly motivate students to acquire knowledge, skills and values that make them wholesome individuals (Ilhavenil & Aravindan, 2023).

As for TD, TC also plays a significant role in TBC. As stated earlier, TC is defined as a passion for teaching and this can be argued that it is strongly related to TD. Passionate educators will be kind and empathetic toward their students, displaying their effective qualities as effective educators (Altan & Lane, 2018; Fonseca-Chacana, 2019), more so in digital classrooms in the advent of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era (Adams et al., 2023).

Therefore, this study has significant theoretical implications where TC is empirically shown to be a part of and apt to accelerate TCB that contributes to the whole ecosystem of educational institutions. This will add to the body of knowledge on Ethics of Care. As TC denotes passion and care, this paves the way for meaningful teacher-student interactions and the academic well-being of students.

The findings have shed light on the practical implications, specifically on the role of leadership in the education system, focussing on the recruitment of educators who can potentially manifest commitment to educating our young (Rohim et al., 2023). Recruitment of future educators is in the hands of policymakers and school administrators should invest in appropriate in-house training for teachers to develop teachers who are committed to teaching and learning. This leads to caring teachers who would eventually shape emotionally and socially stable students.

As Malaysia is known for her multireligious and multiculturalism, teachers need to go the extra mile to provide meaningful teacher-student interactions, pedagogical caring and teachers’ dispositions to unite students of diverse groups as well as being sensitive to their needs to maintain harmony for stability in the country and display global competence (Balakrishnan, 2017; Ilhavenil & Aravindan, 2023; Parmigiani et al., 2022)

Limitations and future directions

Since this research sampled six schools using purposive sampling, generalisability may fall short although representation is achieved. Future research may include employing probability sampling. Furthermore, the study setting could be extended to include schools throughout Malaysia. In terms of instrumentation, TC was measured as a single dimension. Therefore future studies may include multi-dimensions.

Since this research was laid on an explanatory platform using quantitative research design, future studies may include exploratory research through qualitative research design to gain an in-depth understanding of students’ viewpoints of committed and caring teachers.

Conclusion

Caring genuinely for students is definitely an uphill task for teachers, as there are numerous challenges faced by teachers in schools. If caring for students is not purely rhetorical, then teachers should receive appropriate support from school authorities to enable them to have meaningful interactions with students so that lessons in the classrooms are truly engaging (Raath et al., 2016; Røsand & Johansen, 2024). Teachers’ caring behaviour is inevitable in any school system. Students’ cognitive growth and social-emotional development can be alleviated if commitment is shown by teachers to care for their academic and well-being (El Zaatari et al., 2021). Many initiatives can be done by the schools to enhance commitment to establishing an effective learning environment.

Authors’ note

The authors’ research interests are care, loyalty, empathy, entrepreneurship, green, sustainability and commitment. This current article on teacher commitment was extended research based on earlier work on educators’ caring behaviour. It is hoped that the research worked on benefits the education system on the whole.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the gatekeepers of the schools and the wonderful students who have taken part in this study, including Multimedia University for supporting this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

N. Ilhavenil

N. Ilhavenil is currently attached to the Institution of Teacher Education Ilmu Khas Campus, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, training preservice teachers on Basic Research, Values Education and Assessment in Education. She has spent more than 30 years in the field of education, comprising primary and secondary education. She has published articles in several index journals.

K. L. Aravindan

K. L. Aravindan is currently attached to Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia, lecturing on Marketing, Economics and Research Methods subjects. He has published articles in the International Journal of Advance Research and Innovation, Heliyon and Sustainability. He is actively involved in the supervision of PhD, DBA and MBA students.

Appendix

Modelling

These statements below describe teacher’s modelling. Please choose one answer by circling the appropriate number based on the scale given.

Table

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree

Table

1	My teacher greets me when we meet	1	2	3	4	5
2.	My teacher is fair to all students.	1	2	3	4	5
3.	My teacher asks me about my well-being.	1	2	3	4	5
4.	My teacher compliments/rewards me for good behaviour.	1	2	3	4	5
5.	My teacher is patient with me.	1	2	3	4	5

Teacher-student interactions

These statements below describe teacher-student interactions. Please circle the number based on the scale given.

Table

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree

Table

1.	My teacher maintains eye contact with me when he/she talks to me.	1	2	3	4	5
2.	My teacher listens to my problems.	1	2	3	4	5
3.	My teacher makes time for me before and after school.	1	2	3	4	5
4.	My teacher gives me opportunities to make decisions that affect me.	1	2	3	4	5

Pedagogical caring

These statements below describe pedagogical caring. Please circle the number based on the scale given.

Table

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree

Table

1.	My teacher provides an orderly classroom.	1	2	3	4	5
2.	My teacher takes time to explain if I do not understand a certain topic/issue.	1	2	3	4	5
3.	My teacher returns my work with comments.	1	2	3	4	5
4.	My teacher praises me if I have done well in my work.	1	2	3	4	5
5.	My teacher makes his/her subject fun and interesting.	1	2	3	4	5

Teacher’s disposition

These statements below describe teacher’s disposition. Please circle the number based on the scale given.

Table

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree

Table

1.	My teacher is always smiling.	1	2	3	4	5
2.	My teacher is always calm and relaxed.	1	2	3	4	5
3.	My teacher uses kind words on me.	1	2	3	4	5
4.	My teacher accepts me for who I am.	1	2	3	4	5
5.	My teacher is empathetic toward me.	1	2	3	4	5

Teacher’s commitment

These statements below describe teacher’s commitment. Please circle the number based on the scale given.

Table

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree

Table

1.	My teacher makes sure that I am successful in my studies.	1	2	3	4	5
2.	My teacher makes sure that I get along well with other students.	1	2	3	4	5
3.	My teacher cares about my relationship with other rival students.	1	2	3	4	5

Teacher’s caring behaviour

These statements below describe teacher’s caring behaviour. Please circle the number based on the scale given.

Table

1	2	3	4	5
Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree

Table

1.	My teacher encourages me to do the best I can.	1	2	3	4	5
2.	My teacher cares how much I learn.	1	2	3	4	5
3.	My teacher responds to my needs.	1	2	3	4	5
4.	My teacher gives me enough help.	1	2	3	4	5
5.	My teacher makes me feel important.	1	2	3	4	5