LEADERSHIP STYLE, SCHOOL CLIMATE, AND THE INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT OF TEACHERS

Abstract

This study explored the relationships among principals’ leadership style, school climate, and the organizational commitment of teachers in Seventh-day Adventist secondary schools in the Philippines. The organizational commitment model developed by Steers (1977) served as the theoretical framework for the study. Data were obtained from 227 full-time teachers from 20 schools, with participants responding to the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), the Leadership Opinion Questionnaire (LOQ), and the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire—Rutgers Secondary (OCDQ-Rs). The principal’s leadership style, school climate, and the organizational commitment of teachers were found to be interrelated. Teachers perceived higher commitment under a leadership characterized by high consideration, regardless of the level of initiating structure. Teachers’ organizational commitment was positively related to climate openness, characterized by supportive principal behavior and teacher engagement, intimacy, and low levels of teacher frustration. Furthermore, considerate leadership behavior was found to related positively to climate openness. Predictive models of organizational commitment, accounting for approximately 25% of the variance, include marital status, consideration leadership behavior, and aspects of school climate. Although the theoretical concept of leadership quadrants was upheld in the study, it appears that leadership behaviors, particularly the consideration dimension, are more useful in relationship to the areas of school climate and organizational commitment.