A mixed methods study of teacher commitment in Lasallian schools: Concept, indicators, and predictive factors

• Main Author: Suplido, Raymundo B., FSC.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2006
• Subjects: College teachers > Philippines > Psychology; Catholic universities and colleges > Philippines > Employees > Psychology; Commitment (Psychology) > Philippines; Counseling
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_doctoral/159; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_doctoral/article/1158/viewcontent/CDTG004254_P.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Commitment in the workplace has been studied from the perspective of industrial and organizational psychology because of its relation to employee job satisfaction, performance, and turnover. Counseling psychologists have started to examine the link between occupational commitment and identity, motivation, and personality development. Studies of organizational and occupational commitment have been conducted mostly in Western and East Asian settings. Moreover, research into the occupational commitment of teachers has been scarce. Furthermore, previous investigations in these areas had relied mainly on quantitative methods. To gather data regarding teacher occupational commitment in a Southeast Asian setting, 222 full-time college teachers (99 men and 123 women) from three private Philippine universities, were the subjects in this study. The study aimed at clarifying their concept of occupational commitment, its indicators, and the factors contributing to its development. Meyer and Allens (1991) three-component model of occupational commitment was used in the conceptual framework. Three sub-studies were conducted, utilizing quantitative (questionnaire and hierarchical regression) and qualitative (FGD and interview) methods, in order to benefit from the strengths of these different methodologies In the hierarchical regression in sub-study 1, the criterion variables were Occupational Commitment and its components (affective, continuance and normative). The predictors consisted of two personality variables: Conscientiousness and Locus of Control, and five work-related variables: Agreement with Organizational Values, Job Satisfaction, Perceived Organizational Support, Membership in Professional Organizations and Salary. It was hypothesized that the personality variables would be more significant predictors than the work-related variables. iv Cronbach alphas of the test instruments used in sub-study 1 ranged from .64 to .93. Job Satisfaction and Perceived Organizational Support surfaced in the hierarchical regression as the significant predictors of teacher commitment and its components. Sub-study 2 consisted of ten FGDs. Two external judges arrived at the categories and subcategories regarding the respondents concept of commitment and its indicators. The results from the qualitative sub-study helped clarify the underlying factors linked to the two work-related predictors identified in sub-study 1. The elements that contributed to job satisfaction and perceived support revolved around interpersonal relations rather than personality dispositions. These trends found support in sub-study 3 which consisted of nine case studies. These results seemed to indicate that an interdependent/collectivist construal of self and others is more influential among the Filipino teachers. Empirical findings from the FGDs and case studies also provided the basis for a commitment model with three dimensions: motivational, affective and behavioral. Sub-categories of elements were identified for each dimension. In addition, behavioral indicators of strong and weak commitment were drawn from the data, together with the factors that contributed to the development of teacher commitment. The categories of elements and the indicators tended to focus more on interdependent rather than independent aspects of the occupation. The overall findings suggested that teacher occupational commitment is a multidimensional psychological state with motivational, affective and behavioral components. Also, work-related factors were more significant predictors than personality variables. Filipino teachers were influenced more by an interdependent/collectivist, rather than an independent/individualist, construal of self, others, and their occupation.