Abstract
This study investigates the impact of transformational leadership as idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration on teachers’ commitment towards organization, teaching profession, and students’ learning. A quantitative survey method was applied, and four broadly hypothesized relationships were tested with a sample of 1,014 trained non-graduate and graduate teachers serving in twenty-seven secondary schools in Sarawak, Malaysia. The results indicate a moderate level of teachers’ commitment and a low level of transformational leadership qualities among the respondents. This study found that inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation were the factors contributing towards teachers’ commitment to teaching profession, and there was no dominant factor influencing commitment to students’ learning. Moreover, it was discovered that inspirational motivation was a factor to teachers’ efficacy and teaching experience. Besides, teachers’ efficacy and teaching experience were predictors to teachers’ commitment to organization, teaching profession, and students’ learning, respectively. These findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between transformational leadership and teachers’ commitment to organization and teaching profession, but not students’ learning. The results of this study indicate the necessity for leadership development of school leaders so that they could systematically acquire and internalize the effective transformational leadership qualities that are crucial in changing teachers’ attitude and improving their commitment towards their profession.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adeyemi, T. O. (2008). Teachers’ teaching experience and students’ learning outcomes in secondary schools in Ondo State. Nigeria. Educational Research and Review, 3(6), 204–212.
Amoroso, P. F. (2002). The impact of transformational leadership behaviors on teacher commitment and teacher job satisfaction. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Seton Hall University, South Orange: NJ.
Anderson, G., & Arsenault, N. (2002). Fundamentals of educational research. London: Roultedge Falmer.
Antonakis, J., Avolio, B. J., & Sivasubramaniam, N. (2003). Transformational and charismatic leadership: Assessing the convergent, divergent and criterion validity of the LLQ and the CKS. The Leadership Quarterly, 18, 121–133.
Arnold, K. A., Barling, K., & Kelloway, E. K. (2001). Transformational leadership or the iron cage: Which predicts trust, commitment and team efficacy? Leadership and Organizational Development Journal, 22, 315–320.
Avolio, B. J., Bass, B. M., & Jung, D. I. (1997). Replicated confirmatory factor analysis of the multifactor leadership questionnaire. Binghamton, NY: Center for leadership studies, Binghamton University.
Avolio, B. J., Zhu, W., Koh, W., & Bhatia, P. (2004). Transformational leadership and organizational commitment: mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of structural distance’. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 951–968.
Babbie, E. (2001). Practice of social research (8th ed.). New Work: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Barbuto, J. E. (2005). Motivation and transactional, charismatic, and transformational leadership: A test of antecedents. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 11(4), 26–40.
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
Bass, B. M. (1998). Transformational leadership: Industry, military, and educational impact. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership: A response to critiques. In M. M. Chemes & R. Ayman (Eds.), Leadership theory and research: Perspectives and direction (pp. 49–88). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, California.
Bass, B. M., & Rigglo, R. E. (2006). Transformational leadership (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bennis, W. (1984). Transformative power and leadership. In T. J. Sergiovanni & J. E. Corbally (Eds.), Leadership and organizational culture: New perspectives on administrative theory and practice (pp. 64–71). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Berman, E., Bound, J., & Machin, S. (1997). Implications of skill-based technological change: International evidence. NBER Working Paper no. 6166.
Bono, J. E., & Judge, T. A. (2004). Personality and transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 901–910.
Borg, W. R., & Gall, M. D. (1989). Educational research: An introduction (5th ed.). New York: Longman.
Bycio, P., Hackett, R. D., & Allen, J. S. (1995). Leadership-tests-and-scales: Factor analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP), 80, 468–478.
Chua, Y. P. (2009). Advanced research statistic univariate and multivariate tests. Shah Alam: McGraw Hill Education.
Coakes, S. J., Steed, L., & Dzidic, P. (2006). SPSS version 13.0 for windows. New York: Wiley.
Cohen, A. (2007). Commitment before and after: An evaluation and reconceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 17, 336–354.
Coladarci, T. (1992). Teachers’ sense of efficacy and commitment to teaching. Journal of Experimental Education, 60, 323–337.
Conley, D. T. (1997). Roadmap to restructuring: Charting the course of change in American Education (2nd ed.). ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management: University of Oregon.
Cresswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cresswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research; planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.
Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson International Edition.
Danetta, V. (2002). What factors influence a teacher’s commitment to student learning? Leadership and Policy in Schools, 1(2), 144–171.
Davis, S., Darling-Hammond, L., LaPointe, M., & Meyerson, D. (2005). School leadership study developing successful principals. Stanford Educational Leadership Institute. Retrieved from|: http://sell.stamford.edu/research/documents/SELI_sls.
Day, C. (2000). Beyond transformational leadership. Educational Leadership, 57(7), 56–59.
Day, C., Elliot, B., & Kington, A. (2005). Reform, Standard and teacher identity: Challenge of sustaining teacher commitment. Teacher and Teacher Education, 21, 563–577.
Dee, J. R., Henkin, A. B., & Singleton, C. A. (2004). Organizational commitment of teachers in urban schools: Examining the effects of team structures. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
Dumdum, U. R., Lowe, K. B., & Avolio, B. J. (2002). A meta-analysis of transformational and transactional leadership correlates of effectiveness and satisfaction: An update and extension. In B. J. Avolio & F. J. Yammarino (Eds.), Transformational and charismatic leadership: The road ahead (pp. 35–36). Amsterdam: JAL.
Education and Training Policy division. (2008). Improving school leadership. Volume 1: Policy and practice. Directorate for Education, Education and Training Policy Division.
Elliott, B., & Crosswell, L. (2001). Commitment to teaching Australia perspective to the interplays of the professional and the personal in teachers’ lives. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Teacher commitment at the European Conference on Educational Research, Little, France.
Fauziah, N., Mohd, R. R., Ghani, R., Aripin, R., & Darus, Z. (2008). Teacher professionalisation and organizational commitment: Evidence from Malaysia. Malaysia: Universiti Teknologi, MARA.
Firestone, W. A. (1996). Images of teaching and proposals for reform: A comparison of ideas from cognitive and organizational research. Educational Administration Quarterly, 32(2), 209–235.
Firestone, W. A., & Pennell, J. R. (1993). Teacher commitment, working conditions and differential incentive policies. Review of Educational Research, 63, 489–525.
Fresko, B., Kfir, D., & Nasser, F. (1997). Predicting teaching commitment. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13(4), 429–438.
Fullan, M. (1996). Turning systemic thinking on its head. Phi Delta Kappan, 77, 420–423.
Fullan, M. (1997). What’s worth fighting for in the principal-ship? (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
Fullan, M. (2002). Leadership and sustainability (Vol. 3, No. (4), pp. 1–9) Paper presented in the National Association of Secondary Schools Principals.
Geijsel, Femke., Sleegers, P., & van den Berg, R. (2003). Transformational leadership effects on teachers’ commitment and effort towards school reform. Journal of Educational Administration, 41(3), 228–256.
Gillespie, N., & Mann, L. (2004). Transformational leadership and shared values: the building blocks of trust. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 19(6), 588–607.
Givens, Roger. (2008). Emerging leadership journey. School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, Regent University, 1(1), 4–24.
Graham, K. C. (1996). Running ahead: Enhancing teacher commitment. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 67(1), 45–47.
Guskey, T. R., & Passaro, P. D. (1994). Teacher efficacy: A study of construct dimensions. American Educational Research Journal, 31, 527–643.
Hailey, V. H., Farndale, E., & Truss, C. (2005). The HR department’s role in organizational performance. Human Resource Management Journal, 15(3), 49–66.
Hair, Jr. Joseph F., Black, William C., Babin, Barry J., Anderson., Rolph E., & Tatham, Ronald L. (2006). Multivariate data analysis (6th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. ISBN 0-13-032929-0.
Hall, J., Johnson, S., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2002). Transformational leadership: The transformation of managers and associates. Retrieved from http://www.edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
Hallinger, P., & Heck, R. H. (1996). Reassessing the principal’s role in school effectiveness: A review of empirical research, 1980–1995. Educational Administration Quarterly, 32(1), 5–44.
Hord, S. M. (1992). Facilitative leadership: The imperative for change. Austin, Texas: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
Horn-Turpin, F. D. (2009). A study examining the effects of transformational leadership behaviors on the factors of teaching efficacy, job satisfaction and organizational commitment as perceived by special education teachers. Virginia: Blacksburg.
House, R. J. (1977). A 1976 theory of charismatic leadership. In J. G. Hunt & L. L. Larson (Eds.), Leadership: The cutting edge (pp. 189–207). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
Howell, J. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1993). Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, locus of control and support for innovation: Key predictors of business unit performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 891–902.
Hoy, W. K., & Sabo, D. J. (1998). Quality middle schools: Open and healthy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Hoy, W. K., & Tarter, C. J. (1997). The road to open and healthy schools: A handbook for change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Ibrahim, M. (1998). Transformational leadership style and job satisfaction: A comparative study between. Retrieved from: http://ep3.uum.edu.my/1680/1/jazmi_bin_md_isa.pdf.
Jaros, S. J. (1997). An assessment of Meyer and Allen’s (1991) three-component model of organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 51, 319–337.
Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: A meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 755–768.
Kavanaugh, A. L. (2005). Introduction to principalship. In J. Shen (Ed.), School principals. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc.
Koh, W. L., Steers, R. M., & Terbong, J. R. (1995). The effects of transformational leadership on teacher attitudes and student performance in Singapore. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(4), 319–333.
Kushman, J. W. (1992). The organizational dynamics of teacher workplace commitment: A study of urban elementary and middle schools. Educational Administration Quarterly, 28(1), 5–42.
Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2001). Practical research: Planning and design (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice hall.
Leithwood, K. (1992). The move toward transformational leadership. Educational Leadership, 49(5), 8–12.
Leithwood, K., & Jantzi, D. (2000). The effects of transformational leadership on organizational conditions and student engagement with school. Journal of Educational Administration, 38(2), 112–129.
Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D., Earl, L., Watson, N., Levin, B., & Fullan, M. (2004). Strategic leadership for large-scale reform: The case of England’s national literacy and numeracy strategies. Journal of School Leadership and Management, 24(1), 57–80.
Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D., & Steinbach, R. (1999). Changing leadership for changing times. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Leithwood, K., Tomlinson, D., & Genge, M. (1996). Transformational school leadership. In K. Leithwood, et al. (Eds.), The international handbook of educational leadership and administration. The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Louis, K. S. (1998). Effects of teacher quality work life in secondary schools on commitment and sense of efficacy. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 9(1), 1–27.
Lunenburg, F. C., Lunenburg, F. C., & Irby, B. (2006). The principalship: Version to action (1st ed.). Belmont: Cengage Learning.
Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Matthews, L. J., & Crow, G. M. (2003). Being a becoming a principal: Role conceptions for contemporary principals and assistant principals. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
McBurney, D. H. (2001). Research method. USA: Wards worth.
McEwan, E. K. (2003). Ten traits of highly effective principals. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2008). Research education: Evidence-based Inquiry (6th ed.). New York: Pearson, International Edition.
Mertzens, D. M. (1998). Research methods in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative and qualitative approaches. London: Sage.
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organization commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1, 61–89.
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1997). Commitment in the workplace, Theory, research and application. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage.
Meyer, J. P., & Smith, C. A. (2000). HRM practices and organizational commitment: Test of a mediation model. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 17(4), 319–331.
Mohd Majid, K. (2005). Educational research methods. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka.
Mowday, R. T., Porter, L. W., & Steers, R. M. (1982). Employee-organization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism and turnover. New York, NY: Academic Press.
Ngodo, O. E. (2008). Procedural justice and trust: The link in the transformational leadership – organizational outcomes relationship. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 4(1), 82–100.
Nguni, S., Sleegers, P., & Denessen, E. (2006). Transformational leadership effects on teachers’ job satisfaction, organization commitment and organizational citizenship behavior in primary schools: The Tanzanian case. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 17(2), 145–177.
Oppenheim, C. (2001). The legal and regulatory environment for electronic information. Tetbury: Infonortics.
Pallant, J. (2007). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS (2nd ed.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Pillai, R., Schriesheim, C., & Williams, E. (1999). Fairness perception and trust as mediators for transformational and transactional leadership: A two-sample study. Journal of Management, 25(6), 897–933.
Powell, D., & Meyer, J. P. (2004). Becker’s side-bet theory revisited: A test of the theory within the context of Meyer and Allen’s three-component model of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65, 157–177.
Reid, L. W., Roberts, J. T., & Hilliard, H. M. (1998). Fear of crime and collective action: An analysis of coping strategies. Sociological Inquiry, 68(3), 312–329.
Reyes, P. (1990). Teachers’ and their workplace: Commitment, performance and productivity. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Riehl, C., & Sipple, J. W. (1996). Making the most of time and talent: Secondary school organizational climates, teaching task environments, and teacher commitment. American Journal of Educational Research, 33(4), 873–901.
Rosenholtz, S. J. (1985). Effective schools: Interpreting the evidence. American Journal of Education, 93, 352–388.
Rowold, J., & Heinitz, K. (2007). Transformational and charismatic leadership: Assessing the convergent, divergent and criterion validity of the MLQ and the CKS. Leadership Quarterly, 18(2), 121–133.
Sekaran, U. (2003). Research methods for business, a skill-building approach (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.
Sergiovanni, T. J. (2001). Leadership: What’s it for school?. New York: Routledger, Falmer.
Serviovanni, T. J. (1992). Why we should seek substitutes for leadership. Educational Leadership, 5, 41–45.
Sharifah S. J. (2012). Professional training and the relationship with personality traits, skills managing and leading among novice principals and head teachers in Malaysia. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, National University of Malaysia.
Sillins, H. C. (1994). The relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and school improvement outcomes. School Effectiveness and school Improvement, 5(3), 272–298.
Simic, I. (1998). Transformational leadership—The key to successful management of transformational organizational changes. Facta Universitas, 1(6), 49–55.
Solomon, C. B. (2007). The relationships among middle level leadership, teacher commitment, teacher collective efficacy, and student achievement. Columbia: Faculty of the Graduate School, University of Missouri-Columbia.
Spreitzer, G. M., Perttula, K. H., & Xin, K. (2005). Traditionality matters: An examination of the effectiveness of teachers in the United States and Taiwan. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 205–227.
Tsui, K. T., & Cheng, Y. C. (1999). School organizational health and teacher commitment: A contingency study with multi-level analysis. Educational Research and Evaluation, 5(3), 249–268.
Tucker, B. A., & Russell, R. F. (2004). The influence of the transformational leader. Journal of Leadership &Organizational Studies, 10(4), 103–111.
Tuckman, B. W. (1999). Conducting educational research (5th ed.). Belmost: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.
Valentine, J. W., Goodman, M., & Soloman, C. B. (2006). Organizational health, middle school programs, and student success: Findings from a national study of highly successful middle level schools. Middle Level Research Annual. Westemile, OH: National Middle School Association.
Walumbwa, F. O., & Lawler, J. J. (2003). Building effective organizations: Transformational leadership, collectivist orientation, work-related attitudes, and withdrawal behaviors in three emerging economies. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14, 1083–1101.
Whitaker, S. D. (2003). Mentoring beginning special education teachers and the relationship to attrition. Exceptional Children, 66, 546–566.
Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S. G. (2005). Research Methods in education: An introduction (8th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Wood, L. E. (1998). User interface design: Bridging the gap from requirements to design. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Yukl, G. A. (2010). Leadership in organization (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ibrahim, M.S., Ghavifekr, S., Ling, S. et al. Can transformational leadership influence on teachers’ commitment towards organization, teaching profession, and students learning? A quantitative analysis. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 15, 177–190 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9308-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9308-3