Predictive Path Modelling of Indicators of Secondary School Instructors’ Affective, Continuance and Normative Job Commitment

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature investigating the impact of retraining and motivation on employee work efficiency. However, little seems to be understood about the effects of employee placement on the commitment of teachers to their jobs. To the best of the researcher's awareness, the partial and composite impact of staff placement, retraining, and motivation on the three aspects of job commitment (affective, continuance and normative) among secondary educators have scarcely been examined. This research was intended to fill this vacuum by using a predictive path modelling approach to analyse the association between these endogenous and exogenous variables. A random sample of 500 secondary school principals was surveyed using two forms of questionnaires. Collected data were analysed and formulated hypotheses tested using Path and multiple linear regression analyses, with the aid of Amos and SPSS packages. Findings indicated that staff placement and motivation were highly predictive of instructors' commitment (at the affective and continuance dimension), but not at the normative dimension; Employee dedication in the three dimensions was not predicted by personnel retraining, but it did result in employee attrition; workers retraining only increased teachers' work commitment when it was augmented with placement and motivation. The combined effect of staff placement, retraining, and motivation was statistically significant in two dimensions of teachers’ job commitment (affective and continuance), but not on the normative dimension. Based on these findings, policy and theoretical ramifications for effective instructional management, assessment, classroom practice, and future study are discussed.
 
 Received: 30 March 2021 / Accepted: 27 July 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

Contributions of placement, retraining and motivation to teachers' job commitment: structural equation modelling of the linkages

“…In the corporate and governmental sectors, employee motivation is becoming widely accepted as a necessary precondition for the long-term viability of any business ( Uso, 2011 ). Teachers’ motivation is directly related to how school administrators use different tactics and procedures to entice teachers to participate in instructional processes ( Owan, 2021 ). Thus, the use of important driving variables by school administrators to assist instructors to become capable and effective in their roles as educators is conceived as motivation in the present study.…”

“…The CC refers to employees' willingness to stay in an organisation because of the perceived risks or hardships that might follow quitting ( Owan et al., 2020 ). This form of commitment is based on the rewards or pay workers get from organisations that make it seem unattainable or difficult to acquire anything better elsewhere ( Owan, 2021 ). Consequently, the most reasonable course of action is to remain focused on the available workplaces.…”

“…Given the extraordinary responsibilities of teachers, it is rather regrettable that a constant stream of evidence keeps revealing that most instructors have negative views and undesirable attitudes to work. This ineffectiveness, often reported in studies, includes tardiness, conflict with school administrators, the unexpected drafting of lecture notes, poor record-keeping, refusal to teach and unsatisfactory work mentalities ( Arop et al., 2018 ; Demirok, 2018 ; Owan, 2021 ).…”

“…In different parts of Asia, research attention has also been drawn to the issue of staff intention to quit their jobs ( Ail et al., 2015 ; Alhmoud and Rjoub, 2020 ; Grillo and Kier, 2021 ; Khawary and Ali, 2015 ; Mă rg ă ri ţ oiu, 2015 ; Zhang et al., 2019 ). In the context of Africa, particularly in Nigeria, an increasing number of studies on the education sector reveal a high rate of teachers' job turnover, commitment problems, and low retention rates ( Ajayi and Olatunji, 2019 ; Kamau et al., 2021 ; Madigan and Kim, 2021 ; Mutune and Orodho, 2014 ; Owan, 2021 ; Toprak et al., 2019 ). This provides an account that the issue of teachers' job commitment, hypocrisy, turnover, and retention is a global phenomenon.…”

“…A feeling of urgency has prompted policymakers to accept a wide range of measures to reduce teacher turnover because of its impact. Since job commitment is defined as the extent to which workers are prepared to stay loyal to their employer due to their happiness, satisfaction or compensation ( Owan, 2021 ), it is crucial to identify the factors that contribute to employee job commitment in developing countries. The present study drew from these issues and was designed to predict teachers' job commitment (across AC, CC and NC dimensions) based on their retraining, motivation and placement.…”