Mediating effect of teacher commitment on the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher performance in secondary schools - bugiri district

Abstract

Leadership styles used by school head teachers are unquestionably a crucial element in ascertaining teacher commitment. Besides, teacher commitment is closely associated to various teacher constructs that contribute to school effectiveness. As such, the main purpose of this research was to examine mediating effect of teacher commitment on relationship between transformational leadership and teacher performance in secondary schools in Bugiri district. The study used Transformational Leadership Theory developed by Bass and Riggio (2006) and correlational research design to conduct the study. The total participant for the study consisted of 332 teachers as well as head teachers of secondary schools in Bugiri District. The study used stratified random sampling technique to select a sample size of 196 respondents from the target population. The study used quantitative methods in data collection by administering closed-ended questionnaires, designed with a five-point Likert scale. Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient and regression analysis statistical tools were used to test the hypotheses using the SPSS 16.0 package for data analysis. The results revealed that teacher commitment had a partial mediating effect in the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher performance. The main conclusion drawn from the findings of study is that there is a partial mediating effect of teacher commitment on the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher performance. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommends that head teachers need to consider adopting transformational leadership style as a way of improving teacher commitments and in turn increasing teacher performance levels in their schools.