Teachers' perceptions of principals' transformational leadership and teachers' job satisfaction and school commitment.

摘要

Nations that wish to compete in the global economy recognize education as an indispensable tool of development. Taiwan has recently launched a major effort at educational reform aimed at enhancing its students' ability to efficiently participate in a rapidly changing and globalizing world economy.; One of the major factors in providing effective instruction to a nation's younger generation is teacher performance. If teachers lack job satisfaction and commitment, the possibilities for productive learning and educational reform are sharply diminished. This makes teaching performance and all the variables that affect it an area of vital concern for educational leaders.; The purpose of this study is to examine teachers' job satisfaction and school commitment using the transformational leadership model in the context of educational reform in Taiwan. A self-report questionnaire was administrated to 1,250 secondary school teachers in Taiwan in 2003. Respondents were instructed to refer to their current school principal when answering questions about principal leadership style, and teachers' job satisfaction and school commitment. The survey also collected background information through a set of questions about personal and school characteristics. A total of 685 teachers returned usable questionnaires.; Data are analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple correlation analyses, and regression models. The results of this study show that the model of transformational leadership has significant and positive effects on job satisfaction and school commitment among Taiwanese secondary school teachers. Teachers seem to be very satisfied and committed when they perceive their principal as someone who is able to articulate a vision of the future for the school, provide an appropriate model that is consistent with that vision, foster the acceptance of group goals, offer individual support, and communicate high performance expectations. The implications of this study are discussed in relation to public and private school principals and government policy making.