Teachers’ Perceived Commitment as Measured by Age, Gender and School Type

Abstract

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate secondary school beginning teachers’ perceptions of professional commitment in Ethiopia, and to determine how their perceptions differed across the selected demographic variables in terms of professional commitment. Respondents were 381 secondary school beginning teachers in East Shoa and West Arsi Zones of Oromiya regional state, Ethiopia. They responded to a 2-part questionnaire—demographic variables and Professional Commitment Scale (Allen, Meyer, & Smith, 1993). Data was gathered via questionnaires following the research procedures. Statistical analysis of the data was done using SPSS for Windows version 11.5. Scale results showed that the background variables—age, gender, and school type—have significant but small effects on the perceptions of beginning secondary school teachers’ professional commitment in Ethiopia. Beginning male teachers in Ethiopia claim relatively higher levels of affective professional commitment; while their perceptions of normative, and continuance professional commitment tends to be neutral. This study also revealed that teachers in public secondary schools than private secondary schools perceived higher normative ( MD = 0.28, p < 0.01) and continuance ( MD = 0.17, p < 0.05) professional commitment. Implications and recommendations for school practices and future research are discussed.