Work motivation and organisational commitment among inclusive education teachers in China: the mediating role of job crafting

Abstract

Inclusive education teachers’ psychological commitment to their schools plays an important role in improving high-quality education for students with special educational needs. This study aimed to examine the effect of inclusive education teachers’ work motivation on their organisational commitment and the mediating role of job crafting in this relationship. A total of 534 inclusive education teachers in Beijing, China, participated in this study. The results suggested that after controlling for demographic factors (i.e. age, years of experience teaching students with special educational needs (SEN), subject taught, and training), controlled motivation positively predicted maladaptive commitments, while autonomous motivation positively predicted adaptive commitments and negatively predicted maladaptive commitments. Furthermore, skill, task, and role crafting were the main mediators in the relationship between work motivation and organisational commitment. This study argues that the effect of teachers’ motivation to be engaged in inclusive education on their commitment to schools could be explained by the internalisation of the value of inclusive education; such internalisation could be facilitated by improving teachers’ competence in meeting the needs of students with SEN. The theoretical contribution, practical implications, and limitations are discussed.