Organizational commitment of chilean teachers and their relationship to intention to remain in their schools

Abstract

The present study examines the relation between organizational commitment that teachers establish with their schools and intend to remain there. Organizational commitments are weighed using the multidimensional model proposed by Allen and Meyer (1990) and Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993). This model characterizes three types of commitments: affective, calculated and normative. The explanatory efficacy of each commitment on intended permanence of teachers in establishments is identified by means of a logistic regression technique. Likewise, diverse combinations between commitments are compared to provide the most comprehensive model. Five hundred and thirty nine 1st - 8th grade teachers working in public municipal, sponsored- private and private schools from Santiago are surveyed. In general, results indicate that affective commitments best account for intended permanence. However, it is necessary for a better adjustment to integrate normative aspects to this dimension. On the other hand, though calculated commitment is also relevant, its explanatory efficacy is significantly less than the affective one.