Teacher professional commitment in the Israeli Arab education system: Principal leadership and school outcomes

The study suggests investigating the mediating role of teacher's professional commitment in the relationship between directive leadership and participative leadership to the school outcomes of teachers’ absenteeism and academic emphasis. The data were collected from two sources: senior management team members and teachers to avoid the same source and common method bias. Overall, 426 participants from 71 high schools in the Israeli Arab educational system answered validated questionnaires. The results from the structural equation model indicated that teacher professional commitment mediates the relationship between directive leadership and participative leadership to teachers’ absenteeism and academic emphasis. Teachers’ professional commitment facilitates school principals’ leadership styles, building leadership capacity, and promoting a positive and safe school learning environment. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.