ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT LEVELS OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS' LEADERSHIP STYLES

Abstract

The organizational commitment levels of preschool teachers are crucial to have an effective early childhood education. One of the most influential factors affecting organizational commitment is administrators' leadership style. This research explored the correlation between administrators' leadership styles and organizational commitment levels of preschool teachers. The correlational survey design was used as one of the quantitative research models in this study. Participants in the study were preschool teachers in Istanbul's Küçükçekmece district. The research was conducted during the 2017-2018 academic year. There are 237 teachers in the study sample. The 5-point Likert type Organizational Commitment Scale with 27 items and the Leadership Style Scale with 35 items were used to collect data. It was found that teachers generally identified with their organizations and internalized the organization’s values, while school administrators were perceived as using a transformational leadership style. The study found a statistically significant correlation between the leadership styles of administrators and the levels of organizational commitment of preschool teachers. In preschool institutions, teachers' institutional commitment is essential for the development of students. Therefore, administrators should be sensitive to their leadership styles to make the commitment levels of preschool teachers high. The research has limitations like being a local one, done in a relatively short time, and the participants were only teachers working in public schools. Keywords: leadership style, organizational commitment, preschool teacher, correlational survey, educational leadership