TITLE:
Why Teachers Stay: How Transformational School Leadership Shapes Affective, Normative, and Continuance Commitment in Philippine Public Schools
AUTHORS:
Lani Ealse G. Metante, Abigael Balaga, Norie Ann C. Altejar, Mary Jane Campos, Joycy Barbarona, Joy M. Olarte
KEYWORDS:
Transformational Leadership, Organizational Commitment, Teacher Commitment, Affective Commitment, Philippine Public Schools
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.10,
October
9,
2026
ABSTRACT: Teacher commitment is a decisive factor in educational quality, learner outcomes, and school stability, yet the mechanisms by which school leadership sustains it remain undertested in Philippine public basic education. This study investigated the dynamics of teacher commitment through the integrated lenses of Transformational Leadership Theory and Organizational Commitment Theory in Department of Education (DepEd) schools in Region VIII, Philippines. It determined how the four transformational leadership dimensions of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration were associated with teachers’ affective, normative, and continuance commitment. An exploratory quantitative design using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed with 319 public basic education teachers drawn through convenience sampling from the schools divisions of the region, exceeding the G*Power minimum of 129 respondents for the largest four-predictor equation (138 under a more conservative five-predictor specification). Data were gathered through a structured questionnaire measuring the seven constructs, analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, weighted means, and WarpPLS 8.0. The measurement model demonstrated acceptable indicator reliability, internal consistency, convergent validity, and discriminant validity after limited item purification, with retained loadings of 0.701 to 0.880, Cronbach’s alpha of 0.715 to 0.914, composite reliability of 0.824 to 0.935, and AVE of 0.539 to 0.743. Respondents reported favorable perceptions of all constructs, with individualized consideration obtaining the highest mean (3.77) and idealized influence the lowest (3.44). Four of the seven hypothesized paths were supported: idealized influence (β = 0.249, p p = 0.039) were significantly associated with affective commitment, and affective commitment was significantly associated with normative commitment (β = 0.251, p p = 0.022). Inspirational motivation and intellectual stimulation were not significantly associated with affective commitment, and idealized influence was not directly associated with normative commitment. The structural model satisfied the WarpPLS fit and quality criteria but explained only 8.6%, 7.4%, and 1.6% of the variance in affective, normative, and continuance commitment, indicating that teacher commitment was also related to conditions beyond the tested leadership pathways. The study concluded that ethical role modeling, individualized support, and emotional attachment were the principal working mechanisms of teacher commitment, while motivational messaging alone was insufficient without supportive systems and enabling conditions. Based on the findings, a Teacher Commitment Strengthening Program anchored on the supported pathways was developed to strengthen the supported commitment pathways in DepEd schools; because no retention, turnover-intention, or actual-stay outcome was measured, implications for teacher retention are indirect and grounded in the wider commitment literature.