Abstract:

Purpose: This research aims to analyze the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment according to teachers' perceptions. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research was designed as descriptive and relational research and was conducted using the mixed method. The research population comprises 1757 middle and high school teachers working in the Kızıltepe district of Mardin province during the 2020-2021 academic year. The sample consists of 338 teachers. Findings: As a result of the research, it was revealed that school managers exhibited a very high level of transformational leadership characteristics according to teachers' opinions. It was found that the highest mean among the sub-dimensions belonged to the idealized influence dimension. While there was no significant difference between the independent variables, such as gender, age, level of employment, education level, and the time worked with the manager, a significant difference was found between the transformational leadership and the seniority variable. When the organizational commitment levels of the teachers were examined, it was found that their commitment was at a high level. Teachers stated that they were most emotionally committed to their organizations. There was no significant difference between teachers' organizational commitment and independent variables. When the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational commitment was examined, medium-level and positive relationships were found at the general and sub-dimensions. Data obtained from interviews with teachers also support these results. In addition, the findings obtained from the interviews with the teachers within the scope of the qualitative part of the study support the findings obtained in the quantitative part. Highlights: As a result of the findings obtained from this research and the literature review, it can be concluded that transformational leadership positively affects teachers' organizational commitment. With the school manager's transformational leadership behaviors, the teachers' organizational commitment levels can be increased.

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