Teacher turnover intention: Analyzing the relationships of principal moral leadership, job satisfaction, and the mediating role of commitment

Teacher turnover intention poses critical challenges for educational institutions with profound implications for student outcomes and organizational stability. However, limited investigation exists into how principal moral leadership (PML), job satisfaction (JS), and commitment (COM) relate to turnover intentions (TI), particularly concerning the resource-constrained contexts, where teachers face job insecurity and inadequate compensation. This study examined how teachers’ COM mediated the relationship between predictors (PML and JS) and the outcome variable (TI) in private high schools in Manggarai Regency, Indonesia. Data from 197 teachers across 12 private schools, drawn through simple random sampling from a population of 390, were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Smart PLS software. Results revealed that PML significantly correlated with both teachers’ COM and their intentions to turn over. Similarly, JS significantly correlated with teachers’ COM and TI. Nonetheless, teachers’ COM did not correlate with TI, nor did it significantly mediate the relationship between PML and TI or between JS and TI. This study emphasized the pivotal role of principals’ moral leadership and job satisfaction enhancement in retaining non-permanent teachers within financially constrained schools. These underscored the need for policy reforms addressing structural issues of inadequate compensation and job insecurity.

教师离职意向对教育机构而言是严峻挑战，对学生培养成果与组织稳定性均具有深远影响。然而，现有研究对校长道德领导力（Principal Moral Leadership, PML）、工作满意度（Job Satisfaction, JS）与组织承诺（Commitment, COM）如何关联离职意向（Turnover Intention, TI）的探讨仍较为有限，尤其在资源受限的办学情境中——此类情境下教师普遍面临职业不稳定与薪酬不足的困境。本研究以印度尼西亚曼格莱摄政区的私立高中为研究场景，检验了教师组织承诺在预测变量（PML与JS）与因变量（TI）之间的中介效应。研究从390名教师的总体中通过简单随机抽样，选取12所私立高中的197名教师作为研究样本，采用Smart PLS软件构建结构方程模型（Structural Equation Modeling, SEM）开展数据分析。结果显示，校长道德领导力与教师组织承诺及离职意向均呈显著相关；同理，工作满意度与教师组织承诺及离职意向亦呈显著相关。但值得注意的是，教师组织承诺与离职意向之间并无显著关联，亦未在PML与TI、JS与TI的关系中发挥显著中介作用。本研究强调了提升校长道德领导力与教师工作满意度，对留住财务拮据学校中非终身制教师的关键作用，同时凸显了针对薪酬不足与职业不稳定等结构性问题开展政策改革的必要性。