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Headmaster’s Transformational Leadership and Teacher’s

Organisational Commitment in Primary School

Juninah Junainah Dullah, Ministry Of Education

Sabariah Sharif, Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Mohamad Nizam Nazarudin, Universiti Malaysia Sabah

M.S. Omar-Fauzee, Universiti Putra Malaysia

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to explore the level of headmaster’s transformational leadership/the level of

teachers/organizational commitment and the relationship between headmaster’s leadership style and the organisational

commitment of primary school teachers in Beaufort, Sabah, Malaysia. The model of transformational leadership

developed by Bass (1985) and the organisational commitment model which was developed by Meyer and Allen (1991)

served as the theoretical framework for the study. The transformational leadership classified into inspirational

motivation intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. The organisational commitment on the other hand

divided into affective commitment; continuance commitment and normative commitment. Data was obtained from 130 Beauforts, primary schools teachers. The research only dealt with Grade A schools. Two questionnaires were used as

the main instrument; Alimo- Metcalfe’s (2001) Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (TLQ) which consisted of 21

items and Meyer and Aliens (1997) Organisational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ)/ which consisted of 18 items.

Data was analysed with SPSS for windows version 15.0. An average positive relationship between headmaster’s

inspirational motivation and teacher’s organisational commitment was found. As perceived by the teachers/ the level of

headmaster’s transformational leadership in Beaufort, was high in most schools. The research also indicated that the

level of teacher’s organisational commitment was average. This research also suggested numbers of ways to improve

teacher’s organisational commitment.

Keywords: Transformational leaderships. Headmasters, leadership style, and organizational commitment

INTRODUCTION

School is the most important organisation in Malaysian educational system. One of the elements to a school's

success is an experienced leader (whether principal or headmaster), who has a positive attitude and is able to create a

school environment that encourages cooperation and communication among staff members, between staff and

administration, and between staff members and the pupils. A solid leadership is the most essential key to school success.

This suggests that there is a need to identify the quality of the personnel responsible in the organisation and how this

kind of leadership able to evoke commitments of the teachers in order to bring the school into success. School needs to

improve from time to time and this process of change needs to be lead by a qualified leader who is talented, determined,

knowledgeable and capable. The most appropriate starting point is to search and train that capable, talented principal

who then lead the staff and students in the development of common expectations. We must understand the importance

of shared, distributive leadership that focuses the school on a vision of excellence and the effort they must invest to

achieve excellence.

With the recent education reform and restructuring, for example Education Development Master Plan (PIPP 2006

- 2010) with its six core agendas, more emphasis would have to be placed on commitment of the teaching workforce.

New educational strategies and approaches were developed due to the increasing external pressures on the work

environment and thus a pool of highly qualified and committed teaching workforce is needed in the field of education

(Chua Lee Chuan, 2005). Headmaster often encounters the need to transform the school from low performance to

acceptable performance or from acceptable performance to high performance. At other times, a headmaster is expected

to move firm from crisis mode to high ground. To accomplish these purposes, the transformational leader attempts to



have a strong teacher's commitment towards the school.

The increasing range and complexity of leadership responsibilities in schools means that it is no longer possible

for the principal to be the sole leader (Bush & Middlewood, 2005). Wood, Bennett, Harvey and Wise (2004) in Bush &

Middlewood, (2005), mentioned that deputy and assistant heads, and middle - level leaders such as heads of department

or subject leaders were increasingly important for effective management in schools. This emphasis requires specific and

sustained attention to leadership development as a central part of wider teacher's development agenda. Ofsted (2003) in

Bush and Middlewood (2005) graded school leadership into 'very good', 'satisfactory' and 'poor'. 'Very good' leadership

is dedicated to ensure the highest possible standards and achievements in all areas of the school's work. It is reflective,self - critical and innovative and expresses a clear vision of the school in the future so that the followers know what they

are expected to do.

Clear strategic thinking and planning for improvement is the result from this. 'Satisfactory' leadership is firm,

competent and committed and there are clear lines of responsibility. The teachers reflect the school's aims and policies

in their work; they understand the school's goals and their role in achieving them. The school monitors their

performance and tackles weaknesses. Meanwhile, 'poor' leadership is muddled, besieged or incompetent. The school

lacks a sense of direction. Senior teachers are preoccupied with daily tasks and incidents and find it difficult to prioritise

the most important issues and focus their efforts accordingly. On the other hand, school has to rely on teacher's high

commitment in order to cope with imperative changes. Therefore special interest is taken in the significance of

transformational leadership for encouraging and maintaining commitment. It stands to reason that leadership is a

universal concept though distinctly anchored in its cultural background.

It was inspiring how 2004 excellent principal (JUSA C) Mary Yap Kain Ching transformed a wrecked school into

a tremendous school. How did she motivate the whole school ranging from the teachers to the students to follow her

vision? Why was the whole school so committed to change themselves from an ordinary school into the first 30 schools

nationally entitled for cluster schools? Undoubtedly, this is what was believed by Ishak Sin (2003) as the character of

transformational leader. The effectiveness of the leader transcended the expectation, included charismatic characteristic,

able to evoke the inspiration, stimulate the intellectual and individually tolerate others. According to Bolman and Deal

(1997), the challenges of modern organisation required the objective perspectives of managers as well as the brilliant

flashes of vision and commitment that wise leadership produce. Leaders who practice transformational leadership

inspire their subordinates to identify their interest and look into focused and centralized aim

Transformational leaders focus their effort to long term goals, put values and stresses on development, inspire thesubordinate to follow their vision and achieve it. The central concept for transformational leadership is change and the

role of leadership in envisioning and implementing the transformation of organisation performance. With

transformational leadership, the subordinates feel trust, admiration, loyalty and respect toward the leader and they are

motivated to do more than they are originally expected to do Due to the importance of leadership in bringing success to

the school, many theories on leadership have emerged and are practiced around the world. Although many local

researches have been conducted relating to the headmaster or principal's leadership, there are limited findings on the

relationship of headmaster's transformational leadership and teacher's organisational commitment. For leadership, the

most common issues are instructional leadership and teacher's perception (Fauzi Ismail, 2004; Munah Nasri, 2005),

leadership and teacher's job satisfaction (Harith Hj Ideris, 2004; Norafidah Noralidin, 2004; Sivasanggar Subramaniam,

2006, Klaas, & Peter, 2006) women's leadership and teacher's job motivation (Elizabeth Mak, 2006, Wei-Kong, 2005)

and principal leadership and school's effectiveness (Mohd Noh Ismail, 2004).

The latest trend in defining leadership is the theories of transformational leadership. Although this development

has been discussed since 1970s in the Western countries, there is not much research done on this topic in Malaysia

(Ishak Sin, 2003). In Malaysia, the theories of leadership styles such as the transactional leadership, transformational

leadership and instructional leadership still need to be discussed further. The lack of findings which compare these

types of leadership make it difficult for leaders in school (especially the headmaster and the principal) to choose the

type of leadership to be practiced. Almost all educational reform reports have come to the conclusion that the nation

cannot attain excellence in education without effective school leadership (English, 2005). Bush and Middlewood (2005)

acknowledged people as the most important resource in the organisation. They provide the knowledge, skill and energy



which are essential to success. What differentiates effective and less effective organisations are the quality and the

commitment of the people employed there. In countries where even basic resources are barely adequate, the

opportunities for an effective education may depend even more upon the attitude and commitment of people in them.

There are also a number of researches conducted on commitment. However, local published studies on this issue are

very rare (Chua Lee Chuan, 2005).

There are numbers of leadership theories or styles that shape schools. Between 1980 and 1990s, instructional

leadership was an idea that framed the school's institution. However, there was an initiative to restructure the school in

order to prepare it to face future challenges. Instructional leadership was seen as out dated (Ishak Sin, 2003). In order togain teachers' support, commitment, job satisfaction and to ensure pupils' achievement most headmasters do not know

which approach or style will suited their school. In some schools, headmasters only manage the school but do not lead

the people, manage resources or give input to the organisation. Organisational commitment is an important research

topic of human resource management, having both practical and theoretical implications. Lack of commitment causes

withdrawal behaviours. As suggested by Hanish and Hulin (1990) in Landy and Conte (2004), there are two types of

withdrawal behaviours; work withdrawal (includes lateness and absenteeism and represents an attempt by the individual

to withdraw from work but still maintain ties to the organisation and work role) and job withdrawal (includes intentions

to quit or retire and represents an individual's willingness to break ties to the organisation and work role). For that, lack

of commitment is believed to cause absenteeism, turn over and de-motivation to perform work well.

Thurlow (2003) in Bush and Middlewood (2005) noted that the organisational performance of schools in respect

of their prime functions (teaching and learning) generally needs substantial improvement. Thus the key resource for

improvement is the people who work in them. The improvement and the people's contributions in it need to be managed

properly. For that, through this research, the effective leadership type will be identified in relation to ensure the

commitment and contributions of the people in it. There are several reasons for conducting this study. It will help the

schools involved in this research to practise suitable leadership style in order to get teacher's commitment. A good

leadership style will ensure teachers are committed and responsible in their work. Also, through this research, the

researcher tries to suggest a number of approaches for headmasters that will increase their ability to act effectively. This

is in line with the New Management Theory (Sergiovanni, 1995), where there is a principle called Principle of Ability -

Authority, which promotes authority based on ability.

Information gain from this research will give a picture about headmasters' role in carrying out their job as a leader,

especially in order to practice few transformational leadership behaviours which are appropriate to the school and ableto evoke teacher's affective commitment. This research will also become guideline for the headmasters in the schools.

Headmasters' weaknesses in leadership practice will also be identified and this enables them to improve their practice.

Leaders could benefit from understanding the predictors of committed manpower because they can initiate the

interventions when the problems occur. Through this research as well, it could be a general reference, additional

knowledge or to some extent become a reference for the administrator. Numerous past studies on commitment proved

that low commitment was associated with increased absenteeism, increased intention to quit and poor job performance.

Purpose of the Study

Based on the research problem mentioned above, there are few questions that need to be answered while carrying

this research. They are listed below;

1. What is the level of headmaster's transformational leadership from the teacher's perspective?

2. What is the level of teacher's organisational commitment?

3. Is there significant relationship between headmaster's transformational leadership and teacher's organisational

commitment?

METHOD

Population and Sampling Procedure

The researcher selected the sample through cluster sampling. It was more convenient as the population is very



large and spread out over a wide geographic area. In addition to this, cluster sampling usually involves less time and

expense and generally more convenient than other techniques (Gay, Mills & Airasian, 20060. Primary schools in

Beaufort, Sabah are divided into two major categories, grade A and grade B. The data obtained from the District

Combined Education Office that shows that there are 742 teachers from 33 primary schools in the Beaufort, Sabah

district. For the purpose of selecting the sample, the researcher selected teachers from Grade A schools. According to

Gay et al. (2006), if the population ranged from 550 to 600, the sample should be around 140 to 144 respondents.

Research InstrumentThe headmaster's transformational leadership and teacher's organizational commitment were tested through two

types of questionnaires; the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire (TLQ) and the Organisational Commitment

Questionnaire (OCQ). The questionnaire tested the practice of transformational leadership by the headmaster and the

organisational commitment of the teachers. Nine demographic variables are also tested in the questionnaire. For every

item in the questionnaire, the respondents have to rate their answers based on 4 point Likert Scale, ranging from 4

(strongly agree) to 1 (strongly disagree). The instrument in this research is divided into three parts (Part A, B and C).

Part A consists of ten items. The demographic variable of the respondent will be asked. In the second part (Part B), the

researcher used TLQ. OCQ will be answered by the respondents in Part C.

Data Analysis

The data gained from this research was analyzed with a device called Statistical Package for the Social Science

(SPSS) Version 15.0. Descriptive analysis was used to interpret the demographic variables. The researcher used

frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. In addition to this, the researcher also used inferential analysis to

identify the relationship between the variables.

Pilot Study

Grade A school was selected for the pilot study. 32 questionnaires were distributed and 31 of it returned to the

researcher. The researcher consulted the administrator of the school first and briefly explained the objectives of the

research. The result indicated that, the Transformational Leadership Questionnaire shows high cronbach alpha's score

with 0.920. Meanwhile the Organisational Commitment Questionnaire only scored 0.755.

RESULT

Demography Characteristics of the Respondent

The researcher had distributed 220 questionnaires to all schools, however only 130 were returned to the

researcher. For that the analysis only focused on 130 respondents.

Table 1: Demographic characteristic of the respondents

Demographic characteristics Frequency Percent

Gender Man 60 46.2

Women 70 53.8Age 20 - 29 34 26.2

30- 39 63 48.5

40-49 29 22.3

>50 4 03.1

Category DGA 29 53 40.8

DGA 32 54 41.5

DGA 41 23 17.7

Teaching experiences < 3 years 20 15.4

3-7 years 29 22.3

8-11 years 23 17.7

12 years 58 44.6Period in current school < 1 yrs 8 06.2



1 - 5 yrs 69 53.16 - 10 yrs 27 20.8

11 > yrs 26 20.0

Period of knowing the

headmaster< 1 yrs 24 18.5

1 - 5 yrs 63 48.5

6 - 10 yrs 22 16.911 > yrs 21 16.2

Headmaster's Gender Male 89 68.5

Female 41 31.5Headmaster's age 40 - 49 70 53.8

50 > 60 46.2

RESEARCH FINDINGS

The finding of this research is divided into two parts. Part one deals with the levels of headmaster

transformational leadership as well as the teacher's organisational commitment from teacher's perspective, while part

two deals with the hypothesis testing.

Levels of headmaster's transformational leadership and teacher's organisational commitment

The result suggests that 14 out of 17 schools scores more than 3.00 for headmaster's inspirational motivation and

headmaster's individual consideration. For the intellectual stimulation, although most teachers agree on this character,

teachers from five out of 17 schools rate their headmaster's intellectual stimulation below 3.00. For inspirational

motivation, four schools showed scores above 3.50. The overall mean for inspirational motivation is 3.163. The highest

score is School N (x = 3.79) and the lowest is School D (x = 2.51). For headmaster's intellectual stimulation of the

headmaster, headmaster from School M scores the highest result (x = 3.79) while School D again scored the lowest (x =

2.63). The third transformational leadership analyzed in this research is individual consideration where School N

showed the maximum score (x = 4.00). In short, the mean for transformational leadership of headmaster is 3.154.

Apart from this, organisational commitment of the teachers in Beaufort, Sabah is below 3.00 (x = 2.815). School J

scored the highest for affective commitment, (X = 3.20) while School L (x = 3.00) for continuance commitment and

School N (x =3.08) for normative commitment. However three different schools gave low scores for the three items

respectively, they are School D for affective commitment (x = 2.70), School M for continuance commitment (x = 2.33)

and School D for normative commitment (x = 2.31). The results suggest that 14 out of 17 schools scored more than 3.00for affective communication. The continuance commitment and normative commitment on the other hand proves most

schools scored below 3.00. 16 schools scored below 3.00 for continuance commitment and normative commitment.

Table 2: Item’s mean based on schools

No School NTransformational Leadership Organisational Commitment

IM IS IC Total AC CC NC Total

01 School A 5 3.00 3.20 3.23 3.14 3.07 2.67 2.77 2.83

02 School B 5 3.23 3.29 3.34 3.29 3.13 2.70 2.63 2.82

03 School C 8 3.39 3.23 3.39 3.34 3.10 2.88 2.88 2.95

04 School D 15 2.51 2.63 2.67 2.60 2.70 2.56 2.31 2.52

05 School E 4 2.96 2.79 2.86 2.87 3.04 2.46 2.63 2.71

06 School F 14 3.17 3.13 3.19 3.17 3.09 2.88 2.69 2.89

07 School G 5 3.17 3.23 3.17 3.19 2.97 2.70 2.73 2.80

08 School H 10 3.06 2.99 3.11 3.05 3.07 2.62 2.80 2.83

09 School I 14 3.03 2.91 2.81 2.91 2.96 2.49 2.51 2.65

10 School J 10 3.21 3.19 3.41 3.27 3.20 2.63 2.87 2.90

11 School K 16 3.59 3.30 3.62 3.50 3.15 2.70 2.91 2.92

12 School L 3 3.48 3.14 3.57 3.40 3.06 3.00 2.89 2.98

13 School M 2 3.71 3.79 3.64 3.71 3.25 2.33 2.92 2.83

14 School N 2 3.79 3.43 4.00 3.74 3.17 2.67 3.08 2.97

15 School 0 2. 2.64 2.86 3.14 2.88 3.08 2.75 2.58 2.81

16 School P 10 3.20 3.16 3.31 3.22 3.08 2.85 2.83 2.9217 School Q 5 3.54 3.31 3.46 3.38 3.10 2.67 2.93 2.92



130 3.16 3.09 3.21 3.15 3.04 2.68 2.72 2.82

1M - Inspirational Motivation AC - Affective Commitment

IS - Intellectual Stimulation CC - Continuance Commitment IC - Individual Consideration C - Normative Commitment

a. Headmaster's Inspirational Motivation

Table 3: Headmaster's Inspirational Motivation

Item No Questions Mean

TLQ 1 Creates a clear vision of the future 3.33

TLQ 2 Inspires confidence in the value of his or her argument 3.15

TLQ 3 Achieves their vision 2.93

TLQ 4 Sets an enviable example for others to follow 3.18

TLQ 5 Demonstrates high personal standards 3.20

TLQ 6 Motivates their team 3.21

TLQ 7 Inspires people to follow their vision 3.11

Inspirational Motivation 3.16

The result suggest that item TLQ 1 has the highest mean (x = 3.33), while TLQ 3 shows the lowest mean (X

=2.93). From the table, in general it is suggested that the inspirational motivation shows mean above 3.00 (x = 3.16).

TLQ 1 become the highest mean may be due to the current practice in the educational field which need all the schools

to design and implement their own vision and mission. However, TLQ 3 becomes the lowest mean because may be

some of the schools are still working on the vision and mission and not yet achieve it.

b. Headmaster's Intellectual Stimulation

The result suggested that headmaster do encouraged the teachers to work on their best potential and encourage

them to challenge the status quo. The scores clearly suggest that the mean ranged between 2.98 (lowest) and 3.18

(highest). Item TLQ 12 with the question 'The headmaster in this school encourages others to re-think their idea' gained

the highest mean (x = 3.18). Meanwhile, item number 9 which mentioned about the likelihood of the headmaster

encouraging the teacher to challenge the status quo resulted in the lowest mean (x = 2.98).

Table 4: Headmaster's Intellectual StimulationItem No Questions Mean

TLQ 8 Ask question to test other’s thinking 3.00

TLQ 9 Encourages other to challenge the status quo 2.98

TLQ 10 Provides tasks that are stretching but achievable 3.07

TLQ 11 Shows the ability to sell the benefit of new ideas 3.03

TLQ 12 Encourages others to re-think their ideas 3.18

TLQ 13 Quickly gains insight into problems 3.03

TLQ 14 Encourages others to work to their best potential 3.35

Intellectual Stimulation 3.09TLQ - Transformational Leadership Questionnaire

c. Headmaster's Individual Consideration

The result indicates that item TLQ 17 (the headmaster builds co-operative relationship with immediate colleagues)

has the highest mean ( x = 3.36), while the lowest mean is item TLQ 21 ( x = 3.03), which asked the question 'the

headmaster tunes in to unspoken thoughts and feeling'. Individual consideration, the third character analysed in this

research scored more than 3.00 ( x = 3.21). Most of the teachers agreed that headmaster build co-operative relationship

with colleagues.

Table 5: Headmaster's Individual Consideration


TLQ 15 Treats people as unique individuals 3.22

TLQ 16 Tries to understand the other person's view point 3.23



TLQ 17 Builds co-operative relationship with immediate colleagues 3.36TLQ 18 Listen to others 3.22

TLQ 19 Recognizes the different capabilities of individuals 3.20

TLQ 20 Changes their style and approach according to who the are dealing with 3.18

TLQ 21 Tunes in to unspoken thoughts and feeling 3.03

Individual Consideration 3.21TLQ - Transformational Leadership Questionnaire

d. Teacher's Affective CommitmentFor affective commitment of the teacher, OCQ 6 has the lowest mean ( x = 2.92). Meanwhile, OCQ 2 has the

highest mean ( x = 3.13). From the table, it is suggested that affective commitment of teacher in general has high mean

( x = 3.04).

Table 6: Teacher's Affective Commitment


OCQ 1 I would be very happy to spend the rest of my career with this department. 3.04

OCQ 2 I really feel as if this department's problems are my own 3.13

OCQ 3 I do not feel a strong sense of "belonging" to my department. 3.08

OCQ 4 I do not feel ―emotionally attached‖ to this department 3.03

OCQ 5 I do not feel like "part of the family" at my department 3.06

OCQ 6 This department has a great deal of personal meaning for me 2.92Affective Commitment 3.04

OCQ – Organisational Commitment

e. Teacher's Normative Commitment

Table 7: Teacher's Normative Commitment


OCQ 7 I do not feel any obligation to remain with my current employer. 3.07

OCQ 8Even if it were to my advantage, I do not feel it would be right

to leave my organisation now.3.10

OCQ 9 I would feel guilty if I left my organisation now. 3.15

OCQ 10 This organisation deserves my loyalty 3.02

OCQ 11I would not leave my organisation right now because I have a

sense of obligation to the people in it3.64

OCQ 12 I owe a great deal to my organisation 2.62

Normative Commitment 2.72

OCQ - Organisationa/ Commitment Questionnaire

The result suggests that teacher rated unfavorably item OCQ 12. It was the lowest score as compared to the others.

The question was about the sense of obligation on people in the school and from the analysis it was proven that

teacher's intention in leaving the organisation has nothing to do with their obligation to the people in the school. The

overall score was low, that is 2.72.

f. Teacher's Continuance Commitment

The result suggest that item OCQ 13 has the highest mean (x = 3.16), while OCQ 15 has the lowest mean (x =

2.82). It is suggested that the mean of continuance commitment of the teachers is low (x = 2.68). Most of the teachers

feel it was hard for them to leave the school, for that, they stayed in it due to necessity and desire .

Table 8: Teacher's Continuance Commitment


OCQ 13It would be very hard for me to leave my department right now,even if I wanted to.

3.16



OCQ 14One of the few negative consequences of leaving this departmentwould be the scarcity of available alternatives.

3.11

OCQ 15Right now, staying with my department is a matter of necessity

as much as desire.2.82

OCQ 16I feel that I have too few options to consider leaving this

department.3.02

OCQ 17If I had not already put so much of myself into this department, Imight consider working elsewhere.

3.01

OCQ 18

Too much of my life would be disrupted if I decided to leave m

department now. 3.00

Continuance Commitment 2.68OCQ - Organisationa/ Commitment Questionnaire

Table 9: Relationship of headmaster's transformational leadership and

teacher’s organizational commitment components

Headmaster’s

Transformational

Leadership

Teacher’s

Organisational

Commitment

Affective

Commitment

Normative

Commitment

Continuance

Commitment

r = 0.789

r = 0.695

r = 0.767

r = 0.353

DISCUSSION

Levels of Headmaster's Transformational Leadership

The item's mean clearly shows that teachers rated their headmaster as highly practicing transformational

leadership and they also rated themselves as committed to their own school although their score is only average All the

items which were tested scored more than 3.0. They were the inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and

individual consideration. This shows that the headmaster practice transformational leadership and teachers were more

committed to them because of the personal attachment or feelings towards the school. It includes the happy state to

work in the school, emotional attachment to the school and a sense of belonging to the school.

The result of the study also shows that most teachers perceived the transformational leadership characters

(inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and the individual consideration) being used by the headmaster. This

shows that most headmasters are ready to transform and upgrade their school. They are ready to set high possible

standards and achievements in all areas of the school's work. Headmaster with clear vision of the school will lead the

teachers to perform up to what they are expected. Clear strategic thinking and planning for improvement is also shown

by the headmaster. As responding to the criticism on transformational leadership by Bass and Avolio (1993), whoaddressed the issue of tendency of transformational leadership to become elitist and antidemocratic, this research is

totally not agree with the statement. The high level of headmaster's transformational leadership and average teacher's

organisational commitment level shows that most of the teacher feels wanted to stay in the school.

Levels of Teacher's Organisational Commitment

It was clear that from three items tested for the organisational commitment of the teachers, only one scored above

3.0. Most of the teachers scored below 3.0 for both continuance commitment and normative commitment. The lowest

score may be because the teacher feels the action of staying or leaving the school is not only because of the sense of



obligation to the people in the school but more to other obligations as well. This finding suggests that whenever teacher

feels less committed to the school, they are much likely to leave the organisation. This is supported by Yousef (2000)

and Jermier and Berkes (1979). As to the level of teacher's organisational commitment, Meyer and Allen (1991) agreed

that higher level of affective commitment is better for the organisation as compared to normative commitment and

continuance commitment. This is because the teacher works in the school due to their own feeling and sense of

belonging and is not due to the obligation or alternatives and consequences related to it.

Relationship between Headmaster's Transformational Leadership and Teacher's Organisational CommitmentThis research result is in line with what gained by few researchers (Stum, 1999; Walumbawa et al. 2005; Judge &

Bono, 2000; John, & Peter, 2006, and Avolio et al, 2004; Bass, 1990) who found out that efforts made by subordinates

under transformational leader is high and more committed to work. The researcher finds out that the transformational

leadership has positive and average correlation with affective commitment and normative commitment. Only

continuance commitment scored weak correlation. This contradicts with the findings of some researchers, who found

weak positive relationships between transformational leadership behaviours and affective commitment, normative

commitment, as well as, continuance commitment. In a study undertaken by Kent and Chelladurai (2001), it was found

that individualised consideration has a positive correlation with both affective commitment and normative commitment.

They also found positive correlations between intellectual stimulation and both affective commitment and normative

commitment. Joffres and Haughey (2001) addressed the same issue. According to them, teacher commitment and

transformational leadership exhibited weak result. Based on this finding, it is logical to assume that headmaster's

leadership behaviours will have a significant relationship with the development of teacher's organisational commitment.

Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that transformational leaders are more challenging and demanding in terms of

their expectations to their followers.

Relationship between Headmaster's Transformational Leadership and Teacher’s Organisational Commitment

Components

The result reveals that the correlation between the headmaster's transformational leadership and teacher's affective

commitment is average. The headmaster, who inspires' his or her follower's motivations, intellectually stimulates them

and considerate them individually is somewhat positively related to teacher's personal attachment or feeling towards the

school. They most likely are happy to work in the school and have a sense of belonging to the school. Some researchesfound the same result although the correlation gained was relatively lower than what proven by this study (Nyengane,

2007; Ekeland, 2005; Brown, 2003). Most of the researcher agreed that leadership behaviours which involved building

trust, inspiring a shared vision, encouraging creativity, emphasizing development and recognizing accomplishments is

positively related to how employee feel about wanting to stay to the current organisation they are working with.

The researcher finds out the correlation between the headmaster's transformational leadership and teacher's

normative commitment is strong. The normative commitment of the teacher, which is the sense of obligation to stay in

the current school, has a significant correlation with the transformational leadership of the headmaster. Brown (2003)

by contrast, in her research found different score between the affective commitment and the normative commitment,

with the first scored higher than the second. However, in this research, it was not. The correlation scored is higher for

normative commitment and a little bit lower for affective commitment. The difference between the scores may be due to

the research setting, whereas this research was conducted locally as compared to Brown's, which organised outside this

country. The culture of this country maybe shapes the organisational commitment of the teacher especially the affective

commitment. As compared to this research, a number of researches found low correlation between transformational

leadership and normative commitment (Kent & Chelladurai, 2001; Brown, 2003; Nyengane, 2007). However, when we

refer back to the answers made by the teachers, most of them agreed that they feel obligated to remain in the school and

feel obligated to the people in it (the score's mean was high). This shows that the teachers feel responsible to the pupils.

For that, the teachers have a good morality

Finally, this study points out that teacher's continuance commitment is correlated weakly with the headmaster's

transformational commitment. The continuance commitment mostly deal with the question of the teacher's intention



whether to stay or to leave the school based on the effort made to the school and the possible consequences and

alternatives receive outside the school. This finding is in line with Meyer and Allen's (1991), who believed that teachers

who have a strong continuance commitment stay with the organisation because they do not want to lose the amount of

time, money or effort invested or because they think they have no employment alternatives. Research evidence also

provided the picture of a consistent and strong association between organisational tenure and intentions to turnover, this

mean the longer someone works there the less likely he or she are to leave (Labatmediene et al., 2007; Mathieu & Zajac,

1990; Angle & Perry, 1981; Wei-Kong, 2005).

Again, Brown (2003) concluded different result as compared with this finding. In her study, she was unable tofind any statistically significant correlation among any of the transformational leadership behaviours and continuance

commitment. The leadership behaviours may not related to how employees feel about having to stay in the current

organisation. Rather, continuance commitment is more likely related to transferability of skills and alternative

employment opportunities. As to the research instrument, the questionnaire used should be simplified. The OCQ

questionnaire may be suitable in Western countries (where it was originated) but not in rural areas. The teachers tend to

have difficulties in understanding the meaning of the questions and become de-motivated in reading lengthy- questions.

This might result in the mean for organisational commitment scoring below 3.00.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the present study makes a contribution to our understanding about the conditions under which the

transformational leadership of the headmaster may be more effective in arousing teacher's organisational commitment.

The main objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between headmaster transformational leadership and

teacher's organisational commitment in Beaufort, Sabah primary school. This study found that the transformational

leadership behaviours were positively related with teacher's organisational commitment. This means that leadership

behaviours which involve headmaster's inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration do

explain how teacher feels about wanting to, needing to, or feeling obligated to, stay with the organisation. The more the

headmaster displays these behaviours, the more teachers may want to, need to, or feel obligated to stay in the school.

Overall findings from this study suggest that transformational leadership, do play important roles in determining

levels of affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment of the teachers in that particular

school. For that, headmaster really needs to pay attention on their leadership styles and behaviour in order to make theteachers more committed to the school. This research as well suggests few steps in order to improve the commitment of

the teachers.

Headmaster should do everything he or she can to give information and experience to teachers in order to

accomplish certain task or jobs, especially for those who are new in this field. This could improve their early job

experience. Headmaster also should provide opportunities for committing acts and the school must show high level of

commitment to the teachers in return. There also needs for training programme, which designed to improve and to

increase headmaster's transformational leadership. This might be an effective strategy to boost teacher's commitment

towards the school. In future, the researcher recommends a replication, field experiment and improvement in the usage

of the instrument.

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