Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction of Teachers: A Comparative Study of Central and State Government Schools

Teachers are dominant components of the education system, teacher management therefore forms a significant area of concern for effective management of the education system. Their behaviour which may be shaped by her values, attitudes and beliefs etc. determines the nature of interactions that take place in the classroom and in the school (Sood, 2003). Teachers satisfaction with their profession, school environment leads to their effective performance in their schools. They are considered as a crucial key to educational change and school improvement, they develop, define and interpret the curriculum. Teachers behaviour and student learning are intrinsically interlinked and to a large extent their beliefs, and attitudes influences the kind of classroom interaction and learning that young students experience (Khetrapal, 2003).The concept of the organizational commitment is concerned with the degree to which people are involved with their organizations and are interested in remaining with them. Meyer and Allen (1991, pg. 67) defined organizational commitment as a psychological state that (a) characterizes the employees' relationship with the organization and (b) had implications for the decision to continue membership in the organizations.They emphasized that organizational commitment of employees is not only matter of yes or no or even how much, distinctions can also be made in relation to the kind of commitment employees have. The work of Allen and Meyer (1993) and Meyer and Allen (1991) conceptualized commitment as a three dimensional construct. From their perspective, commitment is the aggregate result of three different but related concepts, each of which had its own antecedents and consequences. They acknowledged these distinctions and theorized a three component Model of organizational Commitment. Meyer and Allen (1991) categorised organizational commitment into three components which were Affective, Continuance and Normative Commitment. Affective Commitment refers to the employee's emotional attachment to, identification with and involvement in the organization. It is the strength of a person's desire to continue working for an organization because he/she agrees with its goals and values. Continuance Commitment is the strength of the person's desire to continue working because he/she needs to do so and cannot afford to leave. Normative Commitment reflects a feeling of obligation to continue employment. Employees with a high level of normative commitment feel they ought to remain with the organization.Committed employees are considered as invaluable asset to any organization and the same holds true for teachers as well. Higher level of commitment enhances moralejob satisfaction, professional competency, efficiency and effectiveness (Punia, 2000). Sharma (2001) stated that the more the teacher is committed, more he would acquire competencies and the more the teacher would tend to be a performing teacher. Dave (cited in Sharma, 2001) had elaborated 5 areas of teachers' commitment which were commitment to the learner, society, profession, commitment to achieve excellence and towards basic human values. Job content, scope for advancement, objectivity and rationality, monetary benefits were found to be the critical determinants of and organizational commitment (Sharma & Sharma, 2003). Teachers' well-being is inherently linked with their experiences at their work place. Johnson et al. (2012) explained that teachers' working conditions were important predictors of teachers' job satisfaction. They also highlighted that teachers were more satisfied and stayed longer in schools that had positive work context. Moreover, school's culture, the principal's leadership and relationship among colleagues were identified as major influences ofjob satisfaction. Job satisfaction was found to correlate with the employees' well-being (Imam, 2013).Some studies (Herbiniak & Alutto, 1972; Morris & Steers, 1980; Angle & Perry, 1981) indicated a positive relationship between age and organizational commitment. …