43 CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS This chapter presents the summary of findings, conclusions, and recommendations from the study of teacher commitment and job satisfaction of teachers at primary and secondary international schools in Ho Chi Minh city. These were based on the present study. Summary of The Study Four research questions were asked in this research. To answer these questions, descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, bivariate correlation, and multiple regression analysis were used. Statistical significance was set at α=.05. Based on these analyses, the following are the major findings: First of all, the overall job satisfaction was 3.84 (SD=0.56) suggesting that the teachers at the international schools in Ho Chi Minh City were moderately satisfied with their present job. In addition, the overall teacher commitment was 3.70 (SD=0.50), indicating a moderate level of commitment. Approximately 71% of the variance in teacher commitment can be accounted for by teachers’ job satisfaction. This meant teachers who were committed to their schools were more likely to be satisfied with their position. This seems reasonable as job satisfaction is considered as an attitudinal cause of commitment (Bluedorn, 1982). Additionally, Meyer and Allen (1987, 1988) proposed
44 that the influence of satisfaction appears to be even stronger when new employees are examined. Secondly, it is claimed that there was no gender difference in teacher commitment (p=.32). This is in contrast to other studies that have found earlier that the average job for females was lower in stature and income than for males, yet females demonstrated a higher level of commitment. Thirdly, there was a significant difference in age group. It is reported that 26-30- year-olds (M=3.86, SD=0.28) and 46+ year-olds (M=3.90, SD=0.13) were significantly more committed to their schools rather than those who are 31-35 years old (M=3.58, SD=0.30). This is also indicated by Khurshid (2012) as cited in Clarence & George (2018) study that there is a higher level of commitment among older employees compared to newly appointed workers who may change their job readily. This may be due to the perks that come along with lifelong service and investment that senior employees have made in the workplace. Fourthly, the findings also reported that there were differences in commitment between single and married/previously married teachers (p=.17). Married teachers 3.74 (SD=0.65) were more committed to the job rather than single teachers 3.64 (SD=0.22). This seems reasonable as men who get and stay married tend to work harder and more effectively rather than those who are unmarried (Daly, 2011). Finally, teacher commitment is not related to years of teaching experience (p=.23). In addition, there are no differences in commitment between teachers with Bachelor’s degrees and those with Master’s degrees (p=.80). This finding corroborates the assertion made by Buchanan, as cited in Kargar’s (2012) study that there is a negative
45 and weak relationship between education and organizational commitment. The relationship is mostly based on attitudinal commitment, not reasoning commitment. This helps to strengthen the hypothesis that there are no significant differences between teacher commitment of respondents when they are grouped according to educational level. Conclusion of Research Findings This study aimed to explore the important factors that impact teacher commitment in primary and secondary international schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The study indicated that there is a relationship between job satisfaction and teacher commitment to the organization. Teachers who are working in international schools in Ho Chi Minh City are moderately satisfied with their present work, mainly because of the comfortable feelings they have towards staff and colleagues. In addition, it also states the perception of job satisfaction of teachers in international schools in Ho Chi Minh city in terms of pay and benefits, job security, feelings towards staff/ colleagues, and growth and development. From this, the leadership team can have a deeper understanding of their teachers and derive the policies to increase the satisfaction level and of course, the commitment to the organization. As a result, management and owners of schools should evaluate carefully and frequently their approaches to raising commitment according to their own particular needs and circumstances. Limitations of the Study As with all survey-based research, there are limitations to the interpretation of the results. However, wave analysis indicated no response bias for respondents. Nonetheless, the generalizability of the research findings to the larger population of teachers might be
46 limited. There were possibilities that respondents might have interpreted questions differently, potentially influencing their responses to some items. The study was limited to teachers working full time in the international school setting. They might be local teachers and expat teachers who might have different beliefs and concepts regarding organization commitment. In addition, the survey was partially conducted through emails during the social lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City due to the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore, some of the participants might have not responded honestly due to the fear of financial harm. Recommendations for Application Based on the findings, there are some important recommendations for educational practice and future study research made by the researcher. These recommendations are primarily aimed to provide additional insights to the school leaders, administrators, and teachers or educators in general, in international primary and secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for the respective institutions. To achieve the researcher’s genuine concerns, there are some major issues are recommended as follow: Board of Trustees Heads of respective schools should take seriously the factors that underpin the concept of teacher satisfaction. In particular, they should recognize that teachers may well be only moderately committed to their schools and that management needs to reflect more on this to raise a more wholehearted sense of loyalty by teachers. Firstly, there is a need to enhance the current practice of the schools in terms of performance appraisal policy. This is an opportunity to assess employee’s performance against specific objectives and provide a mechanism to discuss development. Therefore,
47 the appraisals must be conducted fairly and objectively regardless of age, gender, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion, degrees, years of experiences, or any other grounds. In addition, schools should wish to encourage a culture in which all teachers should take responsibility for improving their teaching through qualified professional development. This should be linked to the school improvement priorities and the professional development needs of individual teachers. Secondly, to raise the level of ‘moderately committed teachers’ to ‘highly committed teachers’, management teams can explore with the individual teachers of their particular schools to find out what elements of ‘teacher satisfaction’ are important to the teachers themselves. From this evaluation, senior leaders alongside the governors or owners of the schools can derive policies for their schools that highlight the school’s approach to increase the level of satisfaction. These could include the school’s approach to professional development that can be the sharing of good practice in the school /department. In addition, the level of pay and enumeration including benefits encompassing retention, loyalty bonuses, responsibility allowances for undertaking a management role, overtime and flight allowances, and general pay awards in light of the financial performance of the school/group should be reviewed. Also, developing appropriate support systems for those teachers who may feel fewer levels of satisfaction at an early stage so that the teachers concerned are not left perhaps to drift in a school feeling that their voices are not being heard. Finally, schools should regularly evaluate their strategies in light of the differing circumstances within the school and amend their approaches accordingly in light of new data that indicates that teaching satisfaction in their workplaces may be faltering.
48 Educational Administrators Administrators should ensure in the light of the above that teachers who are in the age groups 31 - 35 are managed well and that the elements of the school’s policy highlighted above are effectively put into place so that the level of retrenchment in a school is reduced and that the teachers concerned are more satisfied in their teaching and hence raise the level of commitment to their school. Senior leaders should explore with the teachers who are married and working at a school the specifics of why it is they are satisfied at working there and from this gleam any potential strategies to use with single teachers that may enhance their level of satisfaction. In particular, schools should focus on elements such as friendships, mentoring, and social strategies to militate against the possibility of some teachers feeling isolated when living and working in an international school. Teachers Teachers should self-evaluate their level of commitment to their respective schools. From that, they would find out what aspects they need to improve to raise the commitment and loyalty to the organization, and further, provide better learning outcomes for students. More importantly, they should learn to communicate with their supervisors so that their needs would be addressed appropriately. Recommendations for Further Study The strongest predictor is feelings towards staff/colleagues. At this point, further study would focus more on the feelings towards staff/ colleagues. Interviews would be undertaken to get a clearer and deeper understanding of the elements that impact the relationships among staff and colleagues in terms of role models of the management
49 team, activities that teachers can all be involved in, the right of giving opinions, and relationship between leader and employees as well as the relationship among employees themselves, for example. From that, there should be further study on how to make use of those elements to enhance the commitment of teachers and consequently to boost the quality of teaching and learning. There is also scope for a further research project to study how well schools and their management teams explore the concept of commitment with and during the interview process of candidates. This may yield evidence to management that some teachers may demonstrate a deeper understanding of commitment than others.
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APPENDICE
57 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS Monday, March 16th , 2020 Dear sir/Madam, I am My Shongzan, a graduate student of Asia Pacific International University, Thailand, undertaking a Master’s degree in Education major in Educational Administration. I am currently researching on factors that impact teachers’ commitment in international schools in Ho Chi Minh City. In this connection, I would like to solicit your full participation as my respondents by answering the questionnaire honestly and accurately. I really need your help due to time constraints. All responses will remain confidential. Schools and respondents’ names will not be revealed. The information obtained will be strictly used for academic purposes only. Thank you so much for your time and participation. Sincerely, My Shongzan Dr. Josephine Katenga Dr. Darrin Thomas Researcher Advisor Advisor ______________________________________________________ THE QUESTIONNAIRE Part I. RESPONDENT PROFILE Please indicate your employment status (√):
58 Full-time Part-time Instruction: Please put a check (√) mark in the box that best describes about you: 1. Gender: Male Female 2. Age : 20-25 26 – 30 31 – 35 36 – 40 41- 45 46 – 50 51-55 56 and over 3. Marital Status: Single Married Separated Widow/Widower 4. Length of Service: 1-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 11-15 yrs 16-20 yrs 21-25 yrs 26-30 yrs 31 yrs and above 5. Highest Degree Obtained (Educational Attainment): Technical/Vocational Degree Two-year Course Bachelor Degree Master Degree. Doctorate Degree Part II: TEACHER COMMITMENT Instruction: The questions below are designed for research purpose only. All the information will be kept confidentially. Rate each statement honestly, fairly, and accurately using the following criteria:
59 5= Strongly agree (SA); 4= Agree(A); 3= Moderately agree (MA); 2= Disagree(D); 1 = Strongly disagree (SD) No Items Satisfaction Levels SA A MA D SD 1 I am willing to put in a great deal of effort beyond that normally expected in order to help this organization be successful. 2 I talk up this organization to my friends as a great organization to work for. 3 I feel very little loyalty to this organization. 4 I would accept almost any job assignment in order to keep working for this organization. 5 I find that my values and organization values are very similar. 6 I am proud to tell others that I am part of this organization. 7 I could just as well be working for a different organization as long as the type of work was similar. 8 This organization really inspires the best in me in the way of job performance. 9 I would take very little change in my present circumstances to cause me to leave this organization. 10 I am extremely glad that I chose this organization to work for over others I was considering at the time I joined. 11 There’s not too much to be gained by sticking with this organization indefinitely. 12 Often, I find it difficult to agree with this organization’s policies on important matters relating to its employees. 13 I really care about the fate of this organization. 14 For me this is the best of all possible organizations for which to work. 15 Deciding to work in this organization was a definite mistake on my part.
60 Part III: JOB SATISFACTION Instruction: The questions below are designed for research purpose only. All the information will be kept confidentially. Rate each statement honestly, fairly, and accurately using the following criteria: 5= Strongly agree (SA); 4= Agree(A); 3= Moderately agree (MA); 2= Disagree(D); 1 = Strongly disagree (SD) No Items Satisfaction Levels Job satisfaction factors SA A MA D SD Pay and benefits 1 I am satisfied with present working hours. 2 I am satisfied with the existing payment structure of the company. 3 I am satisfied with the compensation I receive, and I think it reflects my responsibilities. 4 I am happy with the leave policies. 5 I am satisfied with employee assistance policy (e.g.-lunch & transport etc.) of the company. Job security 6 I am satisfied with long-term benefits and insurance policy of the company. 7 I am satisfied with the medium and longterm prospects by working for the company. 8 I am happy with overall job security. 9 I am satisfied and able to maintain a healthy balance between work and family life. Feelings towards teaching staffs/colleagues 10 I am satisfied with the working environment. 11 I am happy with my work responsibilities. 12 I am happy with the job location.
61 13 I am satisfied with various activities in the firm and love participating in them. 14 I am satisfied with the working relationships with people around me. 15 I am satisfied with the given right to put forward my opinions. 16 I am satisfied with the leaders in my workplace as positive role model. Growth and development activities 17 I am satisfied with the present performance appraisal policy of the company. 18 I am satisfied with the recognition and rewards for my works and contribution. 19 Fulfilling my responsibilities gives me a feeling of satisfaction and personal achievement. 20 I am satisfied and I think I have been awarded right set of duties, as per my ability.