Ronit Bogler

The Influence of Leadership Style on Teacher Job Satisfaction

The article examines the effects of principals’ leadership style (transformational or transactional), principals’ decision-making strategy (autocratic versus participative), and teachers’occupation perceptions on teacher satisfaction from the job. More specifically, it attempts to find out how much of the variation in teachers’job satisfaction can be attributed to their perceptions of their occupation, as compared to their perceptions about their principals’ leadership style and decision-making strategy. A quantitative questionnaire using Likert-type scales was administered to 930 teachers in Israeli schools, of whom 745 responded. Path analysis was used to explain teacher job satisfaction by the exogenous variables. The most salient finding was that teachers’occupation perceptions strongly affected their satisfaction. Principals’transformational leadership affected teachers’satisfaction both directly and indirectly through their occupation perceptions. Implications of the study are discussed in relation to supervisors and principals, as well as to policy makers at the government level.

Antecedents and Consequences of Teacher Organizational and Professional Commitment

The purpose of the present study was to examine the distinctive relationships of teacher professional and organizational commitment with participation in decision making and with organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). The data were collected through questionnaires from a sample of 983 teachers at 25 middle schools and 27 high schools in Israel. The results of the structural equation model confirmed the main hypotheses and depicted distinctive patterns of relationships regarding professional commitment and organizational commitment in schools. First, whereas participation in the managerial domain was positively associated with both the professional and the organizational commitment, participation in the technical domain was positively related with only teachers’ professional commitment. Second, professional commitment was positively associated with OCBtoward the student, whereas organizational commitment was positively associated with all three dimensions of OCB(toward the student, the team, and the organization). Implications of the study findings are discussed in relation to teachers and administrators in schools.

Two Profiles of Schoolteachers: A Discriminant Analysis of Job Satisfaction.

Abstract Using discriminant analysis, this study attempts to construct profiles of two types of teachers: those with a low level of job satisfaction and those with a high level of job satisfaction. In addition to their background and demographic characteristics, teachers’ perceptions of their occupation and of their principals’ leadership styles (transformational or transactional) are examined as predictors that discriminate between teachers with low and high levels of satisfaction. The results suggest that teachers with a low level of satisfaction can be reliably distinguished from teachers with a high level of satisfaction by their occupational perceptions, principals’ leadership styles, and a number of their demographic characteristics. Implications of the findings for school principals and teachers are discussed.

The socialization of faculty members to university culture and norms

Abstract The study aims at revealing the dynamics of processes of socialization of university faculty members to university culture and norms. As a first step in this endeavor a group of eight university faculty members ‐‐ novice and senior ‐‐ affiliated with the department of education at an Israeli research university were interviewed in depth. The interviews were protocolled verbatim and content‐analyzed. The content‐analysis yielded several themes of reference: isolation and loneliness; expectations; professional identity; conflicts and dilemmas; and tenure. These themes were analyzed and discussed, followed by practical implications for policy makers and academic staff.

School autonomy and 21st century skills in the Israeli educational system: Discrepancies between the declarative and operational levels

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze two parallel processes in the Israeli educational system: first, the idea of school autonomy, exploring its origins and its pedagogical implications and effectiveness; and second, the development of the progressive education evident mainly in the cognitive domain of twenty-first century skills (21st CS), focussing on fostering “deep knowledge” and children’s thinking skills. The manuscript explores the various “waves” of progressive pedagogies that have taken place in the Israeli school system over the years, describing and analyzing the processes that characterize them. Design/methodology/approach Based on a historical perspective, the paper describes chronologically the main developments related to school autonomy and 21st CS policy initiatives, based on a literature review and analysis of policy documents. Findings The review indicates that the Israeli educational system is still caught in the “centralization trap,” inhibiting major changes in the patterns of central control and degrees of freedom granted to school-level educators. As for school pedagogy, it is evident that most of the changes in pedagogy suggested by the numerous policy documents over the years have not resulted in sustainable, system-wide change. In both issues a large disparity is evident between declarations about innovative pedagogies and school autonomy and their actual implementation. Originality/value The review reflects the idiosyncratic articulation of policy plans conducted by the Ministry of Education, producing discrepancies and incongruences at the school level. Some implications of the “declarative culture” created are further discussed.

Leadership attributes, masculinity and risk taking as predictors of crisis proneness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which leadership attributes, masculinity, risk taking and decision making affect perceived crisis proneness.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws mainly on the literature about gender, leadership and organizational crisis to explore whether masculinity predicts crisis proneness, and the extent to which leadership attributes as well as risk‐taking and decision‐making style are efficient predictors of perceived crisis preparedness (CP). Utilizing pertinent literature and concepts, the paper evaluates a database of 231 female and male managers.Findings – As hypothesized, masculinity is positively associated, whereas transformational leadership is inversely associated with perceived crisis proneness. Both participative decision making and passive management predict higher degree of perceived crisis proneness and so does risk taking.Research limitations/implications – More in‐depth research as well as larger and more diverse sample is requ...

The Contribution of Perceived Fit between Job Demands and Abilities to Teachers' Commitment and Job Satisfaction.

The current study aims at exploring the common means that may improve organizational effectiveness by focusing on two main facets of organizational qualities: teacher commitment and job satisfaction. Data were collected from 841 randomly sampled teachers employed in 118 elementary schools in Israel. A quantitative questionnaire, which included scales measuring organizational and professional commitment, extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction and organizational and job-related characteristics, was employed. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the single variable that predicted both types of commitment (organizational and professional) and both types of satisfaction (intrinsic and extrinsic) was teachers’ perceptions of the fit between ones job demands and abilities. The second most influential predictor was principals’ interaction with the teachers. Job-related characteristics had the least impact on teacher’s professional commitment and extrinsic satisfaction. The finding, that perceived job fit predicted both commitment and job satisfaction, reinforces the importance of the assumption about the significance of best practice in recruitment and placement processes, which has long been known to be significant in determining professional conduct. Other implications of the findings are discussed, and recommendations are provided to school principals.

The impact of past experience on people's preference: the case of university researchers' dependency on funding sources

How much does a successful collaboration between a university researcher and a funding source affect the researchers future preference of that source? To examine this relationship, another crucial variable is added, namely, the individuals level of dependency on funding sources. It is hypothesized that given a low level of dependency, if researchers have had a satisfactory experience with a funding source, they will be more likely to prefer collaboration with that source than if they did not have a satisfactory relationship. Given a high level of dependency, past experience will not make a difference on preference. The effects of past experience on peoples preferences are examined based on a survey of American university researchers. The data show that past experience has a strong impact on ones preference, but this effect is true for all researchers, regardless of their level of dependency on external support. Implications for funding sources, and social scientists using resource dependency as the theoretical framework are discussed.

Rewards and costs: how do they affect the choice by university researchers of the preferred funding source in the USA?

What are the factors affecting university researchers in their decision to choose one type of funding source over the other? One such factor is the perceptions of individuals toward the costs and the rewards that are associated with the collaboration. Therefore, it was hypothesized that when researchers maintain low level of dependency on external support, they will tend to prefer the collaboration with a funding source which is perceived to provide most rewards and least costs among all sources. Faculty at five doctoral universities in the USA responded to a mailed questionnaire. The results suggested that most of those who regarded a specific funding source as providing the most rewards or the least costs preferred this source. The paper discusses the implications of the findings, and the role of the federal government as the major funding source amongst all sources.