The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Teachers’ Trust and Commitment in Sharjah’s Private Schools

Abstract

This research examines the impact of transformational leadership on teachers’ faith in school leaders and their commitment to the organisation inside private schools in Sharjah. It concentrates on identifying leadership methodologies, assessing the impact of transformational techniques on trust and commitment, and the correlation between these two factors. The quantitative design was seen as descriptive explanatory. The sample included teachers from the British, American, Indian, and UAE Ministry of Education programmes. A quantitative survey utilising the stratified random sampling of 200 teachers was executed, and one-to-three school leaders and coordinators were intentionally chosen to participate in semi-structured qualitative interviews to further investigate aspects of leadership practices. A standardised online survey was utilised to gather data regarding transformational leadership behaviours, teacher trust, and organisational commitment. Interviews were conducted to explore the opinions and experiences of the participants. The quantitative data were assessed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including correlation and regression analysis, while the qualitative data were analysed by thematic analysis. The results indicated that the teachers observed their leaders as demonstrating transformational leadership behaviours characterised by respect, mentorship, visionary communication, and the encouragement of teacher engagement. The transformative leadership had a statistically significant, positive effect on teachers’ trust (r = 0.684, p > 0.001) and their commitment to the company (r = 0.758, p > 0.001). Moreover, organisational commitment had a strong correlation with the trust instructors had in their leaders (r = 0.789, p < 0.001). These results show that transformational leadership creates a positive and supportive environment, which makes teachers more confident and loyal to their leaders and schools. In summary, the study focused on the importance of transformational leadership in the privatised education sector and recommends that school managers adopt people-centric, visionary, and supportive leadership to improve teacher engagement, loyalty, and overall contributions to the school.

Keywords: transformational leadership, teachers’ trust and commitment, Sharjah private schools, teachers’ organisational commitment