Teacher turnover intention: Analyzing the relationships of principal moral leadership, job satisfaction, and the mediating role of commitment

Teacher turnover intention poses critical challenges for educational institutions with profound implications for student outcomes and organizational stability. However, limited investigation exists into how principal moral leadership (PML), job satisfaction (JS), and commitment (COM) relate to turnover intentions (TI), particularly concerning the resource-constrained contexts, where teachers face job insecurity and inadequate compensation. This study examined how teachers’ COM mediated the relationship between predictors (PML and JS) and the outcome variable (TI) in private high schools in Manggarai Regency, Indonesia. Data from 197 teachers across 12 private schools, drawn through simple random sampling from a population of 390, were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with Smart PLS software. Results revealed that PML significantly correlated with both teachers’ COM and their intentions to turn over. Similarly, JS significantly correlated with teachers’ COM and TI. Nonetheless, teachers’ COM did not correlate with TI, nor did it significantly mediate the relationship between PML and TI or between JS and TI. This study emphasized the pivotal role of principals’ moral leadership and job satisfaction enhancement in retaining non-permanent teachers within financially constrained schools. These underscored the need for policy reforms addressing structural issues of inadequate compensation and job insecurity.