Teachers’ Perceptions of the Relationship Between Teachers’ Organizational Commitment, Effective Teaching Practices, and Students’ Learning Outcomes in the Secondary Schools of Bunir, Pakistan

It is well-established that both teacher commitment and the quality of instruction positively influence student achievement. However, the evidence for such constructs and their connections in the context of a developing country such as Pakistan is scarce. This research addresses the interconnections of teachers’ organizational commitment, pedagogical effectiveness, and student performance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secondary schools, aligned with the educational reform initiatives in developing nations. A quantitative approach was utilized involving a purposive sample of 348 secondary school educators in Bunir District for triangulation purposes. Based on a validated data collection instrument, the researchers measured the three latent constructs of organizational commitment (affective, normative, and continuance), effective teaching (practice, metacognitive strategy, feedback, and formative assessment), and student performance (cognitive and non-cognitive). Subsequently, the researchers utilized descriptive statistics, correlation, and structural equation modeling for the analyses. The most notable findings in the study were the moderate levels of teacher commitment and instructional effectiveness, and the particularly low levels of student achievement, especially in the non-cognitive dimensions. Teachers’ organizational commitment was positively related to effective teaching, as well as to student achievement. Furthermore, teaching practices served as a mediator of the relationship between teacher commitment and student outcomes, as the direct effect of commitment on outcomes was found to be non-significant. The findings highlight the importance of constructive pedagogical practices as a mediator between teacher commitment and student outcomes. In challenging educational contexts, reinforcing teacher commitment through initiatives such as professional recognition, mentoring within a defined framework, and distributed leadership, combined with ongoing pedagogical training, could amplify student engagement and achievement.