Vocation-centered leadership: Strengthening teacher commitment and retention in the Catholic Schools

This study examined the influence of vocation-centered leadership on teacher commitment and retention in selected Dominican Catholic schools, namely Dominican School Manila, Dominican School San Juan, and Dominican School Santa Rosa. Using a quantitative descriptive-correlational research design, the study involved 100 purposively selected teachers who had served in their respective institutions for at least one academic year. A validated survey questionnaire measured teachers’ perceptions of vocation-centered leadership in terms of spiritual leadership, servant leadership, transformational leadership, and professional mentorship, as well as their levels of commitment (affective, continuance, and normative) and retention (job satisfaction, institutional loyalty, and turnover intention). Descriptive statistics and inferential analyses, including Pearson correlation and analysis of variance, were employed to analyze the data. Findings revealed that vocation-centered leadership was practiced to a high extent across all dimensions. Teachers likewise demonstrated high levels of commitment and retention, indicating strong emotional attachment, moral obligation, and practical reasons for remaining in their institutions, alongside high job satisfaction and institutional loyalty. A significant difference was found between teacher commitment and teacher retention, with commitment rated slightly higher than retention, suggesting that although teachers are highly committed, other contextual factors may still influence their long-term stay. Moreover, vocation-centered leadership showed a significant and positive relationship with both teacher commitment and teacher retention, with servant leadership emerging as the strongest predictor, followed by spiritual and transformational leadership. The study concludes that leadership grounded in vocation, faith, and service plays a vital role in strengthening teachers’ professional commitment and sustaining their retention in Catholic schools. Based on these results, a teacher commitment and retention framework anchored in vocation-centered leadership is proposed to guide school heads in fostering a supportive, mission-driven, and stable teaching workforce.