Citizenship behavior and misbehavior among superintendents. An integrative approach
| Published date | 19 August 2019 |
| Date | 19 August 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-03-2019-0034 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Author | Orly Shapira-Lishchinsky,Tania Levy-Gazenfrantz |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
Citizenship behavior
and misbehavior among
superintendents
An integrative approach
Orly Shapira-Lishchinsky and Tania Levy-Gazenfrantz
Department of Educational Administration, Leadership and Policy,
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore an integrative model which includes specific intentions
that may explain the contradictory citizenship behaviors and misbehaviors among superintendents in Israel.
Design/methodology/approach –In total, 518 superintendents from seven Israeli Ministry of Education
district offices were randomly selected. Based on sequence theory, the study examined motivational
perceptions of authentic leadership, psychological empowerment and collective efficacy, and their
relationships toward intentions to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and organizational
misbehavior (OMB) which may lead to OCB and OMB. The research combined self-reports and computer
records. The model was analyzed using Mplus statistical packages.
Findings –The authors found that intentions to be late positively predicted lateness, while intentions
to leave predicted OMB. In addition, the study indicates several mediating relationships. For example,
intentions to engage in OCB-organization and OCB-individual fully mediated the relationship between
“self-determination”of psychological empowerment and OCB. In addition, intention to leave mediated the
relationship between authentic leadership and lateness.
Originality/value –Across nationalities, superintendents greatly impact the educational processes in their
districts. Their high status in the educational system makes them role models. Therefore, it is important to
investigate their behaviors and motivations. The findings may contribute toward developing an integrative
approach that can predict the superintendents’behaviors by suggesting specific intentions that can explain
corresponding behaviors. This model may also help in developing educational policies for reducing the
superintendents’OMB and increasing their OCB.
Keywords Organizational citizenship behaviour, Superintendents, Organization misbehaviour
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and organizational misbehavior (OMB) have
been studied on principals and teachers in cross-national studies in various educational
systems (Shapira-Lishchinsky and Raftar-Ozery, 2018). However, their effects on
superintendents have never been studied. Although superintendents’roles vary across
countries, their importance in stimulating policy in schools, and their status as responsible
to school principals, teachers and students, make them natural role models. Therefore, it is
important to investigate their motivational perceptions and attitudes toward OCB and OMB.
Obviously, such high level in the educational system should be motivated to act in
citizenship behavior. However, their workload and their autonomy in designing their roles,
may reveal misbehaviors, which can reduce the district’s effectiveness. Understanding this
problematic context led us to explore the perceptions, intentions and behaviors of the
superintendents in the different Israeli districts.
Our study adopted Ajzen’s (2012) sequence theory which argues that psychological
mechanisms, including an individual’s perceptions and specific intentions, lead to
corresponding behaviors. We further chose the self-determination theory (SDT) (Ryan and
Deci, 2017) as the conceptual framework for selecting perceptions of psychological
empowerment, collective efficacy and authentic leadership, since these perceptions
Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 58 No. 1, 2020
pp. 1-18
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-03-2019-0034
Received 3 March 2019
Revised 17 June 2019
18 July 2019
Accepted 21 July 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
1
Citizenship
behavior and
misbehavior
include motivational elements toward intentions to engage in OCB and OMB, and could
provide a broad perspective to explain OCB and OMB among superintendents in the
different Israeli districts.
Based on these theories, the main goal of this study was to examine an integrative model
of motivational aspects, such as perceptions of psychological empowerment, collective
efficacy and authentic leadership toward OCB and OMB intentions (including intention to
be late and leave) that correspond to OCB and OMB (including lateness) among
superintendents in the different Israeli districts.
We begin with a description of the superintendents’roles and the sequence theory. We
then discuss the predictors, in terms of their motivational aspects: authentic leadership,
psychological empowerment and collective efficacy (the independent variables), and OCB
and OMB (the dependent variables). We finally discus the relationships between intent to
engage in OCB, intent to engage in OMB (the mediators) and OCB and OMB.
Theoretical background
Superintendents’roles in Israel
Israel is divided into seven districts with the Ministry of Education managing the financial,
administrational and pedagogical aspects through multiple superintendents in each district
under a district head (Shapira-Lishchinsky and Litchka, 2018). Some superintendents are
“general superintendents”whose responsibility is the educational processes in schools, and
others are subject specific superintendents (e.g. math, English, biology, etc.). Israeli
superintendents in the different districts, regardless of their roles, are obligated to adhere to
the same policies and educational changes, based on a centralized educational system that is
under the supervision of the Ministry of Education (Nir and Eyal, 2003). This creates high
levels of bureaucratic structure (Arar and Avidov-Ungar, 2019).
Superintendents in Israel have both instructional leadership and managerial
responsibilities, being responsible for the administrative educational processes and
teaching in schools (Schechter, 2011). More specifically, the Ministry of Education appoints
the superintendents in each district and they are responsible to supervise and implement the
Ministry’s policies and regulations (Bogler and Nir, 2017). The superintendents have several
roles: implementing educational visions, goals and initiatives while adapting the curriculum
to the school’s needs. This includes promoting a positive school climate for changes and
encouraging teacher training and professional development; coordinating between various
educational stakeholders, mobilizing school resources toward the community’s needs;
obtaining relevant information regarding school outcomes and teaching methods to
evaluate and analyze school achievements for improving the educational system;
organizing, supervising and planning resource allocation and principal and teacher
appointments and dismissals (Addi-Raccah, 2015).
Israeli superintendents are obligated to spend one day a week in their offices for
meeting with teachers and administrative work. The other days are dedicated toward
visits, meetings and activities in their district schools. There are written values in the code
of ethics of the public sector which includes the Ministry of Education. These values
include upholding human dignity, equality, equity, integrity and social justice, which can
affect the superintendents’behaviors toward promoting an ethical climate in schools
(Shapira-Lishchinsky, 2019).
Sequence theory
Ajzen and Fishbein (2005) developed the sequence theory, which includes the notion of
“perception–intention–behavior.”This theory argues that there is a strong link between
perceptions, intentions and behaviors. Intentions are determined by the attitude toward
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