Organizational citizenship behavior in teaching

Purpose Professionals and employees have been documented to perform a wide variety of extra‐role activities (also called organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)) for which they are neither paid, nor obliged to accomplish by superiors. The paper aims to obtain greater understanding of the consequences of teacher OCB to the teachers who perform this kind of behavior as well as to their school. Design/methodology/approach Fifty Israeli elementary and secondary schoolteachers (40 female, ten male) participated in this study. Ages ranged between 28 and 64, with teaching experience in years ranging between 8 and 38. Open‐ended questions were used to gain the respondents' subjective conceptualizations of OCB and its outcomes for the teacher and the school. Findings The paper shows that the performance of extra‐role, non‐obligatory, and unrewarded tasks and activities in teaching is perceived by teachers who perform these tasks to have some influence upon themselves (e.g. a sense of self‐fulfillment, higher levels of job satisfaction), their students (e.g. higher students' achievements) and the whole school (e.g. improved school discipline and school image). Implications for further research on teacher OCB are suggested. Originality/value The paper offers insights into the implications for teachers, pupils and schools of OCB in teaching.