Principals’ Professional Support and Teachers’ Job Commitment. A Qualitative Case Study of Public Secondary Schools in Gatsibo District, Rwanda

This study explores how principals’ professional support plays a critical role in shaping teachers’ job commitment in public secondary schools in Gatsibo District, Rwanda. It was grounded in Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, and it adopted a qualitative case study approach with a phenomenological orientation to capture teachers' in-depth lived experiences of leadership support. Data collection was done through semi-structured interviews with 16 participants, including school principals and teachers, selected from different schools using purposive and stratified sampling techniques. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Study results revealed that principals’ professional support was viewed in different dimensions, including instructional supervision, constructive feedback, professional development opportunities, structured work organisation, recognition, and welfare-related support. The study also revealed that supportive leadership practices such as fair supervision, recognition, participatory decision-making, and professional growth opportunities were key motivators that increased teachers’ motivation, engagement, and emotional attachment to their schools, whereas challenges including heavy administrative workloads, limited time for supervision, mentoring gaps, and resource constraints limited the availability and efficacy of professional support. Therefore, principals’ professional support strengthens teachers’ job commitment when both motivator and hygiene factors are effectively addressed, based on the findings. Recommendations for policymakers and school leaders are that they should work hard to strengthen leadership capacity, reduce administrative burdens, and promote inclusive, supportive school leadership practices to enhance teacher commitment and retention in public secondary schools.