Conferința științifică națională cu participare internațională „Integrare prin cercetare și inovare”, USM, 10-11 noiembrie 2020 198 APPROACHES OF TEACHERS’ ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR Hila BALALIS Israel CZU: 371.12:159.9.019.4 Hilab2013@gmail.com Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a way of managing interdependent relationships among those working in a team, which has the ability to increase collective outcomes and results, and reduce the organization’s need to invest expensive resources in basic function and maintenance, therefore freeing up resources for the benefit of productivity and output. This behavior also enhances others’ ability to performs their job, as they have more time to establish efficient planning, scheduling, problem solving tactics, and more [3]. Organiza- tional citizenship behavior belongs to a certain class of selected beha- viors, performed despite the fact that evading them does not ordinarily entail punishment. These behaviors have an important impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of professional teams and organizations and therefore contribute to the organization’s general output. Research to date has focused on organizational citizenship behavior primarily in the industrial and services sectors, but has refrained from investigating this behavior in educational organizations. The search for studies of organizational citizenship behavior among teachers uncovered few articles on the subject [1, 2, 4]. The findings of these quantitative studies show that organizational citizenship behavior among teachers is directed toward the students, the staff, and the school. Among factors that encourage organizational citizenship behavior in teachers, job satisfaction was found to be a central component [4]. A study of German teachers found that identification with the edu- cational program is an important variable that can predict organizatio- nal citizenship behavior among teachers, while a study among Ameri- can teachers revealed a positive correlation between a positive school environment and teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior [1]. The notion of behaviors directed towards the individual and the organization was first introduced by Williams and Anderson (1991), mailto:Hilab2013@gmail.com ŞTIINŢE SOCIALE Psihologie, științe ale educației, sociologie și asistență socială 199 and in the educational setting, it corresponds to behaviors directed towards students, teacher colleagues, and to the whole school. OCBs operate indirectly; they influence the social and psychological environment of organizations, which in turn influence the technical core. OCB affects the technical core since it involves extra role behaviors of some teachers toward students and teachers. These teachers help students with class materials, acquire expertise in new areas that contribute to their work, prepare special assignments for higher- or lower-level students, volunteer for school committees, set up learning programs for substitute teachers, help absent colleagues by assigning learning tasks to their classes, and work collaboratively with others. All these OCBs relate to the technical core of the organization. However, in the case of teachers who exhibit OCBs, they also help to achieve organization goals. This is reflected through extra role behaviors toward the organization, expressed by teachers organizing social activities for the school, volunteering for roles and tasks that are not part of their jobs, providing innovative suggestions to improve the school and by organizing joint activities with parents above the norm. Our study examines the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior in general, and the variations in this relationship in the private sector versus the public sector in parti- cular. This is based on the assumptions that organizational culture shapes the way employees operate, manage, and execute tasks in their organization, and that organizational citizenship behavior, as a compo- nent of this culture, has direct implications on organizational ‘suc- cess’. Main findings show the importance of following components: A. Helping students and colleagues: This component includes voluntarily helping students (tutoring and assistance with personal problems outside of school hours, listening and attending to students, showing compassion and empathy for struggling students), and new teachers or peers with various matters. B. Development and implementation of educational and organi- zational changes and innovations: Initiating changes in teaching me- thods, introducing curriculum innovations, and organizing school projects, are part of teachers’ citizenship behavior, as they are not Conferința științifică națională cu participare internațională „Integrare prin cercetare și inovare”, USM, 10-11 noiembrie 2020 200 directly rewarded for these initiatives even though they require time and effort. The lack of compensation is particularly evident in changes enforced by the Ministry of Education. Later works on organizational citizenship behavior include this component in their definition of the phenomenon [3]. C. Organizational orientation: This component, referred to as “civic integrity” in related literature, regards the teacher's commitment to the school as an organization and not strictly to their own class. Participation in school activities, such as ad-hoc committees, or voluntarily taking part in organizational aspects of the school – which is unique to teachers – are included in this component. D. Professional commitment: This component refers to teachers’ commitment to do everything in their power for the success of their students. Using a variety of teaching methods, adjusting teaching methods to suit the students, and providing comprehensive and in- depth assessments, are perceived as behaviors for which teachers are not directly compensated, which are aimed at cultivating success among students. They depend on the teacher’s personal discretion and their willingness to invest many hours of their free time. We conclude that: 1. Teachers who were emotionally connected to their organiza- tion tended to exhibit organizational citizenship behavior. Emotionally charged conflicts between home and work-life were found to have a negative correlation with organizational citizenship behavior. 2. Managers should pay attention to relationships in the orga- nization and conduct activities, embedded into the annual work plan, that strengthen the connection between management and employees and among employees themselves. Thus, channels of open dialogue and cooperation will be developed, which can create a positive work environment and an organizational culture that encourages organiza- tional citizenship behavior and mutual responsibility among teachers. 3. Considering the issue of limited financial compensation, and the dynamic and changing nature of job satisfaction, a periodic inves- tigation of factors affecting satisfaction in different organizational sectors should be conducted (e.g. according to position and age), in ŞTIINŢE SOCIALE Psihologie, științe ale educației, sociologie și asistență socială 201 recognition of the fact that teachers face changing conditions on an almost daily basis. 4. Organizational variables correlated with the exhibition of organi- zational citizenship behavior include feedback, internally rewarding tasks, and innovation in the workplace. Routine, bureaucracy and role- related conflicts, were found to have a negative correlation with organi- zational citizenship behavior, particularly with altruism and dedication. References: 1. DIPOLA, M. & TSCHANNEN-MORAN, M. Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Schools and its Relationship to School Climate. In: Journal of School Leadership, 2001, 11, pp. 424-445. 2. SOMECH, A. & DRACH-ZAHAVY, A. Understanding Extra-Role Be- havior in Schools: The Relationships between Job Satisfaction, Sense of Efficacy, and Teachers' Extra-Role Behavior. In: Teaching and Teacher Education, 2000, 16, pp. 649-659 3. PODSAKOFF, P.M. et al. Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Critical Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature and Suggestions for Future Research. In: Journal of Management, 2000, 26 (3), pp. 513-563. 4. BOGLER, R. & SOMECH, A. Influence of Teacher Empowerment on Teachers' Organizational Commitment, Professional Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in Schools. In: Teaching and Teacher Education, 2004, 20, 3, pp. 277-289.