Abstract

Introduction. A main aspect of professional identity is occupational commitment wich has shown significant relationship with motivation and positive mental state in healthcare environments. However, it is not clear how occupational commitment is related to teaching practices in universities. Occupational Comitment Scale (OCS) is proposed and related to Teaching Practices Questionarie. Methods. OCS and Teaching Practices Questionarie were answered by 319 university teachers from 13 chilean regions, who were selected through a non-probabilistic volunteer sampling. An exploratory factor analysis was performed. Internal consistency of each factor was calculated with Cronbach’s Alpha. Spearman correlations were used to explore relationship between the two measures. Results. Two factors were identified in OCS: Teacher Commitment and Ethical-Professional Commitment. Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.85 for both factors. Moderate direct relationship between teacher commitment, ethical-professional commitment and Teaching Practices Questionarie were found. Discussion. A more committed teacher is related with better teacher’s practices, which confirm the importance of teacher’s believes and perceptions over their own practices. Further research is needed to assess the construct validity of the scale and to assess its predictive value in the quality of teaching practices in healthcare programs. Conclusions. OCS Showed an adequate internal consistency. Its factorial structure showed two different types of commitment. Teacher commitment is directly related to Teaching Practices. TAKE HOME MESSAGE. Both the Teacher commitment and the Ethical-Professional Commitment are relevant for teacher practices.