This study aims to explore the relationships between school climate constructs and teachers’ organizational silence (OS) and to analyze how school climate predicts teachers’ OS. The study population comprised all teachers (2,237) working in private primary schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The sample consisted of 329 responses, which represented 14.7% of the original population. Structural equation modeling for path analysis between the main constructs (teacher behavior, principal behavior) and teachers’ organizational silence revealed the influence of principal behavior on teachers’ silence was significant. However, the influence of teachers’ behavior on teachers’ silence was found to be non-significant. The relationships between teachers’ OS and four school climate constructs (supportive principal behavior, directive principal behavior, collegial teacher behavior, intimate teacher behavior) were negative, while the relationships between teachers’ organizational silence and two school climate scales (restrictive principal behavior, disengaged teacher behavior) were positive. It is recommended that top educational management officials develop relevant policy procedures, such as legislating necessary regulations to protect whistle-blowers in the school environment. Given the increased popularity of the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE) in measuring school typology, we encourage the use of this questionnaire to predict other teachers’ behaviors in the school environment.

 

Key words: School climate, Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary Schools (OCDQ-RE), organizational silence, teachers’ silence.