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Engelse samenvatting180component of commitment in the quantitative follow-up study. At schools where teachers feel a connection to the vision of the school, they more often say that they would not want to miss out on education and that they would not approve of their employer and/or colleagues leaving the school. This is in line with previous studies in other sectors (Jansen et al., 2018; Zhang & Bloemer, 2011) and with studies, specifically in education, that found a relationship between a shared school vision and feelings of belonging and job satisfaction (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2021), motivation (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011) and involvement (Li et al., 2015).With regard to career stages, we found an effect on teachers’ normative commitment: from the fifteenth year of experience onwards (i.e., after ‘midlife’), teachers in all schools seem to feel less morally obligated to their employer or colleagues to stay. Women were also found to have lower continuance commitment than men.On the basis of the results of the first two research questions in this dissertation, we can say that schools with an explicit vision have a basic ingredient for forming a professional learning community. Schools with an explicit, shared school vision appear to consist less of ‘loosely coupled systems’ (Weick, 1976), where teachers mainly work individually and have less need for continuous development. The explicit school vision gives direction to shared values and beliefs and to the professional development of teachers. On the basis of the results of the third research question, we can say that a shared school vision ensures that teachers feel committed to their school in a positive way. In short: school vision matters.DiscussionThe focus of discussions about freedom of education is on the interpretation of civic education in line with the democratic state under the rule of law (Onderwijsraad, 2021). Discussions about freedom of education only rarely focus on what this freedom means for teachers. This dissertation takes exactly that angle. We show that schools that use the freedom of education to define an explicit school vision differ positively from mainstream schools that do not have an explicit school vision when it comes to teachers’ shared values, beliefs, and norms and when it comes to their professional development. We also show that a shared school vision has a positive effect on teachers’ affective and normative commitment. It does not matter much whether the formulated vision is based on pedagogical views, on philosophy, or on both.Ester Moraal.indd 180 22-09-2023 16:13