TEACHER JOB SATISFACTION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS The relation to work environment
Abstract
Aim: Teachers contribute to students’ success and school development to a great
extent. Since there is in Sweden—as in other countries—a teacher shortage, it
seems important to find ways to value the profession and keep it attractive.
Research into factors that affect job satisfaction can be very useful for school
leaders and teachers. The scholarly literature on job satisfaction is however
scarce, suggesting that inquiry into factors that relate to job satisfaction is
lacking, including in Sweden. The purpose of this study is to explore how job
satisfaction relates to two attributes of school environment: teacher-student
relations and school management, and stress as a mediating factor. The strength
and direction of these relationships are examined using data collected in 2011
among Swedish primary school teachers as part of longitudinal research, the
1998-Evaluation Through Follow-up cohort from Gothenburg University
Method: A bivariate correlation analysis was conducted in order to investigate whether,
and the extent to which, job satisfaction is related to stress, teacher-student
relations and school management.
Results: The school environment attributes: positive teacher-student relationships and
support from school management were positively associated with teacher job
satisfaction, whereas stress and the factor attributes discipline issues (an
attribute of student-teacher relationship) and lack of social support (an attribute
of school management) were negatively related to it. Sociodemographic
variables did not change the zero-order correlations. The study has linked both
stress and psychosocial factors in the school environment—notably, attributes of
teacher-student relationships and school management—to teachers’ job
satisfaction, thereby reducing the knowledge gap in the empirical literature
about factors that affect job satisfaction among primary teachers. Having
identified school environment factors that school leaders should be alert to, the
study may benefit school leaders in helping to retain teachers and increase their
job satisfaction.
Degree
Student Essay
Collections
View/ Open
Date
2017-01-20Author
Dorozynska, Anna
Keywords
primary school
teachers
Sweden
job satisfaction
environment
Series/Report no.
Master
HT16 IPS PDA184:6
Language
eng