Main Factors of Teachers' Job Satisfaction - Literature review Example

RUNNING HEAD: JOB SATISFACTION AND TEACHERS Job Satisfaction and Teachers [Writer’s name] [Institution’s name] Job Satisfaction and Teachers Introduction One of the most significant feelings of an employee in the workplace is that they are satisfied with their work. Job satisfaction is important for every employee regardless of their field. Job Satisfaction may be defined as the feeling of contentment an employee ahs while he/she is at work.. in simpler words it can be said that when an employee is satisfied with his job it may be called job satisfaction. The main factors of job satisfaction are mostly occupational achievement and personal satisfaction, self-assurance, sense of importance, and personal growth. The most apparent results of job satisfaction is a pleasant emotional state this result in a good performance by the employee. Recently professions like teaching have to face a lot of job dissatisfaction. Considering the above given definition, job satisfaction in teachers will be analysed. The paper shall analyze all the possible factors which have caused teachers to feel unsatisfied with their work. Analysis Jobs satisfaction is something important in every felid of work. However for teachers it holds a lot of importance because they have the important job of imparting education to youth. But nowadays teachers do not seem to be satisfied with their jobs. There are many factors which have cause hem to feel so unsatisfied. Even Teachers will become an unsatisfied class of professionals; they too will start to look for better opportunities. Whilst job satisfaction is a feeling that may be shaped as time passes, hence it results in turnover; current arguments imply that there are rash events, which are known as shock events. They may be able to be anything which they feel is demoralizing them like decision of a principal who was apparently unfair to a serious conflict with a colleague. Wherever such events take place continuously they produce emotions which in turn may cause an employee to think about leaving the current employer (Mitchell, Holtom, and Lee, 2001) A positive process intended to raise the quality of education in schools by providing teachers with enhanced job satisfaction , more appropriate in-service training, and improved career development A continued and systematic process intended to help teachers with their own professional development and career planning, and a means of ensuring the in-service training and development of teachers matches the complementary needs of individual teachers and schools. Teachers like other professionals need satisfiers to motive them. These are either intrinsic or extrinsic. Hazberg’s (1968) two –factor theory states that intrinsic may include achievement, acknowledgment, tasks, promotion , etc., and extrinsic satisfiers may include the policies of the organization , management, pay, position, job security, and so on . The majority research propose that teachers give more importance to intrinsic satisfiers, however other researches propose that teachers pay attention to a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic satisfiers thus both may be reasonable for teacher’s satisfaction of her work (Dvorak and Phillips, 2001). The meaning of job satisfaction varies (Fritzsche and Parrish, 2005), from simply the feelings a worker has about his/her job (Smith et al., 1969) to the following definition: “an affective reaction to a job, that results from the incumbent’s comparison of actual outcomes with those that are desired” (Cranny et al., 1992, p. 1). Sometimes men don’t find teaching as a suitable job as they think it does not fit their gender, thus they do don’t feel satisfied with their job. So it can be said that even gender plays an important role in job satisfaction of teachers. Female teachers are found to be more passionately dedicated to the teaching profession as compared to males. Females are fond of this profession and consider it to be suitable for their personalities. But, females are considered to have low levels of normative commitment (i.e. when the employee commits to and stays employed in the organization as he/she feel it to be their duty.) to work which is be done in a group or team . Apart from this they even have low levels of continuance commitment (i.e. when employees think that it may be difficult to resign from their current workplace , as the new organization may not be bale to fulfil their needs and give them the same benefits as the pervious one) towards the educational institute they teach in (Karakus and Asaln 2007). This highlights the fact that there are a few issues relating to females’ assimilation in groups while fulfilling their duties as well as their weak attachment with the school in which they are currently employed. In order for schools to become highly effective, Principals have to try to make female teachers more involved with work group as they may think that group work is something which is for a male denominated society. These issues ay even led to job dissatisfaction. The fact that they have low rank is also considered as a factor of job dissatisfaction in the field of teaching, Noble and Mears’s (2000) investigation of the impact of the 1986 Australian Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity) act on women’s employment in higher education. In Noble and Mears (2000) it was concluded that 14 years after 1986 Australian Affirmative Action came into being, the glass ceiling issues still stop female teachers from progressing further in their field. The above mentioned result is the same of the researches carried out in both UK and US. The above mentioned researches prove that women in the field of teacher tend to be a victim of glass ceiling and thus this leads to major job dissatisfaction (Toren, 2001; Noble and Mears, 2000; Halpin and Johnston, 2004; BBC, 2004; AAUP 2004). Age is another factor which may be related to job satisfaction, although the kind and intensity of relationship is not clear at all. Crossman and Harris (2006) studied the differentiation in job satisfaction among different age groups, however the levels varied from the highest degree in teachers who were of the 22-30 age group , the lowest degree was found among teachers of the 31-40 age group and then the level raised again to high for teachers in the 41-50 group, however it was not as high as the 22-30 age group . Mertler (2002) also experienced the same kind of fluctuations in his studies. Lowther et al. (1985) concluded that generally job satisfaction of teachers improved, more or less along with the age of the teacher. Meyer and Allen (1991) came to the conclusion that employees who are aged or older compared to young employees have a strong emotional dedication for their organizations. As they may be more mature and experienced then employees who are younger then them. Rivera (1994) highlighted the fact that personal demographics play an important role in showing commitment towards the organization. Salancik (1977) pointed out that both the age of the employee and the time he has served in the organization. This May serve as a factor of job satisfaction. As the younger teachers tend to expect a lot from their occupation as ac cording to Bendura (1997) research has found individuals perceptions and exceptions to play an important role in career development. It can be argued that a teacher’s job satisfaction is a relation between what one perceives he will get from teaching and what one wants from teaching (Lawler, 1973). Thus from the above mentioned studies it can be said that even age is important factor in a teacher’s job satisfaction. A teacher who is young may not be easily satisfied with the job or school. But teacher who have worked for ages in the field of education, especially those who have worked in as single school value their jobs and are highly satisfied also. A lot of teachers these days are over worked. When teachers like any professionals have a lot of burden on their shoulders they tend to be exhausted. Exhaustion is an emotional, cognitive and physical experience of being over extended and overwhelmed (Demerouti et al., 2002; Halbesleben and Demerouti, 2005) and is the basic stress experience for the individual. This feeling of exhaustion is known as burnout. When a professional goes through being burned out , he feels as if he is not satisfied with his job. He may even go into depression. The same is the case with over burned teachers of today; they are being buried with everything, extra actives, class courses and exam as well as test paper. The fact that most teachers feel that teaching is a 24 hour jobs is a sign of being burned out According to Bogler (2005) another factor of teachers’ job satisfaction is the management style of the principal , they are more satisfied if the management style is a transformational style and involves the staff in decision making. When the teachers feel as if they are apart of the system they will be satisfied with their job. But if they have a principal with democratic style of leadership then they will start thinking that their job is just a burden. This thought is start of being unsatisfied with their job. Conclusion Teachers have always been professionals who love their work, but recently as the above given analysis shows they are beginning to be dissatisfied with their jobs. The fact that they need to be motivated and less burdened seems to be the reason behind their dissatisfaction. Apart from this extremely young teachers who expect too much from the occupation also seem to be a reason behind this. From the above given analysis it may concluded that, teachers need to be paid more as well as appreciated for their hard work. Apart from this the principals of schools should realize that teachers need to apart of the decision making process. 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