2006 job satisfaction of secondary school teachers-educational management administration & leadership-2006-crossman-29-46

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Job Satisfaction of Secondary School Teachers

Alf Crossman and Penelope Harris

A B S T R A C T

Low job satisfaction has been cited as a possible cause of the current teaching crisis inthe UK. This article reports on a study that examined job satisfaction among secondaryschool teachers in different types of secondary school. The results indicate a significantdifference in the overall job satisfaction scores of teachers by type of school. Teachersin independent and privately-managed schools exhibited the highest satisfaction levelswhile those in foundation schools exhibited the lowest. No significant difference insatisfaction was found when the data were analysed by age, gender and length ofservice.

K E Y W O R D S age, gender, job satisfaction, length of service, school teachers

Introduction

For some time low job satisfaction has been cited as a possible cause of thecurrent poor recruitment and retention of teachers in the UK (Evans, 1998). Asurvey of job satisfaction by Gardner and Oswald (1999) indicated that teacherswere less satisfied than any other professional group; similarly a survey ofteachers’ intention to leave (Carvel, 2000) indicates there that up to 20,000would resign if they had the choice of other employment. More recently a pollof 70,000 teachers across England revealed that 35 per cent would leave theprofession within the next five years (Personnel Today, 2003). Interestingly, lowjob satisfaction among teachers is not a wholly UK phenomenon, with similarresults being reported elsewhere.

The number of vacant teaching positions in the UK has increased signifi-cantly during recent years (Evans, 1998) as teachers continue to or intend toleave the profession (Personnel Today, 2003; Voluntary Services Organisation,2000). Job vacancies have increased significantly as more and more teacherseither retire early (Evans, 1998) or leave the profession to seek employmentelsewhere (Voluntary Services Organisation, 2000). This trend is particularlyacute in the south-east of England where teacher vacancies increased steadily

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from 0.3 per cent of the total number of teachers in post to a full one percentin 2000 (Department for Education and Employment, 2000).

Media interest in the teaching ‘crisis’, exemplified by the volume of pressarticles and television reports produced in recent years (Dean and Kelly, 2001),has been amplified by the UK government’s acceptance of offers from privatecompanies to manage some secondary schools (Kelly, 2001).

Despite the problems of poor teacher retention, there have been relativelyfew studies into low teacher job satisfaction in the UK (Evans, 1998). Moststudies undertaken have been organized by teacher organizations, such as theNational Union of Teachers or by a limited number of academics (Evans, 1998)and examine the relationship between low job satisfaction and occupationalstress (Kinman, 2001; Kinunnen and Leskinen, 1989). Studies of teachers’ jobsatisfaction by type of school are relatively rare (Kries and Bockupp, 1986; Scottet al., 1999).

As well as investigating the demographic factors known to affect teachers’ jobsatisfaction, the type of school in which a teacher works was also included todetermine whether this had any effect on teachers’ job satisfaction levels. Thescope of the research was restricted in two ways to the number of types ofsecondary school (religious, community, independent) and to the geographiclocation of the county of Surrey in the UK, thus generalization of the resultsshould be treated with caution.

Job Satisfaction in Abstract and Context

The factors affecting job satisfaction can be broadly categorized as environ-mental (the job itself or the working environment) psychological (personality,behaviour attitude) or demographic (age, gender). These have been the focus ofnumerous studies in the UK and elsewhere over a number of years (Halpin,2001; Ma and MacMillan, 1999; Oshagbemi, 1998; Rhodes, 1983; Scott andDinham, 2003; Spector, 1997).

The effect of environmental constraints on job satisfaction has receivedconsiderable attention. Physical constraints include inadequate equipmentlighting, which may not be relevant to teachers. However, systemic constraintsinclude the inability to obtain relevant information or advice from colleaguesor superiors, complex or inappropriate company policies (Nicholson andMiljus, 1972), incomplete or incomprehensible job descriptions (Good et al.,1988) or varied and, possibly incompatible, work demands from differentmanagers (Spector, 1997). The job satisfaction of teachers can be affected by anumber of different environmental, psychological and demographic factors.The most significant positive environmental factors are those related to theworking environment and the nature of the job (Corwin, 2001; Scott andDinham, 2003). For example recognition, support and respect from colleaguesand superiors can also cultivate a feeling of job satisfaction (Evans, 1998;Dinham and Scott, 1998; van der Doef and Maes, 2002; Voluntary Services

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Organisation, 2000), as can a teacher’s perception their interaction with pupils(Shann, 1998) and of his/her ability to contribute to their attainments (Schon-feld, 1990). The fact that teachers have a substantial amount of autonomy withregard to the preparation and delivery of lessons might also have a positiveeffect (National Centre for Educational Statistics, 1997; Kendall and Kington,2001), although earlier evidence from the USA suggests that autonomy isconfined to the classroom (Kries and Brockopp, 1986). What appears to beabsent from the literature is whether the type of school, defined by ownership,funding or religious affiliation, has any effect on the environmental factorsrelated to job satisfaction.

The causes of low teacher job satisfaction and the resultant poor retentionrates, both in the UK and elsewhere, can be attributed to a number of environ-mental factors. These include the nature and pace of organizational change(Dinham and Scott, 2000) concerns over workload, increasing bureaucracy andpoor discipline (Moriarty et al., 2001; Personnel Today, 2003; Sillitoe, 2003); styleof leadership and management (Schultz and Teddlie, 1999) job relatedstress/illness (Evans, 1998); lower value placed on teaching as a profession(Evans, 1997; Halpin, 2001; van der Doef and Maes, 2002); increasing class sizes(Maclean, 1992); possible conflict between work and family life (Spear et al.,2000); behavioural difficulties exhibited by some pupils (van der Doef andMaes, 2002) and the excessive media criticism of teachers working in ‘failing’schools (National Union of Teachers, 2001; Scott and Dinham, 2003), as well aspay (Chung et al., 2004). Evans (1997) suggests two overarching satisfyingfactors, job comfort, or the extent to which an individual is satisfied with theconditions of the job, and job fulfilment, derived from the perceived personalachievement.

A number of studies have been conducted into the relationship between jobsatisfaction and an individual’s personality, behaviour and work attitudes, oneof these ‘locus of control’ has a significant correlation to job satisfaction(Spector, 1997). Locus of control’ (Lawler, 1972; O’Brien, 1983; Spector, 1982)indicates the extent to which individuals’ believe in their ability to controlaspects of their life (Spector, 1997); ‘externals’ perceive their life is controlledby outside forces (Kyriacou and Sutcliff, 1979), whereas ‘internals’ see theirlife being controlled by their own actions (McKenna, 1999). Studies into therelationship between locus of control and job satisfaction have producedevidence which suggests that ‘internals’ experience higher levels of jobsatisfaction than ‘externals’ (O’Brien, 1983; Spector and O’Connell, 1994), withvarious explanations have been advanced, such as the possibility that‘internals’ perform better than ‘externals’ and receive greater rewards and jobsatisfaction as a consequence (Spector, 1982). There is also evidence of locusof control being related to organizational climate (Furnham and Drakeley,1993); this might be particularly relevant for teachers, given the increasedlevel of government intervention and the prescriptive nature of the NationalCurriculum.

Crossman & Harris: Job Satisfaction of Secondary School Teachers

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There have been many studies to investigate the relationship between jobsatisfaction and demographic variables such as age, gender and length ofservice (Oshagbemi, 1997) and into the interaction effect of age and length ofservice; long service and young age are not feasible (Sarker et al., 2004). Whilethe majority of these studies concentrate on age and its effect on job satis-faction, the relationship between these remains uncertain (Spector, 1997). Earlystudies have revealed a U-shaped or curvilinear relationship (Handyside, 1967;Herzberg et al., 1957), implying that employees experience high levels of jobsatisfaction at the start of their careers, a mid-career decrease and an increasetowards the end. Research by Griva and Joekes (2003) found older teachers tobe more satisfied. Explanations are varied with some (Herzberg et al., 1957)attributing this to young employees being enthusiastic and enjoying the chal-lenge of work whereas older workers have accepted their position in theorganization and see limited career prospects; while others (Clark et al., 1996)argue that that employees’ expectations alter with age or that older workers arebetter able or have developed strategies to cope with work-related issues(Oshagbemi, 1999). There is likewise evidence to the contrary; that a negativelinear relationship exists between age and job satisfaction (Hickson andOshagbemi, 1999). Explanations include older workers’ inability to adapt to newworking conditions (Hickson and Oshagbemi, 1999) or that older workers’expectations and aspirations are more limited than those of younger colleagues(Luthans and Thomas, 1989). Studies by Chaplain (1995) and the NationalUnion of Teachers (2001) have provided contradictory evidence regarding therelationships between teachers’ age and job satisfaction. Chaplain’s (1995) studyindicates that teachers between the ages of 35 and 45 are the least satisfied,whereas the National Union of Teachers (2001) survey identifies higher dis-satisfaction among those aged 25 to 29. Interestingly, Australian research intojob-related stress (Kinman, 2001) found mid-career academics to be most at riskfrom stress and early-career staff least at risk, thus there may be a relationshipbetween the stress and job satisfaction.

Similar contradictory evidence exists regarding the relationship betweengender and job satisfaction. Some studies have suggested that men and womenexhibit similar levels of satisfaction (Brush et al., 1987; Clark et al., 1996), whileothers, in the UK and elsewhere, indicate higher levels of satisfaction amongwomen (Hickson and Oshagbemi, 1999), despite them occupying lower statuspositions (Greenhaus et al., 1990). This might indicate that women have lowerexpectations and are more easily satisfied at work (Witt and Nye, 1992).According to a number of studies female teachers exhibit higher levels of jobsatisfaction than male teachers (Chaplain, 1995; Klecker and Loadman, 1999;Poppleton and Riseborough, 1991). This might be explained by the possibilitythat men who, according to Kremer-Hayton and Goldstein (1990), attach moreimportance to career than women are disappointed by the low status of theteaching profession in the UK. However, these findings are somewhat contra-dicted by those of the National Union of Teachers (2001) which revealed that


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71 per cent of teachers planning to leave the profession are women, but thismight be explained by ‘career interruptions for family reasons’ (Chung et al.,2004: 8).

There have been a limited number of studies into the relationship betweenlength of service and job satisfaction. The results of Oshagbemi’s (1997) studysuggest that length of service has a positive effect on job satisfaction and laterresults by Oshagbemi (2000) indicate higher levels of satisfaction amongworkers with 10 years length of service and that this increases with eachadditional decade of service. Explanations might be that job security increaseswith length of service and employees may derive satisfaction from this(Abraham and Medoff, 1984) or that promotion is associated with length ofservice and satisfaction might arise from this (Hickson and Oshagbemi, 1999).As far as teachers are concerned, there is evidence to suggest that those withless than five years service are the most satisfied while those who have beenteaching for between 15 and 20 years are the least satisfied (Poppleton andRisborough, 1991). This might be explained by the enthusiasm of newerteachers, in line with Herzberg et al.’s (1957) thesis, or by changes in the expec-tations of more experienced teachers (Luthans and Thomas, 1989).

Methodology

The aim of this research was to investigate job satisfaction among teachers andto discover whether the ‘type’ of school as defined by ownership, funding orreligious affiliation, has any effect on teachers’ job satisfaction. Given theabsence of this factor in the existing literature the principal null hypothesis wasformulated:

H1: The ‘type’ of school has no effect on teacher job satisfaction

As the research included an examination of the relationship between jobsatisfaction and demographic variables (age, gender and length of service),three further null hypotheses related to these were formulated:

H2: Teachers’ age has no effect on teacher job satisfaction

H3: Teachers’ gender has no effect on teacher job satisfaction

H4: Teachers’ length of service has no effect on teacher job satisfaction

The instrument adopted in the research was the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS)(Spector, 1997). However, as the JSS was developed in the USA, it was amendedslightly and some words/phrases anglicized (see the Appendix). A section wasalso added to capture demographic data. A pilot study was conducted with tenindividuals to assess the reliability of the amended instrument. The Cronbachalpha for the pilot study was .86, which indicated a satisfactory reliability.


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Five ‘types’ of school were identified using definition in the School Stan-dards and Framework Act 1998. These were community, foundation, indepen-dent, Roman Catholic and Church of England. The privately-managed school,which did not exist at the time the Act was passed, was also included. Elevenschools in Surrey were selected at random and invited to participate in June2001. The choice of location was partly driven by geographic convenience andpartly due to a privately-managed contract being awarded to a school in theregion. The fact that the teacher shortage is particularly acute in the South-east was also a consideration. However, as the area is well known for its afflu-ence and high housing and living costs, this research need to be seen in thisenvironmental context which might effect on the results. From the schoolsapproached seven agreed to take, one from each school ‘type’ exceptcommunity where two positive responses were received. Copies of the JSSwere distributed to each school either by hand or by post and returned in thesame way.

Results

Of the 395 questionnaires distributed 233 usable responses were received, aresponse rate of 58 per cent. The response rates for each type were:community 85 per cent (n = 102), privately-managed 60 per cent (n = 18),Church of England 53 per cent (n = 42), Roman Catholic 46 per cent (n =30), independent 45 per cent (n = 18) and foundation 38 per cent (n = 23).The Cronbach alpha score of .88 for the 233 questionnaires was similar to boththe pilot (.86) and the original JSS (.91) and indicated the instrument wasreliable.

Descriptive Statistics

Of the 233 respondents, 31 per cent were aged between 22 and 30 years and 26per cent were aged over 50 (see Table 1). Sixty-four per cent of respondentswere female, similar to the gender split found by Scott and Dinham (2003). Thisseems to reinforce suggestion that the teaching profession is female-dominated(Chung et al., 2004) as men who according to Kremer-Hayton and Goldstein(1990), attach greater importance to their career than women, have rejected ateaching career because of its low status. Alternatively male teachers in thesample may have decided not to participate.

Seventy-two teachers (30.9%) were new to the teaching profession with 0–5years length of service. This implies that a significant number of participantshad recently joined the profession, either as new graduates, which wouldexplain the high number of young teachers, or as late career-changers. The rela-tively low number of teachers with over 30 year length of service in teachingmay be due to teachers with this service having retired early.


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Statistical Tests

The aim of this research was to investigate teachers’ job satisfaction and, inparticular, to identify if the type of school had any effect on this. The mean jobsatisfaction scores by type of school were: independent (M = 149.9), privately-managed (M = 147.4), community (M = 130.9), Roman Catholic (M = 128.0),Church of England (M = 123.0) and foundation (M = 110.5). As there is a differ-ence between the job satisfaction scores of teachers working in the differenttype of school, the first null hypothesis (H1) can be rejected. However, furtheranalysis is required as the statistical significance of these differences isunknown. Consequently a one-way ANOVA test was performed. The resultsreveal a significance score less than .05 (.000), indicating a significant differ-ence somewhere between the mean scores of the different types of school(Table 2).

A Tukey HSD test was performed to identify where these differencesoccurred (Table 3). The significance values for this test ranged between .999indicating no difference between the mean scores, and .000, indicating a signifi-cant difference. The most significant differences were between the mean scoresof the independent/privately-managed schools and the foundation school and


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Table 1 Sample profile characteristics

Characteristic No. Percentage

Age (years)22–30 73 31.331–40 47 20.241–50 52 22.351+ 61 26.2

GenderMale 84 36.5Female 148 63.5

Teaching length of service (years)0–5 72 30.96–10 43 18.511–20 48 20.621–30 50 21.530+ 20 8.6

School typeFoundation 18 7.7Church of England 42 18.0Roman Catholic 23 9.9Community 18 7.7Privately-managed 30 12.9Independent 102 43.8

Note : sample N = 233.




the Church of England and independent schools. There was no significantdifference between the independent and privately-managed schools’ meanscores.

These significance values and mean scores were also used to categorise thetypes of school into homogenous subsets. Table 3 shows the four subsets gener-ated, all with significance values of over .05. This suggests that the indepen-dent and privately-managed schools (.998) are the most homogenous followedby Church of England, Roman Catholic and community schools (.765). Theremaining two subsets (foundation/Church of England and community/privately-managed) are still considered as homogenous with significance valesof .273 and .058, respectively, but to a lesser extent.

A one-way ANOVA was performed on the data to pursue the secondary aimsof the research, to examine the relationship between teacher job satisfactionand the age, gender and length of service variables. The tests produced signifi-cance values (p < .05) of .389 for age, .402 for gender and .546 for length ofservice. As the significance values for the three tests are all above .05, it wasconcluded that any differences between the mean overall job satisfaction scoresof teachers when categorised by age, gender and length of service group arenot statistically significant. However, closer examination of the mean scores forthe three variables is required before accepting the three null hypotheses andto determine the nature of the relationships.


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Table 2 One-way ANOVA results for overall job satisfaction by school type

Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig.

Between groups 23524.399 5 4704.880 10.013 .000Within groups 106664.0 227 469.886Total 130188.4

Table 3 Tukey HSD results for homogenous subsets for mean overall job satisfaction (Tukey HSD(a, b))

Type of school n Subset for alpha = .05

1 2 3 4

Foundation 23 110.5217Church of England 42 123.0476 123.0476Roman Catholic 30 127.9667Community 102 130.9216 130.9216Privately-managed 18 147.3889 147.3889Independent 18 149.8889Sig. .273 .765 .058 .998

Notes : Means for homogenous subsets are displayed.a. Uses harmonic mean sample size = 27.084.b. The group sizes are unequal. The harmonic mean of the group size is used. Type 1 error levels are not guaranteed.




As far as age is concerned, there is a difference between the job satisfactionscores of teachers; consequently the second null hypotheses (H2) can berejected. However, the figure suggests the relationship between age and jobsatisfaction is neither linear nor curvilinear. Instead, the job satisfaction levelsof teachers appear to fluctuate (see Figure 1), starting high with the 22–30 agegroup (M = 133.6), decreasing for the 31–40 group (M = 126.4), rising again forthe 41–50 group (M = 129.4) and declining slightly for the 50+ group (M =128.4). The exact explanation for this is unclear, but the results may imply thatcertain work-related of life events, which occur when a teacher is aged between31 and 40 and then again after 50, have a negative effect on teachers’ jobsatisfaction.

The results for the relationship between overall job satisfaction and genderindicate that male teachers (M = 131.5) are slightly more satisfied than females(M = 128.8), thus the third null hypothesis (H3) can be rejected. However,whilst the result of a one-way ANOVA (Sig. .402) indicate difference betweenthe two scores is not statistically significant at the .05 level. It is possible thedifference in these scores may be due to the relatively small number of malerespondents (n = 85) compared to females (n = 148).

The tests for overall job satisfaction and length of service indicate a curvi-linear relationship (Figure 2) with differences in scores of teachers with differ-ent years of length of service. Satisfaction is high at the beginning of theteacher’s career, decreasing at the mid point and increasing again at the end.The highest satisfaction score being 30+ years length of service (M = 136) andthe lowest 11–20 years (M = 126.5). The score for 0–5 years (M = 131.9) wasrelatively high and those for 6 = 10 years (M = 129) and 21–30 (M = 128.4)


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134

132

130

128

12650+41–5031–40

Age (years)

Mea

n of

ove

rall

job

sati

sfac

tion

22–30

Figure 1 Mean overall job satisfaction by age group




were broadly similar. Although the results allow the rejection of the fourth nullhypothesis (H4), the difference between these means (.546) is not significantat the .05 level.

Although the one-way ANOVA tests confirmed no significant differencebetween the mean overall job satisfaction scores of teachers working in the sixdifferent types of school, the differences when divided by age, gender andlength of service are not significant. The data were subjected to a series of two-way ANOVA tests to investigate if there was any interaction effect between thetype of school and the demographic variables (Table 4).

The values indicate that although there may be an interaction between anytwo of the four independent variables, the effect of these interactions on overallteacher job satisfaction is not significant at the .05 level. It should be notedhowever, that the significance value closest to .05 relates to the interactioneffect of age and gender on teacher job satisfaction (.614). Further statisticalanalysis is required to establish if the combines effect of three or more of thesevariables on teacher job satisfaction is significant. Consequently a standard


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Table 4 Two-way ANOVA significance values

Variables Sig.

Type of school/age .955Type of schoo/gender .856Type of school/length of service .884Age/gender .614Age/length of service .846Gender/length of service .673

138

134

130

136

132

128

126

12430+21–3011–206–10

Length of service (years)

Mea

n of

ove

rall

job

sati

sfac

tion

0–5

Figure 2 Mean overall job satisfaction by length of service group




multiple regression test to identify the variables that are the best predictors ofjob satisfaction was also performed. The resultant low R2 value (.016) indicatesthat variables other than those examined in this research (type of school, age,gender and length of service) may be better predictors of job satisfaction.

A brief examination of the standardized coefficient beta values for theindependent variables in this research may also be of interest. As large betavalues indicate which variables make the strongest contribution to overall jobsatisfaction, age (–.202) and length of service (.154) are the biggest contribu-tors, whereas type of school (.035) and length of service (.005) are the weakest.However, the significance values for age (.89) and length of service (.189)indicate their contribution to job satisfaction is not significant at the .05 level.

Discussion

The findings indicate differences in job satisfaction scores between the age andlength of service groups and between male and female teachers, but these werenot statistically significant. Furthermore, there was no interaction effectbetween the three demographic variables, type of school and teacher jobsatisfaction.

The results indicate differences in mean satisfaction levels for each of thefour age groups. However, in contrast to the literature, which suggests a typi-cally linear (Hickson and Oshagbemi, 1999) or curvilinear relationship(Herzberg et al., 1957), the results showed fluctuating job satisfaction by agegroup. To some extent these results support those of Luthans and Thomas(1989), who noted a decrease in the satisfaction of older employees, and ofChaplain (1995); that employees aged 35–45 years are the least satisfied, whichmay be due to changes in working condition (Hickson and Oshagbemi, 1999).Whilst the findings that the most satisfied teachers are aged 22–30 contradictthose of the National Union of Teachers (2001), which suggested teachers aged25–29 are the most dissatisfied, this might be explained by dissatisfied youngteachers exiting the schools in the study and not able to participate, whileyoung teachers with higher satisfaction levels remained and were included.

The mean satisfaction levels by gender group indicated that male teacherswere slightly more satisfied than females, but this was not statistically signifi-cant. While these results are similar to those of Clark et al. (1996) and Brushet al. (1987), they contradict those of Chaplain (1995) and Poppleton and Rise-borough (1991), who found women teachers to be more satisfied than males.However, as the scores are so similar, there appears to be little point in pursuingthis further.

Contrary to some previous studies which identify a positive linear relation-ship between job satisfaction and length of service (Hickson and Oshagbemi,1999; Oshagbemi, 1997, 2000), the results of this study indicate a curvilinearrelationship with least satisfaction being reported by the 11–20 years of servicegroup, which is in line with the findings of Poppleton and Riseborough (1991)


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where least satisfaction was found in the 15–20 years length of service group.This may be the result of career progression and the consequent increase insatisfaction for those with higher length of service, whereas those in the 15–20years band may be experiencing mid-career stress (Kinman, 2001). A furtherexplanation might be the combined effect of age and length of service; thosein the longer length of service band are likely to be older and perhaps moreable to cope with the changing demands of them, as suggested by Oshagbemi(1999).

The results indicate differences in job satisfaction levels according to type ofschool and suggest that teachers in the privately-managed and independentschools are more satisfied than those in foundation and Church of Englandschools. There are a number of environmental factors to which this might beattributed (Corvin, 2001; Scott and Dinham, 2003), such as larger financial andnon-financial resources being available, less state-driven bureaucracy, greaterfreedom within the curriculum (Kendall and Kington, 2001) or, in the case ofthe independent school, the satisfaction derived from the perceived higherstatus generally accorded this type of institution by society and which mightlead to a higher self-perception of job fulfilment (Evans, 1997). Differences inthe way in which the schools are funded may also be a critical factor; indepen-dent schools are funded pupils’ fees, whereas foundation schools are fundeddirectly by the government and managed by a governing body. While on thesurface this might suggest that independent and privately-managed schoolshave access to greater financial and non-financial resources, which can beallocated to school-based needs without the organizational and administrativeconstraints experienced by other types of schools and which are known toaffect job satisfaction (Sillitoe, 2004), it could equally be due to other variables,such as organizational climate (Furnham and Drakeley, 1993), which were notcontrolled for and thus require further scrutiny.

The processes for recruiting, selecting and retaining secondary schoolteachers may also require revision. Although this research has identified theage and gender groups of secondary school teachers with the highest job satis-faction levels, recruitment and selection based on these variables wouldundoubtedly contravene equal opportunities legislation and school policies.Consequently, programmes to increase/maintain the job satisfaction levels ofall teachers, by focusing on job comfort or job fulfilment (Evans, 1997), regard-less of age, length of service or gender are of paramount importance. The largenumber of new teachers (with 0–5 years length of service) may be a combi-nation of young teachers (aged between 22- and 30-years old) and olderteachers, who have changed career. The job satisfaction levels of these twogroups may be related to a number of different factors; young teachers begin-ning their career may enthusiastic, ambitious and concerned with careerprogression (Herzberg et al., 1957) and older teachers being more able to copewith work-related issues (Oshagbemi, 1999). However, to tackle the lowersatisfaction levels of the 6–10 years of service group, support mechanisms or


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recognition programmes might be appropriate (Dinham and Scott, 1998) toreduce early retirements identified by Evans (1998).

Conclusion

The results of this research indicate that the type of school does have a statis-tically significant effect on satisfaction levels. Although the results indicate thatteachers working in independent and privately-managed schools are mostsatisfied and those in foundation and Church of England schools least satisfied,these should be viewed with a degree of caution. The research did not investi-gate the effect of other variables associated with ‘kind’ of school, as defined byits organization, ethos, management style or pupil population and level ofachievement. These environmental factors might well have considerableinfluence on job satisfaction.

The findings lead to a number of implications for the management andleadership of secondary schools in the UK. Given the differences in fundingarrangements, it is possible that a change of school status, such as foundationto privately-managed, might increase teacher job satisfaction levels. However,as the transition would be a complex and controversial process, this optionwould have to be reviewed carefully. Furthermore, the change process mightin itself be a destabilizing factor (Dinham and Scott, 2000) and as such have anegative effect. The potential heterogeneity of teachers’ needs, desires andmotives should also be moved up the management agenda, with a view tobuilding higher job satisfaction through the creation of an improved environ-ment. At a time when bureaucracy and poor pupil behaviour appears to be onthe increase, effective two-way communication between school managers/leaders and teachers is crucial; first, to establish the general level of teachersatisfaction and, second, to identify causes teacher job dissatisfaction and toinitiate remedial action.

This study, in common with many others, is not without its limitations. Thefirst being in the area of research methodology, the small sample size and thelimited geographic scope; further research in a national scale with a largersample is recommended. More importantly there are a number of environ-mental/organizational factors which were not included in this study, such asleadership and management style (Schultz and Teddlie, 1999), school ethos, andpupil population and levels of achievement which have been related to self-perceptions of contribution (Schonfeld, 1990). These factors should be includedin future research to investigate if there is any relationship between the ‘type’of school defined in this research and the ‘kind’ of school in terms of manage-ment style and the organizational climate created with a view to identifying ifthese are more significant determinants of teachers’ job satisfaction. Theoverall conclusion is that factors other than those examined in this researchmight be better predictors of teacher job satisfaction and are worthy of furtherresearch.


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Appendix A—Amended Job Satisfaction Survey

Section A: Demographic details

Please tick one box in each of the sections below:

1. Age 2. Gender22–30 ■■ Male ■■

31–40 ■■ Female ■■

41–50 ■■

50+ ■■

3. Number of years service in teaching 4. Type of School0–5 ■■ Privately-managed ■■

6–10 ■■ Church of England ■■

11–20 ■■ Foundation ■■

21–30 ■■ Independent ■■

30+ ■■ Roman Catholic ■■

Community ■■

Section B: Job Satisfaction

Please circle the one number for each question that comes closest to reflect-ing your opinion about it:

1 = Disagree very much2 = Disagree moderately3 = Disagree slightly4 = Agree slightly5 = Agree moderately6 = Agree very much

1 I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do. 1 2 3 4 5 6

2 There is little chance for job promotion. 1 2 3 4 5 6

3 My line manager is competent in doing his/her job. 1 2 3 4 5 6

4 I am not satisfied with the benefits I receive. 1 2 3 4 5 6

5 When I do as good job, I receive the recognition for it 1 2 3 4 5 6that I should receive.

6 Many of our rules and procedures make doing a good job 1 2 3 4 5 6difficult.

7 I like the people I work with. 1 2 3 4 5 6

8 I sometimes feel my job is meaningless. 1 2 3 4 5 6


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9 Communications seem good within this organisation. 1 2 3 4 5 6

10 Salary rises are too few and far between. 1 2 3 4 5 6

11 Those who do well in the job stand a fair chance of being 1 2 3 4 5 6promoted.

12 My line manager is unfair to me. 1 2 3 4 5 6

13 The benefits we receive are as good as most other 1 2 3 4 5 6organisations offer.

14 I do not feel that the work I do is appreciated. 1 2 3 4 5 6

15 My efforts to do a good job are seldom blocked by red tape. 1 2 3 4 5 6

16 I find I have to work harder at my job because of the 1 2 3 4 5 6incompetence of people I work with.

17 I like doing the things I do at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6

18 The goals of this organisation are not clear to me. 1 2 3 4 5 6

19 I feel unappreciated by the organisation when I think 1 2 3 4 5 6about what they pay me.

20 People get ahead as fast here as they do in other places. 1 2 3 4 5 6

21 My line manager shows too little interest in the feelings 1 2 3 4 5 6of subordinates.

22 The benefit package we have is equitable. 1 2 3 4 5 6

23 There are few rewards for those who work here. 1 2 3 4 5 6

24 I have too much to do at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6

25 My department is friendly and sociable. 1 2 3 4 5 6

26 I often feel that I do not know what is going on with the 1 2 3 4 5 6organisation.

27 I feel a sense of pride in doing my job. 1 2 3 4 5 6

28 I feel satisfied with my chances for salary increases. 1 2 3 4 5 6

29 There are benefits we do not have which we should have. 1 2 3 4 5 6

30 I like my line manager. 1 2 3 4 5 6

31 I have too much paperwork. 1 2 3 4 5 6

32 I don’t feel my efforts are rewarded the way they should be. 1 2 3 4 5 6

33 I am satisfied with my chances for promotion. 1 2 3 4 5 6

34 There is too much bickering and fighting at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6

35 My job is enjoyable. 1 2 3 4 5 6

36 Work assignments are not fully explained. 1 2 3 4 5 6

Source: Adapted from Spector (1997).


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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their thanks to Professor Tony Bush and the twoanonymous referees for their detailed, highly constructive and courteous comments onearlier drafts of this article.

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Biographical notes

ALF CROSSMAN is a senior lecturer in Industrial Relations and Human ResourceManagement in the School of Management, University of Surrey.

PENELOPE HARRIS is a programmes administrator in the School of Political,International and Policy Studies, University of Surrey.

Correspondence to:

ALF CROSSMAN, School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, SurreyGU2 7XH, UK. [email: [email protected]]


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