Modelling the relationships between teacher working conditions,job satisfaction and workplace mobility

Teacher shortages are a recurring problem in publicly funded schools, in part because of poor retention. Working conditions in schools are an important predictor of teacher job satisfaction and retention, yet research has so far made limited headway in identifying the specific aspects of the working environment which matter. This research uses representative data on state secondary school teachers in England in 2013 to derive an unusually rich set of working conditions variables. Regression analysis is used to model the relationships between working conditions, teacher job satisfaction and turnover intentions. The results show strong associations with the nature of school leadership, whether teachers have received training in the specific subjects they are assigned to teach and scope for career progression within the school. These results are robust to checks for common source bias. The study identifies ways in which schools can improve retention.     

Satisfied teachers are good teachers: The association between teacher job satisfaction and instructional quality

Instructional quality is associated with better academic outcomes for students. This study aimed to investigate how teachers' job satisfaction was associated with clarity of instruction and cognitive activation as measures of instructional quality. In addition, we investigated whether this association between teachers' job satisfaction and instructional quality was mediated by teacher–student relationships. Drawing on the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), we compared participants from both Eastern (N = 27,106; Japan, Taipei, Korea, Shanghai) and Western sociocultural contexts (N = 20,209; Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom). Multilevel structural equation modelling results indicated that teachers' job satisfaction was positively associated with instructional quality across Eastern and Western settings. The relationship between teachers' job satisfaction and instructional quality was partially mediated by better student–teacher relationships. There were some differences between the cultural settings in how job satisfaction correlated with clarity of instruction and cognitive activation. We suggest that these differences may be accounted for by cultural characteristics leading to different approaches to teaching. Our results suggest that teachers' job satisfaction and the quality of classroom-level relationships may be important indicators of positive instructional outcomes. While schools focus on student outcomes, they should also address teachers' job satisfaction and prioritise the importance of relationships between teachers and students in classrooms.     

What makes teachers enthusiastic: The interplay of positive affect,self-efficacy and job satisfaction

Teacher enthusiasm is a key factor of effective teaching, favouring teachers’ well-being and instructional behaviour, and students’ cognitive, emotional, and motivational outcomes. Research has largely examined its positive effects, while neglecting the interplay of factors shaping teacher enthusiasm. This study aimed at examining the interrelations of motivational (teacher self-efficacy), affective (positive emotions), and well-being factors (job satisfaction) in shaping teachers’ experienced enthusiasm. A sample of 536 high school teachers participated in a follow-up study with a time lag of approximately six months. Results confirmed that positive affect was related to enthusiasm both directly and indirectly via self-efficacy and job satisfaction.     

大力加强湖北省学前教育师资队伍建设

通过对武汉市新老城区及湖北省周边地区学前教育师资状况的调查,从目前学前教育师资队伍的数量、幼儿教师工资待遇、幼师生源质量及幼师培养质量等方面探寻湖北省学前教育在师资队伍建设方面存在的问题,分析原因,并在职前生源质量的提高、职后幼儿教师培训及提高幼儿教师待遇等方面为湖北省学前教育师资队伍的建设提出针对性的策略。     

男幼师匮乏的原因探析及对策研究

幼儿受单一性别教师影响,不利于身心健康发展。长期以来,受传统观念和对男幼师培养重视不足的影响,加上学校对男幼师教育、管理方法不当,幼儿园对男幼师的发展和需要重视不够等等原因,导致幼儿园男幼师奇缺。随着学前教育事业的发展,人们越来越认识到男幼师对幼儿健康成长的特殊作用;应该从转变观念、政府施策、重构教育管理模式及创造利于施展才能的角度出发,为男幼师创造有利的职业发展空间。     

An analysis of burnout and job satisfaction among Turkish special school headteachers and teachers,and the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction

This study explores issues of burnout and job satisfaction among special school headteachers and teachers in Turkey. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is a difference between headteachers' and teachers' burnout and job satisfaction in terms of work status, gender and work experiences, and to analyse the factors effecting their burnout and job satisfaction. In this paper, a quantitative approach has been used: 295 subjects (33 special school headteachers and 262 special school teachers) responded to the survey. As the research instruments, the Job Satisfaction Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to measure job satisfaction and burnout levels in terms of the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. The study results indicated that special school headteachers felt less personal accomplishment than special school teachers. However, there were no significant differences between headteachers and teachers on two burnout dimensions, namely emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and job satisfaction. In terms of gender, males have less emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment but higher depersonalization than their female counterparts. Females have higher job satisfaction than their male counterparts. In relation to their work experiences, more experienced subjects have higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalization than their less experienced colleagues, and also less job satisfaction than less experienced counterparts. However, more experienced subjects who participated in the study felt higher personal accomplishment than the others.     

探索幼儿师范语文美育教育

近年来,随着我国教育体制改革的不断深入,幼儿师范院校的语文美育教育工作亦是取得了较为理想的教学效果。教师在教学过程中,教学方法更加地灵活,教学内容更加地丰富多彩。本文首先对幼儿师范语文美育教育的相关概念进行阐述,然后,重点探索幼儿师范语文美育教育工作。     

Adaptation in the transition to school: perspectives of parents,preschool and primary school teachers

Background: Transition to school is a highly demanding phase at an intellectual, social and emotional level and is, therefore, an opportunity for growth and development. Despite the greater emphasis given to school transition in Portugal over recent years, namely by means of new educational policies, studies on the adaptation processes involved in the transition to primary school are still scarce.

Purpose: The present qualitative study sets out to contribute to the knowledge on the adaptation process of children to school transition (around age 6) in Portugal, by comparing preschool teachers’, primary school teachers’, and parents’ perceptions about success indicators and relevant factors in the transition to school.

Design and method: In order to collect data, 14 focus group interviews with different participants were conducted, three with preschool teachers (N = 18), three with primary school teachers (N = 13), four with parents conducted before the child’s transition to primary school (N = 14) and four with parents conducted after the child’s transition to primary school (N = 20).

Results: While the preschool and primary school teachers stressed factors of a family nature, such as parental involvement and parental support of children, the parents referred more frequently to the overall running of the school and the characteristics and methodology of the teacher as being relevant to the adaptation process in the first year of primary education.

Conclusions: The findings suggest different factors associated with adaptation to school and also offer clues for designing strategies to facilitate such adaptation. New strategies are needed to facilitate the construction of a robust educational family–school partnership.     

高校青年教师职业满意度调查:分析与对策

高校青年教师职业满意度研究具有重要的现实意义。调查分析表明,职业爱好和专业兴趣、专业发展、社会认同、经济收入等,是影响高校青年教师职业满意度的重要因素。高等学校应切实采取措施,提高青年教师的经济待遇,促进青年教师的专业发展,坚定其对教育工作的信念,从而提高青年教师的职业满意度。     

幼儿教师美术教育技能培养策略研究

幼儿教师美术教育技能是影响学前美术教育的重要因素。本文基于幼儿教师美术教育技能水平现状调查与实践研究,提出以下指导策略:调整学院美术教学内容与教学方法,做好幼儿教师美术教育技能的职前培养;举办专门的讲座与技能实训活动,引领在职幼儿教师美术教育技能的发展;通过现场活动观摩与研讨,切实解决幼儿教师美术教育技能的实际问题;以课题研究带动园本技能培训,服务日常教学,实现幼儿教师美术教育技能的整体提升。     

Conceptions and misconceptions about neuroscience in preschool teachers: a study from Argentina

Background: Teachers’ conceptions and misconceptions about neuroscience are crucial in establishing a proper dialogue between neuroscience and education. In recent years, studies in different countries have examined primary and secondary school teachers’ conceptions. However, although preschool education has proved its importance to later academic outcomes, there is limited investigation of neuroscience conceptions focused exclusively on preschool teachers.

Purpose: The present study sought to explore preschool teachers’ conceptions and misconceptions about neuroscience in an Argentine setting.

Sample, design and methods: We used quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore concepts about neuroscience, including specific neuromyths. Data were collected using a 24-statement questionnaire and 5 in-depth interviews. The survey was administered to 204 teachers of children between the ages of 0–5-years in Argentina.

Results and conclusions: Results from this exploratory study suggested a relatively high level of general knowledge of neuroscience amongst the preschool teachers in the study. However, three particular issues seemed unclear for teachers: memory, plasticity and the myth that ‘we only use 10% of the brain’. Specifically, ‘memory’ was understood as ‘learning by heart’; neural underpinnings of memory and plasticity processes were unknown; and the myth that we only use 10% of the brain was used to explain individual differences in intelligence in a straightforward way. In addition, anecdotal evidence was used by teachers to justify their conceptions about neuroscience. Finally, the wider implications of these results for bridging neuroscience and education are discussed.     

专业化视野下的学前教育专业师资队伍建设的实践探索

高职高专学前教育专业的教师,既要求具备坚实的学科专业素养和较高的教育教学科研水平,还要具有丰富的幼教实践经验和操作能力。笔者从教师专业化发展的角度,分析了学前教育专业师资队伍的现状和特殊性要求,并以四川幼儿师范专科学校为例,提出了严把师资入口关,构建合理师资结构;建设数字化、信息化资源系统;打造研究中心;完善教师培训机制;深入幼教一线开展实践研究等措施,切实提升教师的教学科研能力及专业实践能力,为学前教育专业师资队伍建设提供了借鉴范例。     

The effects of principals’ humor on teachers’ job satisfaction

Traditionally, education has been perceived as a most serious and disciplined undertaking. Schools have become so obsessed with discipline, standardized test scores, proper objectives, competence, and proficiency that they have turned into rather grim places. All too often teachers and students will say that school and learning are not enjoyable. This study was designed to investigate school principals’ overall frequency of humor use as perceived by teachers, and the relationship of principals’ humor use to teachers’ job satisfaction. This study also analyzed how teacher job satisfaction was influenced by principals’ frequency of humor use in different groups. Results of this study support the idea that principals who share humor in the workplace have teachers with higher job satisfaction than those principals who share very little or no humor in the workplace.     

An emotion focused approach in predicting teacher burnout and job satisfaction

This study aimed to find out the correlations between in-service teachers’ emotional, burnout and job satisfaction in Turkey. To this end, the Teacher Emotion Inventory (TEI), Job Satisfaction Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory were administered to 564 in-service teachers in a wide range of disciplines. According to confirmatory factor analysis, the five-factor model of TEI was successfully confirmed within the current study. In addition, joy and love dimensions exhibited positive correlations with job satisfaction. The love and fear dimensions significantly predicted job satisfaction with a medium effect. Love, sadness, and fear dimensions significantly predicted teachers’ burnout with a medium effect.     

Teaching in the Yukon: Exploring teachers’ efficacy beliefs,stress, and job satisfaction in a remote setting

This article presents a mixed methods examination of teachers’ job beliefs in the Yukon Territory in northern Canada. In Study 1 we used questionnaires to examine job beliefs for 221 teachers from the Yukon and western Canada. Teachers’ self- and collective efficacy and workload stress were lower for Yukon teachers, but levels of overall stress and satisfaction were similar across settings. In Study 2 we conducted interviews to examine how geographical, community, and cultural factors were related to Yukon teachers’ job beliefs. Results showed that job stress and job satisfaction were influenced by physical and human geography, level of connection with the community, and by the community's cultural transitions. The findings highlight the influence of cultural and community factors on teachers’ working lives.     

When being able is not enough. The combined value of positive affect and self-efficacy for job satisfaction in teaching

This study examines how good strategies and praxis interplay with positive affect and self-efficacy to determine a teacher's job satisfaction, in the hypothesis that teaching effectively does not in itself guarantee satisfaction: positive affect and self-efficacy beliefs are needed. Self-assessment scales, designed to assess the use of efficient teaching strategies and praxes, self-efficacy in teaching, positive affect and job satisfaction, were completed by 399 teachers. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis revealed the mediating role of both positive affect and self-efficacy beliefs in the relationship between teaching strategies/praxes and job satisfaction.     

Attitudes of preschool and primary school pre-service teachers towards inclusive education

Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion are important as they have the primary responsibility of implementing inclusive education. Attitudes at the beginning of teaching careers are likely to predict future attitudes. Some studies show a drop in attitudes after leaving university education. Using the Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Inclusion (Amended) questionnaire, 465 pre-service teachers (located in Victoria, Australia) from primary school and preschool streams were examined to determine the effect of a number of independent factors on Total Inclusion Score; a measure of attitudes towards inclusion. Two-way ANOVAs revealed module (unit) and year of study to be significant factors. A multiple regression showed the factors combined accounted for 10% of the variance in Total Inclusion Score. Participants who had studied a module (unit) on inclusive education or were in later years of study were more positive towards inclusive education based on Total Inclusion Score from the questionnaire. No significant differences for Total Inclusion Score were found between pre-service teachers that study primary school teaching or preschool teaching. It is concluded that studying a module on inclusive education is a particularly important factor in the development of pre-service teacher attitudes towards inclusion.     

When teaching and volunteering go together: exploring participation characteristics and demographic backgrounds of senior volunteer teachers and their teaching satisfaction

Senior volunteer teachers play important roles in learning programmes for the elderly. These volunteers’ level of teaching satisfaction was assumed to influence programmes, their organizational behaviours and outcomes. However, scant research has focused specifically on volunteers’ levels of satisfaction with teaching and how their satisfaction is influenced by participation characteristics and their demographic backgrounds. This initial study conducted in Hong Kong attempts to examine this topic. Data from 236 samples from 56 units across the territory were utilized in this study. The results showed that the overall level of teaching satisfaction among senior volunteer teachers was quite high. Senior volunteer teachers with longer teaching experience and teachers with longer service felt satisfied in many areas of teaching. Teachers who taught a greater number of subjects experienced less satisfaction. A ‘u-shaped’ trend of satisfaction correlated with the number of classes taught; senior volunteer teachers teaching 1–2 classes and volunteers teaching 6 or more classes exhibited higher satisfaction levels in various areas. The number of average teaching hours per week could simultaneously facilitate and hinder different facets of satisfaction. Female teachers experienced higher levels of ‘Recognition’ than male counterparts. Older senior volunteer teachers were quite satisfied in the areas of ‘Working Conditions’ and ‘Authority’. Findings of multiple regression were discussed.     

谁为她们说话--兼论学前教育的地位

在我国，越来越多的人日益认识到了学前教育的重要性，但由于学前阶段属于非义务教育。我国出台的一系列发展学前教育的措施在幼教实践中还存在许多亟待规范的地方。