Why do they teach? A Study of job satisfaction among long-term high school teachers

Teacher Education Quarterly, Summer 2001 by Brunetti, Gerald J

Introduction

California's public school teachers have had to contend with difficult working conditions for more than two decades. These conditions include large class sizes, a highly diverse student population (more than a quarter of whom, in recent years, have been English-language learners), deteriorating or inadequate facilities, a shortage of supplies and equipment, and a paucity of other resources needed to support sound classroom instruction. Proposition 13 (approved by California voters in 1978) and Proposition 4 (passed in 1979) have prevented many local school districts from raising the additional revenues needed to ameliorate some of these problems.1 Like their counterparts in other states, California's teachers have received lower salaries than other professionals and have often had to endure criticism from a demanding and dissatisfied public, who, along with some of the media and politicians, seem ready to blame teachers for the failings of the public schools.

One might assume that, in the face of such conditions, many California public school teachers would feel demoralized and discouraged, perhaps burntout. Such malaise would be especially pronounced among those who had been in the classroom for many years and had fewer options for other employment. Worn out with the long struggle, these teachers could be simply going through the motions of teaching, biding their time until retirement. Having accepted the likelihood of such pervasive discontent among experienced teachers, I was surprised to discover a different picture in a survey conducted by students in my research course several years ago. The survey indicated that a high percentage of teachers, including some with many years of experience, were in fact very satisfied with their work. Though the survey was small (an N of approximately 30) and involved only elementary teachers, it suggested that common beliefs about teacher dissatisfaction and burnout might well be exaggerated.

Armed with this insight, I undertook the present study to explore the matter further. Specifically, I sought to determine the extent to which experienced teachers were satisfied with their work and to identify the principal motivators-i.e., sources of satisfaction-that induced them to remain in the classroom. Because my experience as a teacher and teacher educator has been primarily in secondary education, I chose to focus my study on high school teachers.

Related Research

Teacher Attrition and Burnout

In the United States, considerable research in recent years has examined the high attrition rate among beginning teachers (see for example Kirby & Grissmer, 1993; Konanc, 1996; Marso & Pigge, 1997). Other research has focused on the phenomenon of burnout (e.g., Friedman, 1995; Byrne, 1994; LeCompte & Dworkin, 1991), which leaves teachers feeling trapped in jobs they no longer like, if they ever did, or results in teachers quitting the classroom before retirement age. Neither of these areas of research, however, addresses the situation of large numbers of experienced public school teachers who are fundamentally satisfied with their jobs, who maintain a strong professional orientation, a continuing commitment to their students, and often a high degree of enthusiasm for their work.

Teacher job Satisfaction

In a large-scale study of job satisfaction among American teachers, Perie and Baker (1997) reported several findings that have import for the present study. Using composite criteria to identify teachers as low, moderate, or high in job satisfaction, they found that only 26.3 percent of public high-school teachers fit in the high category. They also found that the percentage of highly satisfied secondary teachers dropped consistently over their years of experience: 36.1 percent of teachers with three years of experience or less rated themselves as highly satisfied, while just under 23 percent of teachers with 20 years of experience rated themselves thus. Other studies (Newman, 1979; Kim & Loadman, 1994; Ulriksen, 1996; Klecker & Loadman, 1997) identified some of the correlates of job satisfaction, including those involving intrinsic rewards (e.g., professional autonomy, interactions with students and colleagues) and extrinsic rewards (e.g., salary, opportunities for advancement). These quantitative studies did not, however, indicate teachers' overall level of satisfaction with their jobs. Little research appears to have focused specifically on the attitudes of satisfied teachers.

Life History, Huberman's Study

Life history studies, which examine the lives of teachers from their own perspective (emic)and in the context oftheir own experiences and beliefs, have some bearing on the present study (See, for example, Ball & Goodson, 1985; Sikes, Measor, & Woods, 1985; Goodson, 1992; Knowles & Holt-Reynolds, 1994; Goodson & Hargreaves, 1996). Such studies are usually based on extended interviews. Michael Huberman (1993) made effective use of life history approaches in his seminal study, The Lives of Teachers. Attempting to identify the professional life cycles of secondary teachers, he conducted extensive interviews with each of his teacher subjects (N=160). He also used quantitative approaches. Like other European researchers who studied the life cycles of teachers (Sikes, 1985; Prick, 1985; Grounauer, 1993), Huberman depicted the later phases of teaching (ages 4050 and 50-60) as periods of serenity and disengagement, but sometimes too of bitterness and conservatism. While Huberman's study is confined to secondary teachers in French-speaking Geneva and a nearby canton, it provides rich methodological approaches to studying teachers' lives. Moreover, the insights it offers into the life cycles of a teaching career and into the attitudes and perspectives of experienced teachers seem to transcend national boundaries.