Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemA comparison of levels of job satisfaction among Victorian high school teachers in declared disadvantaged and undeclared schools( 1981)This study involved an investigation of job satisfaction among Victorian high school teachers in three declared disadvantaged and three undeclared schools in the Northern Metropolitan Region. The feasibility of the topic was determined by a pilot study undertaken at Upfield high school in 1978. The Region was selected because it had the most declared schools in the state. Pairs of declared and undeclared schools were selected primarily on the basis of their geographical proximity to one another. They were not statistically matched in any way. Questionnaires were distributed to all teaching staff in these six schools. A total of 164 usable questionnaires were returned. Questions were designed firstly, to describe the sample population and secondly, to gauge levels of teacher job satisfaction. The perceived relationship between job satisfaction and Supplementary Grants funding provided under the Disadvantaged Schools Program was investigated by non-parametric testing using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). No statistically significant difference was identified in levels of job satisfaction between teachers in declared and undeclared schools. It is likely that individual teachers will have varying levels of job satisfaction and this was confirmed by the research. The argument that teachers can be categorised into groups who are satisfied and dissatisfied tended to be refuted.
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ItemTeacher and student interpretation of the teachers' role in terms of satisfaction and effectiveness( 1983)The degrees of satisfaction and effectiveness attained by thirty six (36) teachers in three (3) randomly selected high schools from the Geelong region of Victoria in relation to fifty (60) role-related items were investigated in this study. Data were sought from teachers and from students by questionnaire, and covered seven (7) categories of the teaching act that incorporated the fifty role-related items. The seven categories were "Classroom Practice", "Everyday Duties", "Creative Aspects", "Attitudes to Teaching", "Relationships", "Professional and Private Image" and "School Environment". One hundred and eighty-six (186) students from the respective schools were asked to report on a five (5) point Likert scale their perceptions of their teacher's effectiveness. The scale ranged from "Very Ineffective" (-2) to "Very Effective" (2). Correlations and comparisons were elicited in relation to gender (male and female teachers) and student-teacher responses. The major findings report a uniformity of response for male and female teachers for degrees of satisfaction and effectiveness attained, with particularly high means of response occurring in the categories of "Classroom Practice", some elements of "Creative Aspects", and in the items of self-esteem located within the "Professional and Private image" category. Significant differences in gender response occurred in relation to the items "Classroom Atmosphere", "Volume of Work", "Happiness with Job", "Teacher of Culture", "Relationships with Peers", "School's Physical Structure" and "School's Administrative Structure". In every case, the female response was significantly more representative of dissatisfaction and ineffectiveness than was the male response. An overall teacher response ranked according to mean scores identified major satisfiers and consequent causes of effectiveness as residing in the functions of "Interesting Lessons", "Classroom Atmosphere", "Knowledge of Subject" and "Sense of Fairness" for example. Major dissatisfiers and causes of ineffectiveness were identified in relation to "Volume of Work", "Routine Duties", "Media Representation of Role",and "Access to Promotion", by way of illustration. The two categories most favourable to satisfaction and effectiveness attained were "Classroom Practice" and "Attitudes to Teaching", whilst "School Environment" and "Everyday Duties" occurred at the opposite extreme of the scale. Some discrepancies were recorded between student and teacher interpretation of the questionnaire. Students identified teacher empathy to their needs, such as "Helping Students' Academic Growth" or "Sympathetic to Students' Needs" as being less pronounced and consequently less effective than the teachers perceived themselves to be. (In the above case, student means were 0.17 and 0.20 respectively, in comparison to teacher means of 1.14 and 0.89 respectively.) It was suggested that such discrepancies occur either through teachers exaggerating their sense of effectiveness in relation to particular aspects of their role, or students misinterpreting the role of the teacher in areas which students feel necessitate the appropriate empathetic attitude. Ultimately, the twenty most commonly reported items accounting for teacher effectiveness were extracted and ranked according to the correlated means accruing from the "actual" versus the "ideal" items of the teacher's role. These findings suggest that elements of satisfaction and effectiveness as they occur in the teaching role are subjectively reported and often misinterpreted in terms of satisfaction or effectiveness attained. The findings also suggest that factors extrinsic to the school situation, such as media presentation of the teachers' role, are as much a cause of dissatisfaction and ineffectiveness as are the intrinsic elements of the school's administrative structure or the attitudes of students to the teacher, for example. It may be inferred that a satisfied and effective teacher is one capable of utilizing his talents in the classroom situation, whilst maintaining his self-esteem and integrity in the face of such conflicting and continuous demands upon his role.