SATISFACTION WITH TEACHING AS A JOB AND AS A CAREER

The commitment to excellence in education and the impending shortage of teachers make it imperative to attract and retain highly qualified college graduates to the teaching profession. Understanding teachers' satisfaction with their work is essential to reach these aims.

Today's highly able and well qualified college graduates have high aspirations. They are attracted to professional work that offers material rewards, power and prestige. Teaching is portrayed as a dead-end job with low pay, poor status and precious little power. The incompatibilities between what graduates are looking for and what teaching offers are exemplified in the differences between a "job" and a "career". Therefore, an analysis of teachers' satisfaction with teaching must begin with clear definitions of the concepts. A job and a career are closely connected but different constructs, and in this study a careful distinction is made.

The purpose of this study was to find out from teachers themselves how they view their work, both on a daily basis and as a lifelong commitment. Using an analytical and descriptive approach, specific factors that contribute to teachers' satisfaction with teaching were investigated, and the differences between job satisfaction and career satisfaction were discussed. Numerous theories of work satisfaction were applied to teaching, and a model of teacher satisfaction was presented.

Data was collected from school districts in various locations, and 361 teachers responded to the survey questionnaire. Follow up interviews were held with 62 teachers. Data analysis was performed utilizing SPSSX on the VAX computer system.

Findings revealed that 83.1% of the teachers were satisfied with their work on a daily basis. These teachers were satisfied with every job facet except salary. Nevertheless, only half (49.8%) of the teachers were satisfied with teaching as a career, and they were most dissatisfied with their status. While teachers are happy with the substance of their work, they find the structure of their occupation to be unacceptable. In order to attract bright college graduates and to keep talented teachers in the classroom, teaching must provide career benefits.