Teachers' Perceptions of Their Working Conditions: How Predictive of Policy-Relevant Outcomes?

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen F. Ladd
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Teachers Perceptions

Language teachers’ perceptions of practitioner research

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 897-914
Author(s):  
Sabine Imad Arayssi ◽  
Rima Bahous ◽  
Rula Diab ◽  
Mona Nabhani
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Practitioner Research ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Theory To Practice ◽  
Depth Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine language teachers’ perceptions of practitioner research to establish an understanding whether research comprises a fundamental component in their career. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative study was conducted with language teachers and coordinators from various schools in Lebanon. Questionnaires were distributed to 50 language teachers, followed by semi-structured interviews conducted with language coordinators, and in-depth interviews with language teachers who are practitioner researchers. Findings Results indicated that research is a minority activity for language teachers due to lack of time, overwhelming working conditions and lack of flexibility in the workplace. Research limitations/implications There was a lack of cooperation between teachers and coordinators. Originality/value This study provides teachers in Lebanon with the opportunity of transforming their voice through participating in and being agents of research rather than solely observing the process which attempts to bridge theory to practice.

How Much Do School Principals Matter When It Comes to Teacher Working Conditions?

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Burkhauser
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
School Environment ◽  
Teacher Turnover ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Teacher Working Conditions ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
The North ◽  
School Working Conditions ◽  
The Relationship

Teacher turnover is a challenge for U.S. public schools. Research suggests that teachers’ perceptions of their school working conditions influence their leaving decisions. Related research suggests that principals may be in the best position to influence school working conditions. Using 4 years of panel data constructed from the North Carolina Teacher Working Condition Survey, this study uses value-added modeling approaches to explore the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of four measures of their working conditions and their principal. It finds that teacher ratings of the school environment depend on which principal is leading the school, independent of other school and district contextual factors, suggesting districts struggling with teacher turnover should assess climate and use that information to advise and support principals.

scholarly journals Job Perceptions Contribute to Stress among Secondary School Teachers in Southwestern Uganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2315
Author(s):  
Joseph Ssenyonga ◽  
Tobias Hecker
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
Teacher Stress ◽  
School Context ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Stress Levels ◽  
Southwestern Uganda ◽  
Job Perceptions

(1) Background: Teachers’ personal and strenuous working conditions reflect the realities of the teaching vocation that may result in increased stress levels and associated negative consequences, such as negative emotions. It is also well-known that teacher stress contributes to more violence against students. However, little is known about personal and school context factors that contribute to teachers’ stress. The current study examined whether, in addition to school-related factors, job perceptions, including the feeling of pressure at work and perceived school climate and teaching difficulties, contribute to teachers’ stress. (2) Methods: A representative sample of 291 teachers from 12 public secondary schools in southwestern Uganda responded to self-administered questionnaires. (3) Results: Teaching difficulties and feelings of pressure at work contributed to teachers’ stress. Furthermore, stress did not vary with teachers’ sociodemographic variables. (4) Conclusions: Teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions were associated with teacher stress levels. Therefore, more efforts need to be geared towards improving the working conditions of teachers as a way of reducing stress.

Teachers’ perceptions of educational reform: the schools’ readiness, supporting mechanisms and contributions of the reform

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
Orit Avidov-Ungar ◽  
Rinat Arviv-Elyashiv
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
School Readiness ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
School Effectiveness ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
School Level ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of teachers toward national reform in education according to the reform stage (Initiation, Implementation or Institutionalization) attained in their school. The study aim to examined: How do teachers perceive the current reform?; Is there a correlation between teachers' perceptions and reform stage?; To what extent are teachers' perceptions affected by school's mechanisms and school's readiness?Design/methodology/approachThe research methodology is quantitative. Teachers (N = 288) completed a written questionnaire. One-way ANOVA was used to investigate teachers' perceptions of the reform and its contributions to school effectiveness and to teachers' working conditions according to reform stage, while controlling for managerial position, teaching experience and school level. Multivariate modeling was used to examine the relationships between the variables.FindingsTeachers' overall attitudes toward the changes associated with the education reform lay between moderately negative and neutral. Reform was perceived to have made a greater contribution to school effectiveness than to teacher working conditions. School readiness for reform and the presence of school mechanisms supporting reform explained much (41%) of the variance in teachers' attitudes. Teachers holding leadership roles and those whose schools were in the Institutionalization stage exhibited more positive attitudes toward the reform and perceived it as having improved their working conditions to a greater extent than those without leadership roles or whose schools were in the Initiation or Implementation stages, respectively.Originality/valueTeachers' attitudes toward reform have not previously been examined in the context of reform stage.

Teacher Working Conditions in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools: A Comparative Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongmei Ni
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Charter Schools ◽  
Charter School ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
School Type ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Teacher Working Conditions ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Traditional Public Schools ◽  
K 12

Background/Context Teachers affect student performance through their interaction with students in the context of the classrooms and schools where teaching and learning take place. Although it is widely assumed that supportive working conditions improve the quality of instruction and teachers’ willingness to remain in a school, little is known about whether or how the organizational structure of charter schools influences teacher working conditions. Purpose/Research Question This article compares teacher working conditions in charter and traditional public schools and among various types of charter schools. In doing so, it seeks to understand whether the different working conditions are influenced by the intrinsic institutional features of charter schools such as autonomy and competition, or by the extraneous factors such as measureable school and teacher characteristics. Research Design This study utilized data from the 2003–2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), the nation's most extensive survey of K–12 schools and teachers, both for charter schools and traditional public schools (TPSs). This article is a quantitative analysis that involves three main steps. First, based on the responses to the SASS teacher questionnaire, confirmatory factor analysis was performed to generate multiple factors corresponding to key dimensions of teacher working conditions. Second, propensity score matching was used to pair charter schools with TPSs that are similar in terms of school location, educational level, school type, and student demographics. This matching process mitigates the confounding effects of these extraneous factors on teachers’ perceptions of working conditions. Finally, a series of weighted Hierarchical Linear Models were utilized to compare teachers’ perceptions of working conditions between charter and traditional public schools, controlling for teacher and school characteristics. Conclusions/Recommendations The results show that charter and traditional public school teachers perceive their working conditions to be similar in many regards, including principal leadership, sense of community and collegiality, classroom autonomy, opportunities for professional development, and adequacy of instructional supplies. However, charter school teachers perceive that they have significantly more influence over school policies, but a heavier workload than traditional school teachers. Among charter schools, district-granted charter schools show consistently more supportive working environments than charters granted by other organizations. This implies that state policy can have some indirect influence over charter school working conditions by providing substantial administrative support and oversight to charter schools authorized by independent organizations other than the established structure of school districts.

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