The purpose of this study was to investigate eleven variables of job satisfaction of full-time two-year public community college faculty members as they related to gender and length of service. The population consisted of 502 full-time community college faculty employed in eleven community colleges across the United States during 1980 - 82. The questionnaire consisted of 63 questions selected from the HEMI Faculty Attitude Survey. Responses to the items were on a scale of 1 to 8. The Herzberg theory of job satisfaction provided the theoretical base for the selection of the items from the HEMI questionnaire by a panel who categorized the items under the following headings: recognition, responsibility, advancement, the work itself, the possibility of growth, salary, working conditions, status, company procedures, quality of supervision, and quality of interpersonal relations.

This study reports on an investigation of the effects of school types, professional semester preparation programs, school organizational patterns, and teaching level assignments upon the adjustment and performance of second year elementary teachers.

M.Phil. / This study examined the relationship between vocational stress and physical health and well being. To address this issue schoolteachers participated in a controlled physical exercise program for eight consecutive weeks. Two groups were established and subjects were classified as being part of a control group and an exercise group. The psychological parameters were assessed through the use of the Occupational Stress Inventory questionnaire which functioned as a pre and post-test and which showed the significant improvements made in Physical Strain, Role Overload, Psychological Strain, Interpersonal Strain and Vocational Strain scales. This suggests that the teachers experienced and reported fewer complaints about physical health issues, work-related issues, psychological disturbances, and less disruption in interpersonal relationships. Accordingly, the overall mental state of the teachers improved significantly. The physiological parameters were assessed by using the resting heart rate readings; recorded on a daily basis throughout the study. The results presented in this study show that the eight-week physical exercise program explained 56 per cent of the variance in the resting heart rate. This result demonstrates that the teachers contributed to their physical health by participating in the exercise program. Additionally, these results seem to suggest that prolonged participation in a program of physical exercise would result in the maintenance of effective coping skills to combat stress. The practical implications of these findings are reviewed with an eye to assisting teachers to better health and well being.

M.Com. (Business Management) / The main objective of any service organisation should be to make a profit. This objective can only be achieved by increasing the employees’ performance, which is subsequently related to Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Job Satisfaction. The studies on the relationship between EI and Job Satisfaction are becoming prevalent in the academic literature. Currently, a debate is on as to determine the extent of the relationship between EI and Job Satisfaction amongst different demographics. Westcol FET, is seen as one of the top performing colleges in South Africa and it claims to make use of Job Satisfaction as part of a business strategy in order to increase performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between EI and Job Satisfaction amongst Westcol FET lecturers, while taking into consideration the organisation’s demographic characteristics. One hundred lecturers at Westcol FET were asked to complete the Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory (short version) and the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS). The sample consisted of 56 participants across different ages, genders, qualifications and lecturing fields. A convenience sampling method was used. All the participants completed the Genos EI in order to measure EI whereas the JDS was used in order to measure Job Satisfaction. The research results show that there was a statistically significant relationship between EI and Job Satisfaction among the Westcol FET lecturers and more specifically in relation to race, gender, years of service and qualifications. Recommendations were made with regard to EI, Job Satisfaction and demographics.

Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2002. / The object of this study was to determine teacher stress in primary schools at Ensingweni Circuit. The first aim was to determine through literature the characteristics of stress, its causes and effects. The second aim was to conduct an empirical investigation into stress among educators at Ensingweni Circuit. The last aim was to present finds, and recommendations, which emanate from the study. A questionnaire was developed by the investigators, which measured the extent to which educators experienced stress in their working environment. By using the questionnaire the investigator was interested in determining which teaching stressors educators found most stressful. Some 71% females and 29% males educators of primary schools at Ensingweni Circuit filled out questionnaires. The teaching stressors which this sample of educators found stressful, in order of most to least stressful, were curriculum changes, work load pressures, job insecurity, poor relationship with colleagues, reward and recognition, learners discipline problems, poor rapport with management and role ambiguity. In terms of factors associated with teacher stress, the results showed that a combination of outside and inside were associated with teacher stress. In terms of inside factors, organisational stressors and classroom stressors were associated with teacher stress. In terms of outside stressors minimal general life stressors were also found to be associated with teacher stress. The problems educators viewed as most stressful are consistent with other studies on teacher stress, namely policy changes. time-workload pressures and classroom discipline. These studies were conducted by Bernard (1989) Gold & Roth (1993) and Cole & Walker (1989). The last chapter of this study recommends a variety of strategies that could be employed by educators to alleviate stress in teaching.

Quality Circles (QC) took root in Japan during the 1960s and was introduced into the U.S. in 1974. Today, many people believe QCs can increase teacher and school effectiveness. Beyond the realm of opinion, however, little research supports this belief. This study had three purposes. The first was to review QCs' literature. The second was to identify QC structures and problem solving procedures. The third was to test QCs in an educational setting and to analyze their effects on the attitudes of teachers. Methodology. QC groups and comparison groups were established at four school sites. Two measurement instruments, the Work Environment Scale (WES) and the Group Environment Scale (GES), were selected. Both the QC group and the non-QC group were pre tested using the WES. QC experience (treatment) was provided for the QC group. After six months, post testing was conducted to identify attitude changes regarding the work environment. The QC group was pre and post tested using the GES in order to identify change in participants' attitudes regarding relationships within the QC group and attitudes about the group's effectiveness. Findings. Hypothesis One: Significant improvement will occur in the attitudes which Quality Circle members hold about their work environment. In eight out of ten WES subscales, QC attitudes changed in the predicted direction. In only two cases, however, was the change statistically significant. Hypothesis Two: Significant improvement will occur in the attitudes which Quality Circle members hold about their work environment as compared to non-circle members. In eight of the ten WES measures, attitude improvement for the QC group exceeded that of the non-QC group. In only three cases was this improvement statistically significant. Hypothesis Three: Significant improvement will occur in the attitudes which Quality Circle members hold about other circle members. In four of five measures, change occurred in the direction predicted. In only one case was this change statistically significant. Hypothesis Four: Significant improvement will occur in the attitudes which Quality Circle members hold about the effectiveness of the group. All five measures of group effectiveness showed statistically significant change. Conclusions. (1) QCs can operate successfully in an educational setting. (2) The attitudes of QC participants toward their work environment improved when compared to the attitudes of non-participants. (3) QC problem solving QC worked effectively in the educational sites. (4) QC participation improved personal relationships.

The research on cooperative learning has been conducted in terms of student achievement but little is known of how training in and use of cooperative learning affects teachers. The central purpose of this study was to examine the association between training in cooperative learning and teacher job satisfaction, with special attention to the subsets of collegiality and efficacy. A second purpose was to examine how levels of job satisfaction, efficacy, and collegiality vary as a function of the following training variables: (a) setting, (b) amount of use, (c) kind of training, (d) preparation for implementation, and (e) opportunity for skill maintenance. The research was conducted via questionnaire with 129 teachers responding, which was a response rate of 71%. The questionnaire gathered data about training variables and included a 30-item Job satisfaction Survey which had subscales: 10 questions on collegiality, 15 on efficacy, and 5 on overall job satisfaction. The validity of the Job satisfaction Survey was established by pilot testing, by expert review of the questions, and by the use of an established survey as a bench mark for comparison. The research analysis involved examination of mean scores on the Job satisfaction Survey and ANOVA technique to examine the significance of variables in training and levels of job satisfaction as well as the subsets of collegiality and efficacy. Although the research did not reveal a significant relationship between training in cooperative learning and teacher job satisfaction, a significant relationship was found between several training variables and levels of satisfaction as well as collegiality and efficacy. The training variables found to be significantly associated with teacher efficacy were these: (a) use of cooperative learning at the level of seven or more times a week, (b) small group sharing and problem solving sessions for participants during training, (c) discussion with colleagues to maintain skills, and (d) the use of principal observation and feedback. The training variables found to be associated with collegiality were as follows: (a) the use of five different opportunities to maintain skills as opposed to three or fewer and (b) the use of peer coaching and feedback. Training variables associated with overall job satisfaction were: (a) small group sharing and problem solving sessions during training, (b) the use of five skill maintenance opportunities as opposed to three or fewer, and ((c) the use of peer coaching and feedback. Given the results of this study, staff development specialists should structure training to include these significant variables as sources of collegiality and efficacy as well as overall job satisfaction of teachers.

No description available.

An investigation was conducted to determine what values were perceived as being of "high importance" by business faculty of community colleges; to compare the values of participants of the study with those of three comparison groups (two-year private junior colleges; two-year community colleges; four-year universities;) and to explore the possible relationship of values to job satisfaction. The design of the investigation was a questionnaire mailed to 185 business faculty members from mine community colleges which represented the states of Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. Colleges were selected which possessed characteristics (urban, rural, suburban and small, medium, large) as to be representative of the three community college systems. One hundred and fifty responses were received for a response rate of 81 percent. Two instruments were used to obtain data: The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) for measuring dimensions of job satisfaction and the Rokeach Value Survey for the ranking of values. The data was analyzed using the Page L-statistic and the Schucany-Frawley rank order test. In this study business faculty members of community colleges ranked the tenninal and instrumental values of "high importance" in accordance with the ranking of the terminal and instrumental values by faculty members in general from samples drawn at two-year private junior colleges and two-year community colleges; and by business faculty representing four-year universities. Of the terminal values, the three values ranked highest by medians and composite scores were "self-respect," "family security," and "sense of accomplishment." Of the instrumental values, the three values ranked highest were "honest," "responsible," and "capable." Respondents of this study also ranked a subset of the terminal and instrumental values, the "academic values" (sense of accomplishment, capable, intellectual, logical, imaginative), in concordance with the rankings by faculty of the three comparison groups. This confirmed the Rokeach (1973) study that educators were unique in placing a high priority to the "academic values" which indicate a high value on intellectual competence and self-actualization. The relationship between "academic values" and total job satisfaction was tested. Results indicated that there was no relationship between an individual's score on total job satisfaction and his/her respective ranking of the "academic values." Finally, the possible relationship between "academic values" and two subsets of job satisfaction, "work" and "advancement," satisfiers and/or motivators according to Herzberg (1959), were explored. Results indicated that there was no relationship between an individual's score on the JDI subset of either "work" or "advancement" and his/her ranking of the "academic values." In summary, the study concluded that business faculty of community colleges ranked the terminal, instrumental, and "academic values" in concordance with the rankings of the three comparison groups and that there was no relationship between either values and job satisfaction or values and Herzberg (1959) motivators and/or satisfiers. / Ed. D.