The research project detailed in this study was designed to investigate the following: (a) whether career ladder development plans in two school districts in Southern Arizona have had an effect on teachers' perceptions of their work and (b) the efficacy of the theory hypothesized in the Job Characteristics Model (Hackman and Oldham, 1976). The study specifically tests the propositions in the model for teachers on a career ladder. By way of contrast, the relationships in the model are also examined for teachers who are not on a career ladder. Pearson product moment correlations and stepwise regression procedures were used to examine the utility of the theory's use in education and the differences between teachers who were on a career ladder and those who were not. The results of the statistical analysis showed support for the major relationships of the Job Characteristics Model (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) for the total sample of teachers surveyed. Furthermore, the results indicated the following: (1) Teachers on a career ladder plan indicated a stronger correlation between skill variety and experienced meaningfulness in their work than teachers not participating on a career ladder plan. (2) In general, the perceived job characteristics for teachers on a career ladder showed a stronger association with model-specified critical psychological states than for teachers off a career ladder. (3) The relationships between autonomy and task identity with their corresponding critical psychological states were not significant for teachers on or off a career ladder. (4) When teachers were examined by years of teaching experience, significant differences were found among the components of the theory. (5) In general, the perceived job characteristics were not strongly associated with the model-specified critical psychological states for teachers with 0-1, 1-2, 3-4 or 5-6 years of experience on a career ladder. The findings were discussed in light of previous research and recommendations were made for future research dealing with the theoretical model and those dealing with organizational practices.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/185732 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Londer, Gary Bruce. |
| Contributors | Conley, Sharon, Heckman, Paul, Nelson, Lawrence |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
Page generated in 0.4132 seconds