Teacher Self-Efficacy and Job Satisfaction and Their Correlates

• In Event: 61.020 - Lessons Learned From the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2013)

Abstract

This analysis focuses on teachers’ feelings of self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Self-efficacy refers to the level of confidence teachers have in their abilities, while job satisfaction is the sense of fulfilment and gratification that teachers get from working. The analysis looks at the role that teacher, classroom, and school conditions influence teachers’ feelings of self-efficacy and job satisfaction. The discussion then considers teacher and school characteristics that might serve to lessen the effects of potentially challenging classroom circumstances for teachers.

There is increasing evidence that teachers’ sense of self-efficacy, consisting of efficacy in instruction, student engagement and classroom management, is an important factor in influencing academic outcomes of students, and simultaneously enhances teachers’ job satisfaction (Caprara et al., 2006; Klassen and Chiu, 2010). Job satisfaction, in turn, refers to a sense of fulfilment and gratification from working in an occupation (Locke, 1969), and teacher job satisfaction consists of satisfaction with the profession and satisfaction with the current work environment. Exploring the relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction may have implications for teachers’ retention and commitment to the school, job performance and, by extension, the academic achievement of students (Klassen et al., 2009; Price and Collett, 2012; Somech and Bogler, 2002; Brief and Weiss, 2002).

This study uses data from more than 30 participating TALIS countries and provinces. Two second-order indices measure teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Teacher self-efficacy consists of three efficacy subscales related to classroom management, instruction, and student engagement. Job satisfaction measures satisfaction with the current work environment and the teaching profession. Although neither index reaches scalar invariance to allow for raw-score cross-country comparisons, the indices do reach metric invariance, allowing for a statistical comparison of the rates of influence. That is, the standardized slope coefficients can be compared across participating countries.

The TALIS data demonstrate that in most countries, increasing teacher self-efficacy is slightly more likely to result in an increase in teachers’ job satisfaction than the other way around. The analyses indicate that on average, nine of ten teachers are satisfied with their jobs and 70-92% of teachers are confident in their abilities. The differences in reported levels of efficacy and job satisfaction come from a variety of sources, depending on the country, but across countries challenging classroom circumstances play a large role – much more so than classroom size or other school resource constraints. Teacher collaboration and teacher-student relations moderate the effects of challenging classroom conditions on these associations.

This TALIS 2013 analysis is the first of its kind to assess the association of teacher, school, and classroom characteristics with teachers’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction across dozens of school systems in the world. No other study has assessed the tenacity of these human and structural conditions on teachers’ perceptions of efficacy or satisfaction with their teaching. The consistency and strength of the associations provides strong evidence as to the importance of these outcomes on teaching and schooling.

Author

• Heather E. Price, University of Notre Dame