Factors associated with job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in East Indonesia Union Conference, Indonesia

Abstract

This study investigated factors related to job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in East Indonesia Union Conference of SDA, Indonesia. Specifically, the study was designed to identify the level of teachers' job satisfaction, the correlation of selected independent variables to job satisfaction, and the best contributor of selected variables to job satisfaction. By doing so, the results may contribute to a better understanding of teachers' job satisfaction.

The 118 teachers from twelve Adventist secondary schools in EIUC, composed a response rate of 77%. These 118 respondents were the sample. The questionnaire used in this study was originally developed by Khan (1995) as a result of his synthesis and adaptation of questionnaires developed by Hoy and Miskel (1981), Robbins (1991), and Libato (1992).

The study found that generally, the teachers agreed to the job satisfaction subscale with a mean of 3.92 (SD=0.41). This indicated that teachers were satisfied with their jobs.

The study identified three varlables that had a significant and positive correlation with Job Satisfaction. These variables were School Climate (r = 0.62), Teachers' Professional Qualities (r = 0.48), and Principal Leadership (r = 0.45). The study failed to find a significant correlation between Job Satisfaction and the twelve variables Age, Gender, Civil Status, Teaching Experience, Highest Educational Attainment, Number of Subjects Taught, Class Size, Library Facilities, Audiovisual Equipment, Physical Plant, Salary, and Teachers' Benefits.

Finally, the best predictor variables of Job Satisfaction were identlfied. School Climate and Teachers' Professional Qualities together accounted for 41% of the variance in Job Satisfaction among secondary school teachers in EIUC. The study also found that Principal Leadership and Teachers' Professional Qualities were indirectly related to Job Satisfaction through School Climate. These two variables together accounted for 48% of the variance in school climate.