Klassen 2010

Source:   RESEARCH STUDY/ARTICLE

APA Citation:

Klassen, R. M., & Chiu, M. M. (2010). Effects on teachers’ self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(3), 741-756.

Author bio:

Robert M. Klassen – Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta (Canada)

Ming Ming Chiu – Department of Learning and Instruction, Graduate School of Education, State University of New York at Buffalo

Central Argument/Thesis:

Research questions:

How is teacher’s self-efficacy related to years of experience? (We predicted that teachers’ self-efficacy would increase in early to mid-career but show decline in the later stage.) 743

What are the relationships among teachers’ self-efficacy, job stress, job satisfaction, and contextual factors? (We hypothesized that teacher’s self-efficacy would be influenced by teachers’ stress and that teachers’ job satisfaction would be influenced by teacher characteristics, teacher stress and its two sources, and three domains of teachers’ self-efficacy. ) 743

Discussion – Conclusion:

Female teachers have greater workload stress, greater classroom stress from student behaviors, and lower classroom management self-efficacy. 741

Teachers with greater classroom management self-efficacy or greater instructional strategies self-efficacy had greater job satisfaction, 741

1.      Results show how self-efficacy varies with years of teachers’ experience 747

2.      Results show how teachers’ self-efficacies mediate the links between two types of stress on job satisfaction.

3.      Female teachers had higher levels of both classroom and workload stress

4.      Results show that years of experience and job-related stress were related to teachers’ self-efficacy, which in turn influenced job satisfaction

5.      Finding in the study was that teachers’ self-efficacy was influenced by years of experience in a nonlinear relationship, with the three factors of teacher efficacy increasing with experience for early and mid-career stage teachers and declining for teachers in the late career stages 747

Results from the current study reinforce previous findings that teacher self-efficacy is linked with job satisfaction. Teachers with high levels of self-efficacy for classroom management and instructional strategies reported higher levels of job satisfaction, whereas teachers with high levels of overall stress reported lower job satisfaction. 749

We found teachers’ self-efficacies for classroom management and instructional strategies were directly related to job satisfaction, whereas self-efficacy for student engagement did not play a direct role. It appears that not all facets of teachers’ self-efficacy are linked to job satisfaction in the same way. 749

A teacher’s skills, knowledge, and effectiveness may change over time without a continuous and focused effort to build those skills and knowledge on the part of the teacher, school district, officials, and school administrators. One-size-fits-all professional development that aims to build the skills and knowledge of new, mid-career, and the most experienced teachers may not be optimally effective. 749

Using professional development opportunities to boost skills and teachers’ self-efficacy may lower job stress and enhance satisfaction from teaching. 749

Teaching younger children (elementary grades and kindergarten) was linked with higher levels of self-efficacy for classroom management and student engagement. 750

The impact of classroom and workload stress on job satisfaction was mediated by teachers’ self-efficacy. 750

Notable Quotes (w/page numbers):

Teacher characteristics: gender, teaching level 741

Domains of self-efficacy: instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement 741

Types of job stress: workload, classroom stress 741

Job satisfaction: perceptions of fulfillment derived from day-to-day work activities (is associated with higher levels of job performance) 742

Teachers’ self-efficacy is believed to be most malleable in the challenging early state of a teachers’ career and then increase and become more firmly established as teachers gain experience … however, middle and late career stages bring their own challenges that can influence motivation and job satisfaction 741

Teachers’ self-efficacy may ebb and flow over the course of a career as it is influenced by life and career events and challenges 742

The combination of successful past experience; verbal support from principals, students, peers, and parents; and opportunities for observation of successful peers builds self-efficacy for teaching. 742

Self-efficacy beliefs in the workplace are not static and reflect a lifelong process of development that ebb and flow according to personal attributes and interpretation of environmental circumstances. 742

Teachers who are dissatisfied with their work display lower commitment and are at greater risk for leaving the profession (Evans, 2001; Ingersoll, 2001). Liu and Ramsey (2008) found that stress from poor work conditions had the strongest influence on teachers’ job satisfaction and noted that inadequate time for planning and preparation and a heaving teaching workload reduced satisfaction from teaching 742

Teachers with greater stress – defined as the experience of negative emotions resulting from a teacher’s work – have lower self-efficacy. 742-3

Teachers with high levels of job stress may gain satisfaction from work, but the level of satisfaction may be muted by stress from role ambiguity, low autonomy, or frequency or level of conflict with students and colleagues 743

Workload and student misbehavior contribute separately to teachers’ overall stress … teachers with high levels of stress from these two sources show higher negative health and vocational outcomes, including burnout (emotional exhaustion, de-personalization, and reduced personal accomplishment), absenteeism, and exit from teaching profession. 743

Project notes:

Convenience sample size (@ conference), 1,430 practicing teachers: 69% female, 31% male; median age 40-44 years and median years of experience of 10-14 years.

Brief questionnaire ‘What Motivates Teachers’