Teachers' perceptions of their status : revisiting an old problem

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Melbourne, Faculty of Education, 2003Teachers in recent years have expressed a great deal of dissatisfaction with their status in society, consistently citing it as one of the most negative aspects of their work and role. Numerous studies have demonstrated that teachers believe their status in society to be poor and their work undervalued. However, surveys of the Australian public have shown that the majority views both schools and teachers positively, believing that teachers are dedicated to their students, and that schools in general achieve their educational goals reasonably well. The study set out to explore the reasons behind the discrepancy between teachers' beliefs about their status, and the good opinion of teachers expressed by the public in such surveys. In addition, the literature reveals that concern about professional status, while more intense in recent times, has been evident amongst teachers for many decades. This suggests that, while some of the changes to society and teaching may be intensifying teachers' concerns, there may also be structural aspects to the work of teaching that contribute to teachers' unhappiness about their status. The study identified both structural and environmental contributors to the problem, and a model of factors contributing to teachers' perceptions about their status was developed. Finally, the study explored differences between teachers' perceptions of their status amongst the broader community, and their status in the local school community. Teachers expressed more positive views of their status in their own school community, a finding which is important in understanding the impact of teachers' perceptions of their status on work motivation