Job satisfaction of teachers and other elementary school workers : what are the influencing factors?

Teachers and other employees within the school system have a vital role in society and therefore it is important to know what keeps these individuals in their jobs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the main influencing factors when it comes to the job satisfaction of teachers and elementary school staff. Previous research has indicated that the influencing factors of job satisfaction in general and teachers' job satisfaction are not necessarily the same, as the job is unique. Therefore, it is interesting to look at teachers especially and examine what affects their job satisfaction. The study was conducted by asking those currently working in elementary schools to answer a short questionnaire where they were asked about various aspects of their job and their job satisfaction. Participants were selected randomly; the researcher randomly selected ten public schools and six private schools, contacted their administrators, and requested that the survey be forwarded to their staff. The results were generally in accordance with previous research on job satisfaction specifically related to teachers and revealed, for example, that there is no correlation between a higher wage and higher job satisfaction. However, they were not in line with previous studies that focused on job satisfaction in general. Out of the five hypotheses proposed regarding the influencing factors of job satisfaction of teachers and elementary school employees three were rejected and two were accepted. Keywords: job satisfaction, teachers, COVID-19, salary, stressKennarar og aðrir starfsmenn innan skólakerfisins sinna mikilvægu starfi og því mikilvægt að vita hvað heldur þessum einstaklingum í starfi. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var því að kanna hverjir væru helstu áhrifaþættir starfsánægju kennara og starfsfólks grunnskóla. Fyrri rannsóknir hafa gefið til kynna að áhrifaþættir starfsánægju almennt og áhrifaþættir starfsánægju kennara séu ekki endilega þeir sömu enda nokkuð einstakt starf. Það er því áhugavert að taka kennara út fyrir sviga og kanna hvað það er sem hefur áhrif sérstaklega hjá þeim. Framkvæmd rannsóknar fólst í að fá starfsfólk grunnskóla til þess að svara stuttum spurningalista þar sem spurt var um ýmsa þætti starfsins ásamt því að spurja um starfsánægju þátttakanda. Þátttakendur voru valdir af handahófi en rannsakandi valdi handahófskennt tíu opinbera skóla og sex einkarekna skóla og hafði samband við stjórnendur þeirra og óskaði eftir að könnunin yrði send áfram á þeirra starfsfólk. Niðurstöður voru almennt í takt við fyrri rannsóknir um starfsánægju sem tengdust kennurum sérstaklega og leiddu meðal annars í ljós að ekki er samband milli hærri launa og meiri starfsánægju. Þær voru þó ekki í takt við fyrri rannsóknir um starfsánægju almennt. Þá stóðust aðeins tvær af fimm tilgátum um áhrifaþætti starfsánægju kennara og starfsfólks grunnskóla. Lykilorð: starfsánægja, kennarar, COVID-19, laun, streit