Job satisfaction and professional development among teachers working under two parallel top-down reforms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Following the increasing demand to improve educational systems, ‘top-down’ reforms were developed targeting teachers’ work conditions alongside new professional development policy. The current study aimed to examine the perceptions of teachers who are employed under two reforms in parallel, regarding their job satisfaction and professional development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 teachers who work simultaneously under the two reforms. Based on analysis technique that focuses on content, four themes related to teachers’ job satisfaction were identified: workload and multiple tasks; inherent satisfaction; the struggle between personal and professional identities; and ‘broken’ routine. In addition, three themes regarding professional development were found: forced and limited; unnatural and disconnected to the field; and workload as ruling out a profound process. Taking all the themes into consideration, three portraits of teachers were found: the praising, the flowing, and the embittered. Implications and meaning of the findings will be further discussed.