The Complexity of Teacher Job Satisfaction: Balancing Joys and Challenges

Teacher job satisfaction is a construct that has been studied in multiple settings and countries over the last several decades (Kim & Loadman, 1995; Lane, 2016) however, much of the current research in this area is survey-based, quantitative (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2015) or lends itself to determining interventions for teachers (Jennings & DeMauro, 2017). This study utilized participant interviews to investigate factors influencing teacher job satisfaction in an attempt to examine the factors that emerge spontaneously through conversations with teachers, and without imposing a framework on the data collection. Eighteen teachers at two similar elementary schools were interviewed in person in January and February of 2020. Sixteen of those teachers were found to be satisfied with their jobs overall, and those interviews are used in this study. Through multiple rounds of coding, we discovered six emergent themes that defined this work: Making a Difference Makes a Difference, Teaching as Calling, Like a Family, What’s Missing, What’s Added On, and Imbalance. Recommendations for school leaders and policy makers are included along with needs for further research.