Job satisfaction and occupation stress among primary teachers in Male' schools / Nahidha Mohamed

Abstract

Previous research has revealed that occupational stress among the teachers has a significant impact on students' learning. It has also become a major concern especially in the context of Maldives where the turnover of teachers in schools were noticeably high. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a relationship between job satisfaction and occupational stress in terms of workload, careers progress, working relationships, student behaviors, external pressure, working conditions and working environment, among primary teachers of selected schools in Male'. A quantitative approach was used where data was collected using a questionnaire from 135 teachers from four different primary schools in Male'. Three research questions were addressed in the study. The results showed that demographic variables had no impact on job satisfaction and occupational stress among primary school teachers in Male'. It also revealed that they were not having occupational stress due to workload, career progress and working environment. However, the results showed there was a small to moderate relationship in the stress factors: working relationship, student behavior, external pressure and working conditions. A multiple regression test was carried out to find out the factors which had the highest level of impact on job satisfaction among primary school teachers in Male'. The results showed a very small percentage of about 15.5 % were attributed to teacher's occupational stress due to working relationships and external pressure. Yet, through this research it was found that teachers are having occupational stress and dissatisfaction in their teaching career to some amount in some areas.
Keywords: Job satisfaction, Occupational Stress, working relationship, student behavior, workload.