A 30-Year Scoping Review of the Physical Education Teacher Satisfaction Literature

Abstract

While stress has always been present in the teaching profession, recent trends such as standardized testing and school and teacher accountability may be making teachers' work more stressful. Teacher satisfaction research has emerged as a popular lens through which to understand how teachers experience their work. This scoping review sought to summarize the literature related to physical education teacher satisfaction published between 1987 and 2016. A total of 20 articles that reported research from 11 different countries were identified for inclusion. Thematic analysis of the study results led to the construction of four themes: (a) levels of physical education teacher satisfaction vary by level and context; (b) demographic variables do not reliably predict satisfaction; (c) intrinsic and psychosocial variables influence job satisfaction; and (d) the workplace and interpersonal relationships influence job satisfaction. Results are discussed and recommendations provided, particularly related to a theoretical basis for future research and methodological diversity. Keywords: Affective events theory | teacher research | school context | physical education | scoping review Article: recently, however, Markow and Pieters (2012) found that, between 2008 and 2012, the percentage of teachers indicating they were "very satisfied" with their jobs dropped from 62% to 39%, which is the lowest value reported in 25 years. The percentage of teachers indicating that they felt very stressed several days per week increased from 36% to 51% during that same time-suggesting an inverse relationship between stress and teacher job satisfaction. While documenting levels of teacher job satisfaction is important, identifying factors within the work environment that promote evaluative judgments of satisfaction and discourage those of dissatisfaction are, perhaps, of greater worth (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2011). Most studies of teacher job satisfaction have been quantitative and used self-report survey instruments, such as the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale (Weiss, Dawis, England, & Lofquist, 1967) and the Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (Lester, 1987). Generally, these studies examined demographic (e.g., gender, age, years of teaching experience, and teaching level), intrinsic (e.g., satisfaction derived from working with children), and work environment (e.g., pay, facilities) factors as predictors of satisfaction. Demographic variables have not proven to be reliable determinants of teacher satisfaction. Female teachers have, by and large, reported more professional satisfaction than their male counterparts (Bogler, 2002; De Nobile & McCormick, 2008; Ma & MacMillan, 1999; Metzler, 2016); however, some studies indicated that males are more satisfied (Menon & Athanasoula-Reppa, 2011), and others failed to find any significant gender effects (Crossman & Harris, 2006; Klassen & Anderson, 2009). Some studies concluded younger and less experienced teachers are more satisfied with their work (Perie & Baker, 1997); however, other evidence indi...

Does the Level of Motivation of Physical Education Teachers Matter in Terms of Job Satisfaction and Emotional Exhaustion? A Person-Centered Examination Based on Self-Determination Theory

“…However, no person-centered studies to date have included the three types of motivation proposed by SDT (i.e., autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation) using cluster analysis. This issue seems even more interesting if we consider the numerous difficulties and stressors inherent in PE teaching [14]. To fill this gap, this study aimed to identify which combinations of autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation in PE teachers naturally coexist, and how these motivational groups may differ in terms of job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion.…”

“…Finally, the low number of PE hours in the curriculum has generated teacher dissatisfaction in recent decades [9,12]. This lack of recognition, together with the challenges inherent to PE teaching, may affect teachers’ job satisfaction [14]. Likewise, many PE teachers characterize their jobs as demanding and stressful [15], which may also trigger negative feelings such as frustration or emotional exhaustion [4].…”

“…It is widely known that happy teachers have better job performance [14,20]. Job satisfaction, given its association with self-determined motivation and job effectiveness, plays a pivotal role in helping PE teachers to thrive within the arduous school environment [14]. In the present study, we rely on the global definition of job satisfaction, which refers to general satisfaction with work as a whole [20].…”

“…Autonomously motivated PE teachers, who enjoy and value their teaching, will report greater job satisfaction, and will be better armed against emotional exhaustion, giving rise to better psychological functioning [1]. Several studies on PE teachers have offered support for this theoretical hypothesis, showing that autonomous motivation for teaching positively predicted job satisfaction [14,24], and negatively predicted emotional exhaustion [3,5]. On the other hand, controlled motivated PE teachers may put great effort into their teaching as well.…”

The Changing Educators’ Work Environment in Contemporary Society

“…Satisfied and happy workers are more productive ( O’Keeffe et al, 2015 ; Richards et al, 2017 ; Semachew et al, 2017 ). In other words, employees who are satisfied with their jobs have better performance ( Singhai et al, 2016 ).…”