Teacher Edducation

This quantitative correlational study examined the relationship between the school
environment and teachers’ job satisfaction. The study focused on finding the extent to
which four predictors of the school environment (teachers’ collaboration, motivation,
instructional materials, and teachers’ participation in decision making) predict teachers’
job satisfaction. Besides, the study also aimed at determining which variable is the best
predictor of teachers’ job satisfaction. This study was guided by the following research
questions: (1) To what extent does teachers’ collaboration influence their job satisfaction?
(2) To what extent does teachers’ participation in decision-making influences their job
satisfaction? (3) To what extent does motivation influence teachers’ job satisfaction? (4)
To what extent do instructional materials influence teachers’ job satisfaction? The simple
random sampling technique was used for this study. The sample population was made
up of all 550 teachers in 15 public secondary schools, 320 females and 230 males. A
questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. The instrument’s validity
and reliability were ensured. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data
analysis. Pearson product-moment correlation was used to determine the relationships
between the independent variables and the dependent variable. Simple linear regression
was used to determine the amount of variance in the dependent variable accounted for
by each independent variable. In addition, a multiple regression was used to assess the
ability of four control measures to predict teachers’ job satisfaction and to find out which
of the independent variables is the best predictor of teachers’ job satisfaction. The study
found out that all the independent variables make a unique and statistically significant
contribution to predicting teachers’ job satisfaction. The model explains 84.9% of thevariance in teachers’ job satisfaction. Teachers’ participation in decision-making made
the largest contribution (Beta= .626). This reveals that teachers’ participation in decision-
making is the best predictor of teachers’ job satisfaction, followed by motivation (Beta=
.532). This study provides useful findings which have implications for school leaders and
policy-makers.
Keywords: school environment, teachers’ job satisfaction, teachers’ participation in
decision-making, motivation, teachers’ collaboration, instructional materials.