Factors affecting job satisfaction, stress and work

Int. J. Management in Education, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2014

Factors affecting job satisfaction, stress and work performance of secondary education teachers in Epirus, NW Greece Sophia Anastasiou* Logistics Department, TEI of Chalkida, Thiva, 32200, Greece E-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author

Giorgos Papakonstantinou Department Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology, University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli, Ilisia, 15784, Athens, Greece E-mail:[email protected] Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to assess job satisfaction and stress levels of secondary education teachers in NW Greece. A survey (n = 413) indicated that teachers were more satisfied with the job itself (the nature of the work itself, the ability to work with and help their students) and less satisfied with working conditions and that young teachers and women exhibit high levels of stress. Environmental factors that were found to have positive effect on teachers’ work performance included: provision of ‘ethical rewards’, ‘good working conditions’, ‘motivation by the school principal’ and ‘participation in school administration and decision making’. Keywords: management in education; job satisfaction; work stress; work performance; human resources management; Greece. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Anastasiou, S. and Papakonstantinou, G. (2014) ‘Factors affecting job satisfaction, stress and work performance of secondary education teachers in Epirus, NW Greece’, Int. J. Management in Education, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp.37–53. Biographical notes: Sophia Anastasiou is a Lecturer at the Logistics Department of the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Chalkida and is currently teaching business and management courses. She has written research papers on human resources management issues. She has worked in major corporations in the UK and in Greece. She is a graduate of King’s College London and completed her MA course in Human Resources Management at Middlesex University. She holds a PhD in Human Recourses Management in Education. Georgios Papakostantinou is an Assistant Professor of Organisation, Administration and Economics of Education at the Department of Philosophy, Education and Psychology of the School of Philosophy at the University of Athens. He has written several textbooks and research papers and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in educational administration and supervises PhD research on the economics of the Greek educational system.

Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

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S. Anastasiou and G. Papakonstantinou

Introduction

1.1 Literature review Work is an important part of life. The satisfaction that employees get from their job has a great impact on their lives. Job satisfaction, motivation and occupational stress are important human resource management issues that all modern organisations are faced with. Although job satisfaction and occupational stress are not correlated, in practice one can affect the other and if both function well it could lead to positive results for the employees and the organisation overall (Halkos and Bousinakis, 2010). In the literature, there are a plethora of definitions regarding job satisfaction and work motivation. Job satisfaction can be defined as an affective or emotional state response towards various aspects of an individual’s work (Spector, 1997; Ellickson and Logsdon, 2002). It may influence various aspects at work such as productivity, efficiency, absenteeism, turnover rates and workers’ well-being in general (Maghradi, 1999). Motivation is a process which may lead to job satisfaction (Mullins, 2002). Although the relationship between motivation and job satisfaction is not clear, it can be illustrated by means of the motivational theories which can be classified into two main categories; ‘content’ and ‘process’ theories (Calder, 2000). ‘Content theories’ are specifically related to job satisfaction and assume a direct relationship between job satisfaction and improved performance, while the ‘process theories’ look in more detail the relationship between motivation, satisfaction and performance (Mullins, 2002). Nel et al. (2004) refers to content theories as the ‘what’ of motivation and to process theories as the ‘how’ of motivation. In addition to job satisfaction and motivation, experienced levels of occupational stress and burnout (Tsigilis et al., 2006) is also an important aspect of human resources’ well-being in all organisations. Occupational stress can be described as the experience of negative feelings, such as frustration, worry and anxiety attributed to work related factors (Kyriacou, 2001). It is an issue of concern for in the present day as the consequences can be large for the employees and the organisation. If an organisation’s employees are under stress, factors such as productivity, job satisfaction, work performance and staff retention may also suffer (Ganster and Schaubroeck, 1991; Jepson and Forrest, 2006), affecting employees’ morale and commitment and adding further financial difficulties to organisations. Ill health created by stress related issues can be experienced by an individual physically, psychologically and behaviourally. Stress has been associated with various illnesses such as headache, back pain, stomach complaints, chest pains, nausea, depression and even stroke (Guthrie, 2006; Muchinsky, 2006; Rebore, 2007). Job satisfaction, motivation and occupational stress are important and rather difficult aspects of human resources management in all workplaces. There is a plethora of definitions and theories regarding job satisfaction and motivation. Undoubtantly, motivation is an individual matter since needs, attitudes and desires are internal states (Robbins and Coulter, 2007; Rollinson, 2008). Similarly, the way that individuals manage stress varies enormously and what stresses/distresses one individual may not stress another person. What has to be emphasised is that organisations which have goals to achieve require happy, motivated and satisfied human resources (Oshagbemi, 2000; Bush and

Factors affecting job satisfaction, stress and work performance

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Middlewood, 2006) and is the task of the organisations to analyse the factors that influence their employees’ motivation, job satisfaction and work performance.

1.2 Teacher job satisfaction, motivation and occupational stress Similarly to all workplaces, work motivation and job satisfaction are important factors for the success of the objectives of the educational establishments internationally (Saiti, 2009). Teacher motivation and satisfaction are inextricably linked as one influences the other. Teacher motivation refers to the stimulus for behaviour in a particular context, whereas teacher job satisfaction refers to the result of behaviour within a particular context (Dinham and Scott, 1998; Karavas, 2010). Similar to all organisations, in education a high-quality teaching staff is the cornerstone of a successful educational institution and the educational system overall. One step in developing a high quality school is to understand the factors generally associated with teaching quality. A crucial factor is teacher job satisfaction since it is associated with teacher effectiveness which in tern affects student achievement. Internationally, teacher job satisfaction has been connected to important human resources management issues such as teacher attrition rates, satisfaction with school administration, loyalty to the organisation, school improvement, productivity and efficiency (Kestetner, 1994; Tshannen-Moran et al., 1998; Ma and MacMillan, 1999; Buchmann and Hannum, 2001). Over the last two decades, many studies have attempted to identify the sources of teacher satisfaction and disatisfaction (Kyriacou and Sutcliffe, 1979; Mykletun, 1984; Kyriacou, 1987; Friedman and Farber, 1992). According to the majority of these studies, teacher satisfaction is related to levels of intrinsic empowerment, i.e., motivation (Papanastasiou and Zembylas, 2005). Although motivation is an individual matter since needs and desires are internal states, most employees recognise that the way they feel about their work is affects by a number of factors (Bush and Middlewood, 2006). Research on teacher job satisfaction internationally (Baron, 1986; Shann, 1998; Hargreaves, 1999; Dinham and Scott, 2000; Koustelios, 2001; Scott and Dinham, 2003; Day et al., 2006; Van Houtte, 2006; Klassen and Chiu, 2010; Eyal and Roth, 2011) has identified a variety of ‘internal’ and ‘external’ factors that influence job satisfaction/dissatisfaction and motivation, grouped into four main categories: 1

individual factors, such as a person’s gender, age, marital status, number of children and work experience

2

factors relating to the actual work of teaching; working with young people, the intellectual challenge of teaching, autonomy and independence

3

organisational factors related to the teachers’ working environment such as: school leadership, staff supervision, facilities and infrastructure, school culture and participation in decision making, conditions of service, salary, promotion prospects, group support, etc.

4

factors emanating from the wider social context and the state such as: relentless and imposed educational changes, constant media criticism, perceptions of how teachers are viewed by society, support services to teachers, etc., factors at the system level, as well as wider social forces, such as teacher status, imposed educational change, and the portrayal of teachers in the media.

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Generally, key factors associated with teachers’ job satisfaction include the ability to work with children, the intellectual challenge and opportunities that teaching offers, the autonomy they benefit from the classroom enabling them to be creative, school’s leadership style that fosters participation, cooperation, personal and professional development support, teacher involvement in decision making, interpersonal relationships and friendships developed in the context of work as well as recognition (Hackman and Oldham, 1975; Kyriacou and Sutcliffe, 1979; Mykletun, 1984; Friedman and Farber, 1992; Leithwood, 1992; Perie et al., 1997; Shann, 1998; Mueller et al., 1999; Dinham and Scott, 2000; Evans, 2001; Koustelios, 2001; Bogler, 2005). Good workplace conditions have also been positively related to teachers’ job satisfaction regardless the school type and level or school demographics nor the teachers’ background characteristics (US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997). In contrast, factors contributing to teachers’ job dissatisfaction include: numerous and imposed educational reforms, lack of professional autonomy and empowerment, teachers’ low participation in decision making, role ambiguity and confusion, ambivalent evaluating criteria, low prospects for professional development, heavy workload and bureaucratic-administrative tasks, lack of effective school administration and the feeling of not being valued by society, inadequate resources, bad physical working conditions, poor pay, constant criticism from the media and teachers’ perceptions of how their work is not valued by society (Varlaam et al., 1992; Rice and Schneider, 1994; Thompson et al., 1997; Dinham and Scott, 2000; Hutchings et al., 2000; Van den Berg, 2002; Scott and Dinham, 2003; Johnson and Birkeland, 2003; Papanastasiou and Zembylas, 2005; Smithers and Robinson, 2003; Lukens et al., 2004). Studies in the UK, for example, have identified low status, poor pay, absence of future prospects, poor working conditions and students’ indiscipline as key barriers to entering the teaching profession (Barnard, 1998; Thornton et al., 2002; Rhodes et al., 2004), while the lack of effective school management has been emerged as a key factor of teachers’ professional dissatisfaction (Kremer-Hayon and Goldstein, 1990). Satisfied teachers are expected to stay in profession longer, be able to engage in more positive interaction with children and influence positively their students’ performance (Tsigilis et al., 2006), while on the other hand, teachers who are not satisfied with extrinsic factors, such as poor working conditions, are more likely to leave the profession (Macdonald, 1999; Tye and O’Brien, 2002). In addition to job satisfaction and motivation, experienced levels of occupational stress and burnout (Tsigilis et al., 2006) is also an important aspect of teachers’ well-being. Numerous studies have shown that teaching is ac stressful occupation with teachers’ stress to be an increasing problem over the years (Kyriacou, 2001; Munt, 2004; Antoniou et al., 2006; Guthrie, 2006). In 2004, for example, teaching was placed in the top six most stressful jobs (Cranwell-Ward and Abbey, 2005). Persistent stress can diminish selfesteem and decrease interpersonal and academic effectiveness. Although stress affects each person in different ways and the what stresses/distresses one individual may not stress another, various factors related to job (e.g., work overload, time constraints), organisational (role ambiguity and role conflict, decision making, classroom climate, insecurity, etc.) and personal characteristics (age, gender, personality, etc.) have been associated with teachers’ work stress and burnout internationally (Dinham and Scott, 2000; Maslach et al., 2001; Koustelios, 2001; Rebore, 2007; Kokkinos, 2007).


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Relevant research has also indicated that poor working conditions such poorly equipped and crowded classrooms, poor lighting and inadequate resources can also affect teachers’ work, their job satisfaction and cause stress (Blandford and Grundy, 2000). Additionally, factors such as inadequate training, lack of information on contemporary educational issues, continuous changes in curriculum and excessive demands from school management have been pointed out as significant sources of teacher stress (Travers and Cooper, 1997; Forlin, 2001; Antoniou et al., 2006). The role of school managers has also been pointed out in relation to teacher stress (Lock and Jongeling, 1995; Joseph, 2000). School managers’ behaviour that may cause such stress include: •

lack of leadership and unfairness in job allocation

•

inadequate communication system in the school

•

lack of autonomy and participation in decision making

•

working in a poorly managed school

•

inadequate resources

•

problems associated with school bureaucracy and excessive paperwork

•

lack of support, respect and consideration from colleagues and management

•

lack of recognition.

On the other side, there are numerous factors that also affect school managers’ work and may cause stress to school principals (Borg and Riding, 1991; Rebore, 2007). These include: •

lack of inadequate school infrastructure and resources

•

shortage of ancillary staff

•

maintaining school discipline

•

too much paperwork

•

shortage of teachers

•

teachers absences

•

too much responsibility.

Specifically, in the case of Greece, studies have also shown that teaching is a stressful occupation with teachers’ stress to be an increasing problem over the years (Kyriacou, 2001; Antoniou et al., 2006, 2009; Karavas, 2010). Similarly to studies in other countries including the USA (Klassen and Chiu, 2010) and the UK (Brackett et al., 2010), various factors related to: 1

job (work overload, for example)

2

organisational (role ambiguity, role conflict, decision making)

3

personal characteristics (age, gender) have been associated with Greek teachers’ work stress and burnout (Koustelios, 2001; Antoniou et al., 2006; Kokkinos, 2007).

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Factors such as: inadequate training, lack of information on contemporary educational issues, continuous changes in curriculum and excessive demands from school management have also been pointed out, in relevant studies in Greece, as significant sources of teacher stress (Antoniou et al., 2006, 2009). The education system in Greece is governed by The Ministry of Education with regulations, rules and policies being passed down to the local educational authorities and schools. In spite of numerous reforms and policy changes, the Greek Educational System remains highly centralised, bureaucratic and hierarchical (Andreou and Papakostadinou, 1994; OECD, 2001; Iordanides, 2002; Elophotou-Menon and Saitis, 2006). The Greek Ministry of education is the main centre for the decision-making, the formulation of educational policies and the control of the majority of the educational establishments. It decides on almost all the issues concerning the allocation of funds, school curricula, school operation and human resources management issues such as appointments and transfers (Poulis, 2001; Saiti, 2009; Anastasiou and Papakostadinou, 2011). In this way, the role of local educational officers and school heads is limited to the implementation of educational laws and policies, not allowing school principals the freedom of planning and taking initiatives according to the needs of their school unit (Papanaoum, 1995; Saitis, 2002; Elophotou-Menon and Saitis, 2006). At international level, several studies have indicated a relationship between school leadership and teacher satisfaction, stress and performance (Bogler, 2005; Montgomery, 2010). In the same manner, in Greece school leadership has been pointed out as a significant feature of human resources management at school level (Saitis, 2002; Saiti, 2009). In few words, the international experience indicates that teachers stress, job satisfaction and work performance are affected by a combination of several parameters including personal characteristics, administrative factors, level of training and work experience (Forlin, 2001; Antoniou et al., 2006; Betoret, 2009; Klassen and Chiu, 2010). As a result, effective school management requires the continuous monitoring of the levels of teacher’s stress and job satisfaction.

2

Aim and context of the study

Given the conceptual framework discussed above and taking into account the lack of extensive research on secondary education Greek teachers’ job satisfaction and work stress levels and the adverse working conditions that Greek teachers are called to operate within, this study aimed at identifying the job satisfaction, motivation and stress levels of secondary education teachers in the region of Epirus, Northwest Greece. More specifically, the dual purpose of this study was to: •

examine the level of job satisfaction experienced by a sample of secondary education Greek teachers

•

identify the sources of stress of Greek teachers in secondary education public schools.


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Research design and methods

3.1 Participants The sample of this study comprised of teachers from secondary education state schools in Epirus, Northwest Greece. The sample accounted of 14.86% of the total number of the total number of secondary education teachers (3.114 educators) in that region during the period the study was conducted (Fall 2008). A total of 900 anonymous questionnaires were distributed to the schools and 463 were returned, giving a response rate > 50%. The sample consisted of 61.3% female and 36.9% male participants, with the majority working on a full time basis (91.8%). The fact that there were more women in the sample reflects the real situation, whereby there are more female teachers than male teachers in Greek primary and secondary schools. Of the sample, 15.2% was aged 29 or under, 24% were between the age of 30 and 39, 37, 5.1% were between 40 and 49 years and the remaining 33.3% educators were 50 years of age or over. The vast majority (79.7%) of the respondents were married, 16.8% were single and 3.5% divorced. The majority of the teachers (65.9%) had been in the teaching profession for more than ten years. Of the respondents, 10.9% were head teachers and deputy head teachers and 89.2% teachers. Most of the respondents were permanent (80.9%) and only 8.3% were temporary or part-time employees.

3.2 Instruments and procedure The questionnaire1 of the present study included general questions related to the respondents’ demographic and personal factors such as: gender, age, marital status, teaching experience, leadership position in the school. The questionnaire also included questions on teachers’ views regarding basic human resources management issues such as: teacher selection procedure and criteria, training and development opportunities and school leadership. Furthermore, there were questions on factors which affect teachers’ satisfaction and performance and their work and career expectations. Finally, open questions were included regarding the sources and level of teachers’ stress. The quantitative approach gathers data at a particular time with the intention of describing the nature of existing conditions (Cohen et al., 2000). The level of teachers’ job satisfaction was assessed according to a score (ranging from 0 to 5) obtained on the basis of thirteen questions which measured ‘satisfaction’ in six aspects of teachers’ job: a

achievement

b

responsibility

c

recognition

d

career advancement

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e

work interest

f

personal growth.

The analysis was performed according to the questionnaire of Everard and Morris (1999) based on Herzberg’s factors (motivators) theory, as described by Kambouridis (2002). A score higher than 3.5 indicates an acceptable level of job satisfaction. Scores between 2.5 to 3.0, indicate that there is significant scope for improvement. The questionnaire that we used for analysing the data of the present study has also been used in similar studies regarding the assessment of teacher motivation and job satisfaction by other researchers not only in Greece (Kabouridis, 2002; Tarasiadou, 2008) but also in other countries in the Mediterranean region with strong social and cultural similarities such Turkey (Gökçe, 2010). Similar to all public secondary educational institutions in Greece, the education system in Turkey is centralised. The responsibility of educational policy and the administration of schools liew with Turkish Ministry of Education accordingly with limited decision-making authority given at local and school level (Gökçe, 2010).

3.3 Statistical methods This is a descriptive study based on the survey method. Data collected were analysed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used to examine teachers’ job satisfaction and stress levels (x2).

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Findings and analysis

4.1 Job satisfaction The vast majority of the teachers (86.6%) of the present study stated that teaching was their first choice of career. The teachers appeared to be satisfied mainly with the ‘job itself’ and the opportunities that the teaching profession provides for ‘personal growth’. On the other hand, they were less satisfied with the ‘recognition’ attributed to their work, the limited opportunities for undertaking ‘responsibilities’ and ‘achievement’, while they appeared to be least satisfied with the opportunities provided by the State for ‘career advancement’ (Table 1). There was no statistical difference among men and women in any of the above parameters. The participants stated as most significant factors which can positively affect their work performance (Table 2) their joy for working with and helping their students, the provision of ‘ethical rewards’ and the existence of ‘good working conditions’, while they also recognised that their ‘motivation by the school principal’ and their ‘participation in school administration and decision making’ are additional factors which can positively affect their work. In practice, the teachers appear to be satisfied only by their work with their students assisting children and young people to reach their potential.

Factors affecting job satisfaction, stress and work performance Table 1

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Teachers’ satisfaction levels

Motivation parameters

Average (+/– SD)

Minimum

Maximum

2.10 (0.83)

0.0

5

1 Achievement 2 Career advancement

2.15 (1.26)

0.0

5

3 Responsibility

2.77 (0.86)

0.5

5

4 Recognition

3.02 (0.83)

0.5

5

5 Personal growth

3.67 (1.23)

0.0

5

6 Interesting work

3.75 (0.75)

1.25

5

Total average score

3.65

1.1

4.8

Table 2

Factors which can positively affect teacher’s work performance Moderate effect

Significant effect

Percentage of teachers currently satisfied

-

100%

97.8%

Good working conditions

2.9%

96.2%

34.2%

Ethical rewards

11.8%

86%

25%

Organisational support

23.8%

74.3%

24.9%

Motivation from the school principal

47.1%

21.1%

24.8%

Teacher empowerment – participation in school administration

56.9%

20.5%

11.6%

Factors Helping students

On the contrary, the respondents identified the “frequent and imposed changes in the curriculum”, the fact that they frequent have to ‘change schools’, the frequent ‘changes in timetable and their work hours’ and to a lesser effect their ‘administrative duties’ as significant organisational factors which hinder their work performance (Table 3). Table 3

Parameters which hinder teachers’ work performance Moderately affecting work performance

Significantly affecting work performance

Administrative duties

30.4%

8.7%

Frequently changing curriculum

39.7%

13.2%

Frequently changing timetable and hours of work

25.7%

9%

Frequently changing schools

19.5%

19.8%

Parameters which hinder teachers’ work performance

4.2 Work stress In an open question regarding the sources of work stress, the respondents stated (69.4%) that heavy workload was the main source of their work stress. Regression analysis was performed on the results in order to see whether parameters such as sex and age may have an effect on respondents’ levels of work stress. Female teachers reported (69.4%x2, p < 0.001) higher degree of stress compared to males (Table 4).

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Table 4

Teachers’ stress level and gender Gender Male Ν (%)

Female Ν (%)

Χ2 (df) P

Total Ν (%)

Workload causes me stress

16.458 (1) < 0.001

Yes

81 (50.0%)

195 (69.4%)

276 (62.3%)

No

81 (50.0%)

86 (30.6%)

167 (37.7%)

162 (100.0%)

281 (100.0%)

443 (100.0%)

Total

In addition, age was found to have a significant effect on teacher stress with higher rates to appear between the ages of 30 to 39 years (x2, p = 0.005) (Table 5). Table 5

Teachers’ stress level and age ≤ 29 Ν (%)

30–39 Ν(%)

40–49 Ν(%)

≥ 50 Ν(%)

Total Ν(%)

My work load causes me stress

12.760 (3) 0.005

Yes

11 (47.8%)

72 (66.1%)

116 (71.2%)

79 (53.7%)

278 (62.9%)

No

12 (52.2%)

37 (33.9%)

47 (28.8%)

68 (46.3%)

164 (37.1%)

Total

23 (100.0%)

109 (100.0%)

163 (100.0%)

147 (100.0%)

442 (100.0%)

5

Χ2 (df) P

Discussion of results and concluding remarks

The results of the present study regarding secondary education teachers in Epirus region, confirm findings from studies of teacher job satisfaction reported in other parts of Greece (Karavas, 2010) and internationally (Shann, 1988; Day et al., 2006) where teachers find greater satisfaction with intrinsic elements of their work such as their interaction with students and their desire to help children to realise their potential and express dissatisfaction with issues related to school structures and policy making such as their salaries and promotion opportunities, the working environment and the opportunities of professional development. The results of our study also indicated that younger teachers were more stressed than their older and more experienced colleagues. This has also been reported in relevant studies in other countries and in Greece and can be at least partially explained by the difficulties that teachers are faced with at the beginning of their career (Pines and Aronson, 1981; Schonfeld, 2001). In addition, women in our study were found to report higher levels of stress stressed than men. This is in agreement with the international experience (Offerman and Armitage, 1993) as well as with relevant studies in other parts of Greece (Georgas and Giakoumaki, 1984; Kantas, 2001, Antoniou et al., 2006), confirming a long problem of human resources management in education, namely the gender related differences regarding teacher stress. There are several contributing factors to this phenomenon


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stemming from the negative conditions in the classroom and students’ behaviour as well as work family interface. The present study also showed that secondary education teachers were quite satisfied with the job itself and less satisfied with their working conditions. These findings are in line with previous research on job satisfaction and work stress of teachers internationally and in other parts of Greece where Greek teachers have been reported to be quite satisfied with the nature of their work itself but not satisfied with their salaries, promotion opportunities and working conditions (Koustelios and Tsigilis, 2005; Tsigilis et al., 2006; Karavas, 2010). This could be explained by research on teachers’ job satisfaction which suggests that teachers generally are more satisfied with the intrinsic aspects of their work such as student achievement, positive relationship with students and colleagues and self-growth and most dissatisfied with extrinsic aspects of their job such as imposed educational changes over which they have little control, reduced autonomy, poor work conditions, heavy workloads, low professional status, low salaries and little promotional opportunities (Oshagbemi, 1999; Dinham and Scott, 2000; Fenech, 2006). The results of our study indicated that younger teachers presented higher levels of stress compared to their older colleagues, whereas female teachers were found to experience higher levels of stress and job dissatisfaction than their male colleagues. According to previously published works in Greece, Greek teachers experience high levels of stress and burnout which have been associated with psychosomatic symptoms and illnesses such as fatigue, headaches and insomnia (Georgas and Giakoumaki, 1984; Papastylianou, 1997; Kantas, 2001; Pourkos, 2001; Antoniou et al., 2006; Pappa, 2006; Papastylianou et al., 2009; Karavas, 2010). Relevant research internationally (Maslach and Jackson, 1986; Schwab et al., 1986; Borrill et al., 1996) and in other parts of Greece (Kantas, 2001; Antoniou et al., 2006) has also documented that stress levels may differ in relation to age and gender where younger and relatively new in the profession teachers presented higher levels of stress compared to their older colleagues, whereas female teachers were found to experience higher levels of stress and job dissatisfaction than their male colleagues mainly due to factors such as: the lack of government support, heavy workload, unsatisfactory working conditions, negative classroom conditions and home and work interface (Georgas and Giakoumaki, 1984; Kantas, 2001; Antoniou et al., 2006; Papastylianou et al., 2009). Teachers in Greece are faced with numerous problems and difficulties in their everyday work. Waiting time for appointment to a public school is long and can vary from five to ten years. On top of that, salary is low forcing many teachers to supplement their income by taking a second job, often by providing private tutoring to their pupils (Kantas and Vassilaki, 1997; Pomaki and Anagnostopoulou, 2003). On top of that, there are not many career development opportunities and not specific rewards and for accomplishment and teacher excellence while frequently teachers have to undertake routine administrative tasks (for example, school records) (Kantas and Vassilaki, 1997). Moreover, many school buildings are not in a very good condition and many of them are used to house – in shifts – two different schools with different pupils and teachers. What was additionally underlined in our study – although our survey was not focussed on the leadership issues around job satisfaction – was the need for school principals’ current role in Greece to change. The teachers expressed the view that the role of the school heads should be mainly associated with the creation of a work environment that enhances the collaboration with the local community, fosters teamwork, mentoring

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and teacher participation in decision making at school level as well as the facilitation of opportunities for teacher training and professional growth and development. These results are in agreement with previous work which emphasise the significant role of school leadership on stress and job satisfaction of teachers (Saiti, 2009). Teacher job satisfaction and motivation should be the primary objective of all educational institutions in the effort of providing good teaching and high quality education. Taking also into account that stress can negatively affect not only teachers’ work but the organisation in all, managing and reducing stress should also be a priority for the educational establishments. Administrative support, positive school climate, positive reinforcement and participation in decision making at school level (Smylie, 1992; Rebore, 2007) are important working conditions that could help increase teacher’ job satisfaction and reduce their stress levels. Generally, an individual is best off when his/her needs are satisfied and worst off when they are not satisfied (Filak and Sheldon, 2003). When teachers’ needs are satisfied, it helps in promoting their psychological well-being and enables their performance (Reis et al., 2000). The role of teachers and school leaders is complex, multidimensional and their performance is influenced by several factors including the creation and maintenance of a healthy and creative work environment. A healthy and creative work environment for the teachers should be the aim of educational managers all over the world. The results of the present work indicate some problematic areas of human resources management that need improvement. The results of our study may reflect the current situation of teachers’ stress and job satisfaction beyond the region of Epirus but further research at national level is required to validate this hypothesis. More effective and systematic training and professional development opportunities, teachers’ participation in decision making and better working conditions are factors that may help Greek teachers’ work, improve their job satisfaction and reduce emotional depletion.

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Notes 1

The participation in the present study was voluntary. The questionnaire was anonymous and the participants were assured that their responses to the questionnaire would be used only for academic purposes.