Factors Which Affect Satisfaction And Dissatisfaction Of Teachers In Rural Schools (Nevada; Arizona; Utah)

Sergiovanni, replicating a design developed and used by Herzberg, found that teaching had its own unique set of job satisfiers and dissatisfiers. This study investigated teachers in rural schools for congruency with the job satisfiers and dissatisfiers identified by Sergiovanni; It was hypothesized that when rural school teachers responded to the Sergiovanni factors, there was no significant difference between the proportion of times a given factor was reported as a satisfier and the proportion of times the same factor was reported as a dissatisfier; It was also hypothesized that based on the frequency of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction incidents, teachers in rural schools were no more satisfied nor dissatisfied than teachers in general; This study (replicating the Sergiovanni Study) used the interview method to investigate factors, attitudes, and effects of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction of teachers in rural schools. Sixty-six schools with a teaching staff ranging from one to thirty teachers, selected from sixteen school districts in Nevada, Utah, and Northwestern Arizona, were used to identify a sample of 60 teachers from a 750 teacher population. Statistical analyses were made to determine if significant correlation existed between the research data and job satisfiers or job dissatisfiers as identified by Sergiovanni; The investigation supported the reliability of the Herzberg method in that the results were in general agreement with Herzberg\u27s study. The Sergiovanni study concluded that some satisfaction factors identified by Herzberg were not applicable to teachers. This study identified not only the same non-applicable factors, but additional factors not applicable to teachers in rural schools; It was concluded that as long as a teacher experienced personal success, and was recognized for the success, he/she derived satisfaction from work. It was also concluded that the interpersonal relationship with students allowed for such feelings of personal success. Interpersonal relationship with students remained as a low attitude factor but tended to indicate a strong possibility of being a \u27swing\u27 factor, showing a tendency to be bi-polar