This study examined the effectiveness of selected coping strategies in dealing with teacher stress in the classroom setting. Factors contributing to teacher burnout, (e.g., class size, school size, student behavior), were also weighed. Data were gathered from 117 elementary and secondary teachers by means of a questionnaire, and the Maslach…

Addressing the need to consider ways in which the quality of educator work life can be improved, the author uses J. Walton's eight-point definition of the quality of work life as a framework for discussion. The eight points include (1) adequate and fair compensation, in which financial incentives are provided for advanced coursework; (2) safe and…

This study examined the relationships between various components of organizational control and individual teacher reports of autonomy. The effects of two types of control were examined: information-gathering structures (such as observation) and directive control structures (such as rules). The data for the study were drawn from a survey of 35…

A questionnaire (appended) was administered to a sample of elementary and secondary teachers in Tennessee in three consecutive years to analyze the effects of negotiated contracts on teachers' attitudes toward job satisfaction, interpersonal trust, organizational commitment, and career satisfaction. The findings include a decline in the opinion…

This document identifies teacher attitude as the most important variable in effective teaching, describes a preliminary study of teacher conceptions of reading, and outlines the scope of subsequent research on teacher decisions, patterns of instruction, and time allocation. Two instruments, the Proposition Sort and the Rep Test, were used to…

A study investigated from a national perspective factors that influence the attrition and retention of newly hired secondary business teachers in the public sector. It also identified factors important to determine a business teacher's interest in continuing or not continuing in the teaching profession. The survey developed for the study consisted…

This study investigated instructional aides' relationships with teachers and parents and their status in schools, using Connelly and Clandinin's (1988) epistemology of "teacher as knower" as a way to frame their voices. A total of 17 predominantly female instructional aides from five elementary schools in three midwestern U.S. school districts…

An increasing proportion of Canadian teachers is employed part-time. In order to explore some of the day-to-day realities of part-time teaching and some of the politics and ideologies giving rise to those realities, this study described and compared the enactment of three types of "reduced-work" employment policies for teachers in an…

In this study, 12 preschool teachers in Queensland, Australia were given opportunities to record and describe their work within their specific teaching context, as well as within the wider contexts of the school campus and the educational and social system. Subjects kept a reflective journal each day over a 2-week period, and entries frequently…

This survey was undertaken to build upon and validate understanding of teacher satisfaction and dissatisfaction, orientation to teaching, teachers' values, and teacher health. The purpose of this endeavor was also to develop an instrument suitable for identifying and quantifying the sources and relative strength of factors contributing to teacher…

The potential impacts of teacher work reform efforts on attracting and retaining the best teachers are summarized in this paper, which draws on research conducted in Utah, Colorado, and Missouri between 1985 and 1991. Bluedorn's (1982) model of turnover is used to evaluate the effects of teacher work reform on turnover, which is composed of…

This paper identifies particular propositions and claimed empirical realizations that make up the intensification thesis and examines them with regard to their educational applicability, particularly to elementary teachers' workloads. The propositions claimed within the intensification thesis indicate that intensification: (1) leads to reduced…

Based on previous research on the influence of community context on the needs and concerns of first year teachers and on the implementation of induction program components, this study sought to determine the effects of the community context on the lives of beginning teachers as related to their teaching experience in the classroom. Data were…

This study sought to determine: (1) preservice teachers' perceptions of teaching as a career, and (2) differences in perceptions among groups of preservice teachers categorized on the basis of a variety of background variables. Subjects of the study were 101 education majors enrolled in a college in the Southeast. The survey instrument included 71…

Although many researchers conclude that education is a profession marked by high levels of stress or experience of "burnout," this paper contends that educators are more adaptable and hence less stressed than the literature would indicate. The paper surveys literature on educator stress, presents studies indicating low educator stress, and…