Satisfaction and stress among teachers

Abstract

Studies of job satisfaction in teaching can be interpreted usefully within the framework of personality theories related to adult development. In the Dutch context, a large-scale study has shown that general job satisfaction among secondary school teachers is primarily determined by the content of the work itself, and that roughly between the ages of 45 and 55, there is growing dissatisfaction with activities related to teaching for full-time personnel. International comparisons show some sharp differences between levels of job satisfaction in different countries. Also, Dutch teachers of all ages are less satisfied with their work than former colleagues who have left teaching, and older teachers feel more ‘stressed’ than ex-teachers of the same age.