Teacher Passion and Drive: How a Career Within a School System Affects the Personal Satisfaction of Teachers.
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to gain insight into how public school teachers in Michigan maintain the original drive that made them choose education as a career. There is a teacher shortage in Michigan right now and at the same time, Michigan teachers are facing challenges that are being highlighted on the news. However, most teachers go into teaching because they have a drive and passion for educating students. This study sought to find out more about that original drive and passion. It also aimed to find out more about why teachers may not experience high levels of job satisfaction. Lastly, it was conducted to find out if and how teachers are maintaining their original drive for education or if it has changed. This study was conducted via a Qualtrics survey sent out to current Michigan teachers whose emails were listed on their district’s school website staff directory, with possible follow up interviews taking place on Teams. The anticipated findings are that a great deal of teachers choose the path of education as a career because of either family members also being in education, or because it felt like a natural fit. Additionally, a majority of teachers are assumed to have experienced a decline in job satisfaction within their first few years of teaching, with the possibility of some saying they wish they had never entered the field. The expected reasons for this are due to administration and political policies, parental control, and a lack of adequate financial
compensation. Based on the responses received, a few commonalities were found regarding how an increase in personal and professional satisfaction could be found. The themes discovered were that if teachers were trusted within their school to make decisions based on their classrooms and students, and if school administrators took students’ behavioral issues with more care and seriousness, teachers' satisfaction would increase.