Modeling teacher empowerment: The role of job satisfaction

Abstract

Empowerment is defined and measured in terms of teachers' power to participate in decision-making about teaching and learning conditions. Job satisfaction refers to the level of teacher satisfaction by matters related to these conditions: student achievement, decision-making ability, self-growth, and so on. This research considers the relationship between job satisfaction and teacher empowerment, which includes dimensions of job satisfaction that contribute to teacher empowerment. In particular, it examines the levels of teacher satisfaction in four dimensions (professional growth, decision-making, promotion, and status) and their contribution to the sense of teacher empowerment among Cypriot teachers. The results support the importance of job satisfaction in the construction of teacher empowerment. Specifically, (1) teachers' level of job satisfaction varies depending on the dimension of school life that is focused; (2) teachers' job satisfaction is related to teacher empowerment.