Role consensus and job satisfaction in the educational organization : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education at Massey University

Abstract

A theory of social exchange was used as the framework for investigating role consensus between the Head Teacher and his staff on expectations of teacher and Head Teacher role and relating consensus to teacher job satisfaction. Association between job satisfaction and a number of personal variables was also hypothesised. The sample consisted of 147 intermediate school teachers in the ten intermediate schools in a New Zealand city. Only one of two central hypotheses proved significant. Role consensus between the Head Teacher and his staff on expectations of Head Teacher behaviour was positively related to job satisfaction, in that the greater the role consensus the greater the job satisfaction. No relationship was found between role consensus on expectations of teacher behaviour and job satisfaction. Only one of the personal variables, sex, proved to be related to job satisfaction, in that female teachers expressed greater job satisfaction than male teachers.