Teacher's Perception of Teacher Morale

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore teacher's perceptions of teacher morale in secondary schools in a Mississippi Gulf Coast school district. The study focused on understanding how teachers viewed their morale within their respective schools. The research questions used to reveal how teachers perceived their morale were: RQ1. What factors most affect a teacher's morale within the public-school setting? RQ2. How can teacher morale be improved within the public-school setting? The survey instrument was designed based on those research questions. The survey instrument included scaled, Likert scaled, and open-ended items. The data was analyzed with both SPSS software and coded by hand. The details of how the researcher coded by hand are within. Conclusions were that "student behavior and attitudes; and administrators allowing students to get away with bad behavior" were issues that affect teacher morale and "teacher pay; too much time is spent on test scores, growth models and not teaching; teachers are tired, sad and tapped out" were issues that needed to be addressed to positively affect teacher morale. Consideration of these findings could help school leaders in education boost teacher morale and possibly increase teacher retention. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]