Abstract:

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) conducts annual survey studies on teacher satisfaction. Those studies are mainly quantitative in nature and while they survey large numbers of teacher, they do not give in-depth understanding of the issue of teacher satisfaction. In addition, some results of these studies deserve attention. For example, Badri et al. (2011) concluded, teaching load does not have any impact on teachers’ feelings of satisfaction. This is contradicting existing literature. Another ADEC study warned, “the consequences of ignoring what makes teachers dissatisfied is detrimental not only to the quality of work life of the individual teachers but also to their schools and the children they serve” (Badri, Makki, & Ferrandino, 2011, p. 4). Therefore, this study comes to breach a gap in knowledge about teachers’ satisfaction in Abu Dhabi schools—i.e., the absence of qualitative studies and the genuine voice of teachers. Further, it will focus on issues which stand in contradiction to literature or are in need of further investigation. A final focus of the study will be delineating any differences between male and female teachers, and between national and non-national teachers (since there is a large number of expat teachers at the schools). The results, we anticipate, will be of significant academic merit to policy makers in ADEC in their quest to make informed decisions to raise satisfaction among teachers in Abu Dhabi schools.

Keywords:

Teacher satisfaction, Teacher commitment, Teaching load, Teacher stress.