Relationship of School Climate and Job Satisfaction

The most well-known conceptualization and measurement of the social climate of the school was developed by Andrew W. Halpin and Don B. Croft (Hoy & Forsyth, 1986) in their pioneering study of elementary schools. They viewed the climate of the schools as a combination of two dimensions of social behavior: principal-teacher interactions and teacher-teacher interactions. OCDQ-RE instrument will reveal four kinds of school climate. The first is an open climate where principals have high supportiveness and low directiveness and teachers have high intimacy and high engagement. The second is engaged climate where principals have low supportiveness and high directiveness and teachers have high intimacy and high engagement. The third is disengaged climate where principals have high supportiveness and low directiveness and teachers have low intimacy and low engagement. The fourth is closed climate where principals have low supportiveness and high directiveness and teachers have low intimacy and low engagement.

There are studies of the relationship between school climate and job satisfaction. Schools with positive and cohesive climate appear to be the characteristics of high achieving schools (Wynne, 1980). Teacher morale is consistently associated with schools climate, i.e., teachers who expresses satisfaction with schools tend to perceive school climate as more positive (Kalis, 1980). If the teachers are motivated, the effect is significant in the climate of the schools (Berson, 1993).

Climate is a correlate of work, motivation and productivity (Reichers & Schneider, 1990). Different dimensions of climate are reported to directly affect motivation (Kopelman et. al., 1990). Climate seems to have a greater effect on job satisfaction than on performance (Scott et. al., 1981). Climate fosters performance and job satisfaction (Davis & Newstrom, 1985).

Smith and Piele (1997), based from a review of researches, reported that a positive school culture and climate is associated with higher student motivation and achievement, increased teacher collaboration, and improved attitudes among teachers toward their jobs.

Antiojo (2007) mentioned Pama (2001) who made a study in Ilo-ilo and Angco (1999) who made a study at Davao City that showed a strong correlation between positive school climate and job satisfaction of teachers. Antiojo’s research (2007) showed a strong positive relationship between positive school climate and job satisfaction.