Just One More Time..What satisfy teachers?

Findings based on my research on teachers' career satisfaction about eight years ago when pursuing my doctoral studies at UWA, has been shared in a number of forums locally and abroad. When the initial proposal was submitted to the Graduate School of Education, UWA in Perth in 1999, I secured a travel grant from the Australian Government, giving me an opportunity to present my paper at an international conference on teaching in Hong Kong. I remembered one question was asked by one of the participants: What actually satisfy teachers?

Last Wednesday, 20 August 2008, on my way back to Kuching via Brunei, Dr. Haji Loji Haji Saibi, Principal of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation Secondary School invited me to talk to his teachers (including those from the primary and preschool). I recalled giving him my book "Quality Burnout: an investigation of teachers' career satisfaction in Sarawak" and he ticked me on it this time. I recalled Dr. Loji's research was on work attitude and has also written a book on it. His interest on the subject began when pursuing his doctorate at QUT Brisbane more than 15 years ago.

Conceptually, career or job satisfaction refers to the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one's job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of one's job values (Locke, 1969:319). On the notion, coupled with a few other definitions, I discussed the context in which the environment Asean teachers are working. There are subjective situations. In Brunei, I presumed, there is no such thing as an issue of satisfaction with regards to pay and work environment. However, I was given to understand that there are things of cultural and professional in nature especially in term of sustaining the particular level of satisfaction among teachers. The school where Dr. Haji Loji is the CEO (in professional sense) is well funded. Teachers are trained and experienced. Quite a number are foreign teachers. The time I spent with the teachers was quite limited as I was rather in a hurry to catch my flight back to Kuching, happened to be the last flight on schedule. Thanks to Dr. Haji Loji and his teachers for giving me the opportunity to visit and talk to the teachers; brief but meaningful indeed.