Psychology
2012. Vol.3, No.3, 277-283
Published Online March 2012 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/psych) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/psych.2012.33039
Predicting Job Dissatisfaction among Community Junior
Secondary School Teachers in Botswana
M. N. Isaiah1, H. J. Nenty2
1Ministry of Education, Molepolole, Botswana
2Department of Education Foundations, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana
Received December 24th, 2011; revised January 25th, 2012; accepted February 16th, 2012
African governments tend to refuse to accept the obvious truth that dissatisfaction among teachers has
contributed significantly to their inability to attain their educational goals at all levels. A disgruntled
worker cannot put in assiduous effort at achieving set goals, especially goals whose levels of achievement
are not readily obvious. The spirit underlying the natural pride of contributing to the growth and devel-
opment of human beings is greatly robbed by the dissatisfaction among teachers. This study tries to de-
termine what factors predict this dissatisfaction among teachers in community junior secondary schools in
the South Central Region of Botswana. To determine these for teachers in the 55 community junior sec-
ondary schools in the South Central Region of Botswana, a validated 68-item questionnaire with 6-
Likert-type options designed to measure level of job satisfaction and factors that influence it were admin-
istered to 255 teachers from 12 randomly selected schools in the area. A stepwise regression analysis of
the resulting data showed that of the nine variables that combine to account for 57% of the variability in
the level of teacher’s job dissatisfaction, refusal by parents to be involved in the education of their chil-
dren accounted for 34% of such variance. The findings were discussed and recommendations made.
Keywords: Teachers’ Job Dissatisfaction; Teachers’ Commitment; Parental Involvement; Tendency to
Leave Teaching
Introduction
Teachers occupy a prime of place in all efforts at operation-
alizing formal education. They are the hub around which the
process of educating revolves and the education of a nation
cannot be of a quality higher than that sustained by the know-
ledge and devotion of her teachers. Governments across Africa
tend to refuse to accept the obvious truth that dissatisfaction
among teachers has contributed significantly to their inability to
attain the educational goals at all levels. But this is a fact. A
disgruntled worker cannot put in assiduous effort at achieving
set goals, especially goals whose levels of achievement are not
readily obvious.
Job dissatisfaction has been cited in literature as a contribut-
ing factor to the lack of commitment and high level of absen-
teeism among teachers. It is therefore an important factor to
consider in educational management and development (Evans,
1998). Teacher job dissatisfaction arises when the physical and
psychological benefits that accrue from a teacher’s job fall
short of his/her expectation. It occurs when a teacher derives a
negative or un-pleasurable emotional response from his/her
subjective appraisal of his/her current job situation (Siegel &
Lane, 1982). It provokes several negative affective feelings
about one’s job and these have been shown to have negative
influences on one’s affective and cognitive dispositions towards
such jobs. The spirit underlying the natural pride of contribut-
ing to the growth and development of human beings is greatly
robbed by feeling of dissatisfaction among teachers.
Frameworks for understanding learners’ academic achieve-
ment often consider teacher cognitive quality to be key input
but of greater importance is the affective disposition of such
teachers to put in assiduous effort to ensure that learning takes
place. When teacher satisfaction is treated as a dependent vari-
able in a study like this several factors compete for inclusion as
those that underlie the level to which teachers are satisfied. A
high level of satisfaction is necessary to motivate teachers to
invest their cognitive and affective capital for desirable results
in the teaching-learning process. Such factors can be grouped
under administration-related, learner-related, parent-related; peer-
related, personal and professional factors. In any workplace
satisfaction provides the intrinsic foundation for aspiration to
achieve
Theoretical Background
Employees have different needs for which they have psy-
chological inner urge to satisfy. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction is
a psychological response which can be understood through
theories of motivation. There are four sets of theories recog-
nised when dealing with job satisfaction. These set the context
for the study and begin with the categories of motivation theo-
ries. Motivational theories are divided into two categories.
These are content and process theories. These theories are
briefly discussed below to provide a contextual background to
the problems of this study. The basic premise of content theo-
ries is the belief that job satisfaction is achieved mainly by
meeting the needs of employees. It assumes that all individuals
possess the same set of needs and therefore prescribe the char-
acteristics that ought to be present in jobs. The two major theo-
ries in this category are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and
Herzberg’s two-factor theory.

M. N. ISAIAH ET AL.
Maslow’s concept of motivation as reported by Owen (1995)
puts human needs in a hierarchical order. According to this
theory, human needs are stratified and when the lower needs
are met the desire to fulfill the next level becomes high. The
lower level or physiological needs should be satisfied before
advancing to the next or higher level needs. So, in order for
teachers to be satisfied and perform their job perfectly, first and
foremost their physiological needs must be met. A teacher
should first have his/her basic needs of food, clothing and shel-
ter met, before he/she can be expected to perform his/her duties
effectively. The next level of needs—safety needs, which de-
scribes the teachers’ feeling of physical and psychological
safety and security. Safety also in financial matters, could affect
teachers’ motivation and performance. Those who feel insecure
in any way may be pre-occupied with this goal than being fo-
cused on the job.
Social affiliation or belonging needs describes the desire to
be accepted and belong to a particular group. Men and women
are social beings and as such have needs to be part of a social
group, formal or informal, and so are teachers. This means that
if teachers feel isolated from others, their satisfaction level will
be negatively affected. Esteem needs refer to recognition and
pride. The National Commission on Education (Botswana, 1993)
indicated that teachers have low status, and their motivation and
morale were also considered low, indicating low self-esteem.
Finally, the progression leads to the need to realise one’s full
potential, which is termed self-actualization. Only a small pro-
portion of the population achieves this level. This theory was
not intended as an explanation of motivation in the workplace;
however, many managerial theorist have enthusiastically adopted
it. The theory suggests that employees will always tend to want
more from their employers. When they have satisfied the sub-
sistence needs, they strive to fulfill security needs. When jobs
are secure they will seek ways of satisfying social needs and if
successful will seek the means to the ultimate end self actuali-
zation. In such cases, being given autonomy at work before
other basic needs are met cannot motivate teachers. If teachers
are to perform, then their lower level needs must first be satis-
fied.
Despite the fact that there are some similarities, Herzberg’s
(1968) theory unlike Maslow’s (1970), does not regard motiva-
tion as a single dimension that can be described by a hierarchy
of needs. He grouped needs into two groups: the first group
deals with hygiene/maintenance factors and motivators. The
hygiene/maintenance factors were seen as dissatisfiers as their
absence causes dissatisfaction. This included salary, security,
working conditions, fringe benefits, policies of education and
administration, and interpersonal relationships. According to
Herzberg’s theory, satisfying these factors will remove dissat-
isfaction but would not motivate the employees (Mondy, Shar-
plin, & Premeaux, 1991). Hygiene factors were seen to produce
an acceptable working environment but their absence was be-
lieved to cause job dissatisfaction.
The second group of needs is the motivators or satisfiers.
These factors are intrinsic to the job. They are related to the job
content and include meaningful and challenging work, recogni-
tion for accomplishment, feeling of achievements, increased
responsibility, and opportunity for growth and advancement
and the job itself. According to Herzberg’s theory, the absence
of hygiene factors results in dissatisfaction. Similarly, the pre-
sence of motivating factors cause job satisfaction and their
absence create job dissatisfaction (Owens, 1995).
The credibility of Herzberg’s two-factor theory has been a
matter of debate. Regardless of the debate, the theory has a
great impact on management. It is acknowledged for attracting
attention to the job content, which is important in the under-
standing of job satisfaction and motivation. However, critics of
this theory argue that it is method bound (Owens, 1995). A
person may be dissatisfied with part of the job yet found it ac-
ceptable to continue in the profession and Herzberg’s theory
assumes that a direct relationship exists between job dissatis-
faction and productivity.
What the process theories have in common is an emphasis on
the cognitive process in determining employee’s level of moti-
vation. These theories, which include equity, goal setting and
expectancy attempt to explain job satisfaction through the
processes that occur in the generation of satisfaction, and by
implication, job dissatisfaction.
The equity theory assumes that one important cognitive
process involves people looking around and observing what
effort other people are putting into their work and what rewards
follow them. This social comparison process is driven by indi-
viduals concern for fairness and equity. Research had shown
that this theory is one of the most useful frameworks for under-
standing work motivation.
The expectancy theory was popularised by Vroom (1964).
He defined the theory as the approach to motivation that at-
tempts to explain behaviour in terms of an individual’s goals,
choices and the expectations of achieving the objectives (Mondy,
Sharplin, & Premeax, 1991). The theory has become commonly
acceptable for explaining how individuals make decisions re-
garding various behavioural alternatives. It assumes that be-
haviour results from conscious choices among alternatives
whose purposes it is, to make pleasure and minimise pain. Ac-
cording to Scholl (2002) the theory suggests that the relation-
ship between people’s behaviour at work and their goals was
not as simple as was first imagined. Scholl (2002) indicated that
an employee’s performance is based on individual factors such
as personality, skills, knowledge, experiences and abilities.
Motivation is defined as the psychological force that ener-
gizes, directs and sustains behaviour in a work environment. It
is behaviourally specific, that is, it is more appropriate to think
in terms of an individual’s motivation to excel in a particular
job requirement or even to carry a specific behaviour than it is
to think about an individuals’ overall motivation. It must be
noted that in life people are not always motivated in every
situation. While individual dispositional variables may affect an
individual’s motivation level at any particular time, motivation
itself is not a dispositional variable.
Expectancy theory is therefore used to help understand how
individuals make decisions concerning various behavioural pa-
tterns. According to Davies and Newstrom (1985), expectancy
theory offers the following propositions that when deciding
among behavioural options, individuals select the option with
the greatest motivation force. The motivational force for be-
haviour, action, or task is a function of three distinct percep-
tions: Expectancy, instrumentality and valence.
The researcher’s understanding of these theories will assist in
the acknowledgement of the perceptions and attitudes of teach-
ers towards their teaching job and provides the researcher the
foundation on which to speculate and predict possible solutions
to the problems of teachers’ dissatisfaction. Aspects of several
theories, for example, content theories including Maslow’s,
(1954) hierarchy of needs theory and Herzberg’s, (1968) moti-
278

M. N. ISAIAH ET AL.
vator/hygiene two-factor theory; process theory (Campbell, Dun-
nettee, Lawler & Weik, 1970); opponent-process theory (Landy,
1978), expectations and equity theory (Pinder, 1998) and work
adjustment theory (Lofquist & Dawis, 1969) all have bearings
on job dissatisfaction of teachers. An analysis of these theories
provides the foundation for this study.
The Problem and Purpose of the Study
Teaching in Botswana is characterized by low levels of job
satisfaction, low morale, low status and an attitude that regards
the teaching profession as a last resort employment. The refusal
by some teachers to be involved in extracurricular activities and
study supervision and constant confrontation with educational
authorities are clear signs that there is a problem in the profes-
sion. The uncompromising stance taken by teachers is a source
of concern to the authorities, to students as recipients of educa-
tion, to parents as stakeholders and to the nation at large. It is
important to acknowledge that teachers in Botswana are still
left disgruntled despite all the attempts to pacify them. It is
clear that the teachers’ dissatisfaction, low levels of motivation
and morale are worrisome as these have been a mention in the
two National Commissions of Education (Republic of Botswa-
na, 19977, 1993).
Following from these, this study aims at predicting job dis-
satisfaction among teachers in community junior secondary
school in the South Central Region of Botswana. It will deter-
mine what factors significantly predict these feelings of dissa-
tisfaction among teachers in community junior secondary
schools in the South Central Region. Teachers’ perceptions and
their professional levels in community junior secondary school
were investigated to find out if they were having any bearing on
teachers’ job dissatisfaction. The study also explored the ad-
ministrative factors influencing teachers’ job dissatisfaction.
Research Questions and Hypotheses
The study intends to find answers to the following two ques-
tions:
1) To what extent are teachers in community junior secon-
dary schools in the South Central Region of Botswana dissatis-
fied with their jobs?
2) What factors significantly predict job dissatisfaction among
community junior secondary school teachers’ in South Central
Region of Botswana?
This is done through testing two null hypotheses. One, that
teachers in community junior secondary schools in South Cen-
tral Region of Botswana are not significantly dissatisfied, and
two, that the level to which teachers in community junior sec-
ondary schools in South Central Region of Botswana are dis-
satisfied with their job is significantly predicted by:
1) The level to which training opportunity is available to
them;
2) Level to which their achievement is recognized;
3) The quality of supervision by superiors;
4) Their workload;
5) Level of community support;
6) Level of availability of facilities;
7) Availability of accommodation;
8) Quality of relationship with Management;
9) Quality of relationship with students;
10) Availability of promotional opportunities;
11) Students’ progression;
12) Level of sense of belonging;
13) Level of self actualization;
14) Level to which school climate is conducive;
15) Level of parental involvement;
16) Level of job security;
17) And level of adequacy of salary.
Significance of the Study
Determining the factors that have significant influence tea-
chers’ job dissatisfaction has multiple benefits to the profession,
the ministry of education, to policy formulation and implemen-
tation as well as to the teacher themselves. It is crucial to find
out the factors predicting teachers’ job dissatisfaction in com-
munity junior secondary school for purpose of establishing
properly directed educational data for use by policy makers and
policy implementers. It is pertinent to carry out this study now,
since the teaching profession is looked down upon by the soci-
ety and the level of disgruntlement among teachers is worri-
some.
Research Methodology
In this study a survey method was used since the population
of teachers in all community junior secondary schools in the
South Central Region is spread over a wide area. The use of a
survey inferential approach was appropriate, as the research
opted to study different perceptions of teachers spread through-
out a wide area and what these teachers see as the factors that
influence their job dissatisfaction. A purposive random sam-
pling technique was used to pick 255 teachers from 12 ran-
domly selected schools in the area. These served as the partici-
pants for the study.
Researcher-developed and validated 66-item 6-point Likert-
type questionnaire was used to collect the data for this survey
inferential study. Besides measuring the dependent variable,
level of teacher dissatisfaction, the instrument also provided for
the measurement of several independent variables which were
called for in the thesis from which this paper emanates. These
were:
1) Availability of training opportunity (5 items);
2) Level of achievement of recognition (4 items);
3) Quality of supervision by superiors (4 items);
4) Teacher workload (4 items);
5) Level of community support (4 items);
6) Level of availability of facilities (4 items);
7) Availability of accommodation (4 items);
8) Quality of relationship with management (4 items);
9) Quality of relationship with students (4 items);
10) Availability of promotional opportunities (4 items);
11) Students’ progression (4 items);
12) Level of sense of belonging (4 items);
13) Level of self actualization (4 items);
14) Level to which school climate is conducive (4 items);
15) Level of parental involvement (5 items);
16) Level of job security (5 items);
17) Level of adequacy of salary (4 items).
The split half reliability estimate for the variables involved in
the study ranged from .81 for quality of supervision to .93 for
level of adequacy of salary. In order to collect data for this
study a survey method was used. The use of a survey inferential

M. N. ISAIAH ET AL.
approach was appropriate, as the research opted to study dif-
ferent perceptions of a sample of 255 teachers spread through-
out a wide area based on which a generalization was made to
the entire population of 2,244 teachers in the region.
Data Analysis and Findings
To answer the first research question, Hypothesis 1 was tested
in the null form by performing a population t-test statistical
analysis (see Table 1). The analysis gave a t-value of 19.74
which given 254 degrees of freedom was found to be signifi-
cant at beyond .01 level.
The null hypothesis was therefore rejected meaning that
teachers in community junior secondary schools in the South
Central Region of Botswana are significantly dissatisfied with
their jobs. It is worthy of note to observe that only 2.8% of the
responding teachers disagreed with the statement “I will leave
teaching if I find a better employment”
The second research question was answered by testing the
second hypothesis in the null form. This was done by carrying
out a stepwise regression analysis using the SPSS computer
package (see Table 2). Data from all the 17 variables measured
were plugged into the prediction analysis and nine of them were
identified as making a significant independent contributions to
the prediction of job dissatisfaction among community junior
secondary school teachers’ in South Central Region of Bot-
swana. These were: parental involvement, level of achievement
of level to which school climate is conducive, level of job secu-
rity, and adequacy of salary (see Table 2). These nine variables
accounted for a total of 57.2% of the total variability in job
dissatisfaction among community junior secondary school tea-
chers in South Central Region of Botswana
Discussions
In the resulting multiple regression model, parental involve-
ment accounted for 33.9% of the variation in teacher job dissat-
isfaction. After parental involvement, the level to which a tea-
cher perceives that he/she is achieving recognition accounted
for an additional 11.4% of the total variation and the quality of
supervision by superiors accounted for additional 3.0%. After
these the percentage of the variance accounted for indepen-
dently by the other six predictor variables were: level of teacher
workload, 2.2%; level of self actualization, 1.9%; level of be-
longing, 1.4%; level to which school climate is conducive,
1.3%; level of job security, 1.0%; and adequacy of salary, 1.1%
(see Table 2). Each of these indicates a significant contribution
to the prediction of dissatisfaction among teachers.
The findings of this study indicate that nearly 96% of teach-
ers were generally dissatisfied with the teaching profession and
97.2% given the opportunity, would leave for another job. The
many and varied factors that predict teachers’ dissatisfaction
show the complexity of teaching as a profession. Teaching is a
profession with multi-dimensional roles. Enhancing learner’s
cognitive growth cannot be achieved under an indiscipline and
non- conducive environment which teachers are to create and
maintain. A child is a bundle of cognitive, affective and psy-
chomotor potentials which education is to bring out and de-
velop. For example, child cannot learn that for which he/she is
not affectively prepared. Unlike lecturers, teachers do not just
teach but facilitate learning. That is, they go further than just
imparting knowledge, information and understanding, like lec-
turers do. First of all, they have to prepare the learners to take
in that which is imparted, and at the end, take additional steps
to ensure that what is imparted is taken in. He must be an expert
in knowledge acquisition, expert in teaching design, planning
and methodology, in classroom assessment, and in policing du-
ties. Sometimes they play ‘baby sitting’ roles, mentoring roles,
a coach roles, in fact teachers are said to play twelve different
roles (Harden & Crosby, 2000). This is why significant factors
that predict dissatisfaction among community junior secondary
school teachers in Botswana actors are many and varied. To
satisfy their multidimensional roles effectively, teachers must
secure the support of students, parents, supervisors and admini-
strators. The absence of such support renders the teacher dis-
satisfied and hence ineffective. Their wish to leave the profes-
sion hinges on the fact that they are expected to satisfy all these
roles and yet their physiological, social and self actualization
needs are not met, neither do they have maximum support from
the student administration, supervisors and parents. The find-
ings of this study confirm this. Teachers would rather leave
teaching than to stay in and do a lousy job because they are not
physiologically and psychologically equipped to do the type of
job that would satisfy their conscience.
Lack of satisfaction brought about by the factors identified in
the study has a negative impact on the teaching profession
among community secondary school teachers in Botswana. This
confirms findings by Orlando (2000) that if teachers’ work
place is not conducive to them it will influence their desire to
quit the profession. This observation also concurs with Bame
(1991), that teachers were leaving the profession because of
lack of recognition and poor work conditions. Garber (2005)
noted that dissatisfaction among teachers was a result of the
overload, burnout and poor management. The fact that teachers
were concerned with the conditions of service positively con-
tributed to teachers’ dissatisfaction with their career. Within the
education systems of many developing countries teachers are
expected to provide a service to the nation without disgruntle-
ment as they are dealing with children most of their time. The
products of teachers’ labor is not instantly obvious, hence the
society tends to have limited vision of their worth and hence
have limited recognition of their effort.
The first predictor, parental involvement, was found to ac-
count for 33.9% of the variability in level of teachers’ dissatis-
faction. This puts parental involvement at the limelight among
factors that influence their dissatisfaction. Teachers play the
role of parents in the mornings and early afternoon, but parents
refused to play their role as educators, partners in children de-
velopment at any time. They rarely attend parent-teachers meet-
ings nor even inquire from their children how well they are
doing in school. Not to talk of visiting the schools once a while
to inquire about the welfare and academic performance of their
kids. But a review of findings from several studies shows that
“86% of the public believes that support from parents is the
most important way to improve schools” and “lack of parental
involvement is the biggest problem facing the schools” (Rose,
Gallup & Elam, 1997). The absence of parental support is det-
rimental to the development of the learner and hence the satis-
faction of the teachers. This revealed that parents rarely come
to visit the school even when officially invited for consultation
meetings. Further inquiry revealed that few parents come to
school for consultations with teachers and this negatively con-
tribute to the current bad behaviour exhibited by students.
Judging from these results it can be concluded that according to
280

M. N. ISAIAH ET AL.
Table 1.
Population t-test analysis of the level to which teachers from the south central region of Botswana are dissatisfied with their job (n =
255).
Variable Expected mean Observed meanStd Dev. df t-value p<
Level of job dissatisfaction 17.50 21.14 2.94 254 19.74* .000
Critical t = 2.58 for α = .01.
Table 2.
Regression analysis using ANOVA to determine the factors predicting teachers’ job dissatisfactionj.
Model Source of Variation Sum of Squares df Mean Square R/R2 F Sig.
Regression 746.354 1 746.354 582a/.339 129.882 .000a
Residual 1453.842 253 5.746
1
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 996.159 2 498.080 .673b/.453 104.246 .000b
Residual 1204.037 252 4.778
2
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 1062.889 3 354.296 .695c/.483 78.192 .000c
Residual 1137.307 251 4.531
3
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 1111.701 4 277.925 .711d/.505 63.832 .000d
Residual 1088.495 250 4.354
4
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 1152.482 5 230.496 .724e/.524 54.780 .000e
Residual 1047.714 249 4.208
5
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 1183.199 6 197.200 .733f/.538 48.088 .000f
Residual 1016.997 248 4.101
6
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 1213.311 7 173.330 .743g/.551 43.382 .000g
Residual 986.885 247 3.995
7
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 1234.151 8 154.269 .749h/.561 39.284 .000h
Residual 966.046 246 3.927
8
Total 2200.196 254
Regression 1258.793 9 139.866 .756i/.572 36.400 .000i
Residual 941.403 245 3.842
9
Total 2200.196 254
R = .756; R2 = .572. aPredictors: (Constant), Parental involvement; bPredictors: (Constant), Parental involvement, Achievement of recognition; cPredictors: (Constant),
Parental Involvement, Achievement of recognition, Quality of supervision; dPredictors: (Constant), Parental Involvement, Achievement of recognition, Quality of supervi-
sion, Teacher workload; ePredictors: (Constant), Parental Involvement, Achievement of recognition, Quality of supervision, Teacher workload, Self actualization; fPredic-
tors: (Constant), Parental Involvement, Achievement of recognition, Quality of supervision, Teacher workload, Self actualization, Level of belonging; gPredictors: (Con-
stant), Parental Involvement, Achievement of recognition, Quality of supervision, Teacher workload, Self actualization, Level of belonging, Level to which school climate
is conducive; hPredictors: (Constant), Parental Involvement, Achievement of recognition, Quality of supervision, Teacher workload, Self actualization, Level of belonging,
Level to which school climate is conducive, Job security; iPredictors: (Constant), Parental Involvement, Achievement of recognition, Quality of supervision, Teacher
workload, Self actualization, Level of belonging, Level to which school climate is conducive, Job security, Adequacy of salary; jDependent Variable: Level of Teachers’
Dissatisfaction.

M. N. ISAIAH ET AL.
teachers’ perception the higher the level of parental involve-
ment the lower the teachers’ level of job dissatisfaction tends to
be.
Teachers also mentioned that schools must create a condu-
cive environment that can facilitate a two-way communication
and trust between parents and teachers. This indicates that
schools have created a threatening set up which does not facili-
tate communication between teachers and the parents of their
students. This lack of confidence on the part of teachers/parents,
and in some cases poor understanding of exactly what is it that
each part is supposed to do has led the parents to minimally
support or being involved in school management. However, ac-
cording to expectations of the partnership policy that is brought
about by the child, one can argue that discussions of students’
academic performance and discipline demand parents to be
supportive of teachers. Although teachers argue for more pa-
rental involvement Haar (1999) agrees that for better or for
worse, parental involvement plays an extremely important role
in the education of their children. In Botswana (Botswana,
1993), education leaders and other stakeholders advocate for
parental involvement as a way of raising the level of student
achievement.
On the question of school climate, Andian (1990) described a
conducive school climate as a place where resources are easily
accessible, information flows freely to all staff, environment is
free of threats and transparency and openness are treated as key
values. The teachers noted that they were highly dissatisfied
and frustrated with the conditions of service in the schools.
They spoke scathingly of management teams, whom they said
lacked vision, purpose and were ineffective. Vail (2005) indi-
cated that those in leadership had deficiencies which affect the
quality of service delivery. Teachers were therefore frustrated
by the work place environments created by leadership in
schools.
According to Chapman, Snyder and Burchfield (1992) in-
structional leadership can positively or negatively influence
teachers’ level of job dissatisfaction. The findings of this study
reveal that instructional supervision in schools contributes to
teachers’ level of job dissatisfaction. Since those in manage-
ment play a pivotal role in the day to day running of the school
(Hom & Kinicki, 2001), the high level of teachers’ satisfaction
implies that school managers are failing in carrying out their
duties effectively. According to Nias, Southworth, and Yeo-
mans (1989) school management teams are pivotal in schools
and have greater influence the culture of the school. This agrees
with Cooke’s (2001) contention that assessment of teachers by
school management teams are necessary to uphold the skills
and knowledge brought by teachers. Teachers noted that lead-
ership in school is determined by or hinges upon personalities
of individuals in the management team and how they relate
with their subordinates.
Implications, Conclusions and
Recommendations
The findings from this study provide several implications for
administrators and policy makers in education. First though
teaching in Botswana is considered by most people as a well
paid and stable job, it is surprising to note that teachers in our
sample expressed significant level of job dissatisfaction with
their job as whole. Though some studies done by Locke (1984)
suggested that that money is the most powerful motivator, it
seems that it will motivate to the extent that is seen as being
able to satisfy an individual’s personal goals. The finding of
this study is saying that teachers are not merely working only
for money, teachers as professionals start their work with cer-
tain aspirations and expectations which if not met will result in
dissatisfaction. Secondly, teachers were significantly dissatis-
fied with the level and quality of parental involvement, lack of
recognition for achievement, poor supervision, lack of training
opportunities, salary and many other predictors.
The study has also revealed that, in those passing years in
Botswana, government has not done enough to meet the needs
of secondary school teachers at this level of education in this
respect. What makes the situation even worse is that promotion
processes in schools are perceived by teachers as unfair, irra-
tional and not based on competence. If the government remains
indifferent to this facet of job satisfaction and does nothing, this
will probably continue to be the main source of job dissatisfac-
tion among teachers at junior secondary school.
Thirdly, inconsistent findings are observed here with respect
to the facet of supervision. However, the discrepancy can be
explained by change in organizational structures of most schools
in the past ten years. Our schools need to move from a central-
ized power which extremely gives the school principal the ab-
solute authority which cannot be questioned by his subordinates.
Teachers in some schools had no right to participate in decision
making process. They are told to follow rules and regulations
laid down by school authorities without question, which re-
sulted in a sense of powerlessness and hence dissatisfaction.
Such lack of interaction and communication among teachers
and their supervisors could explain why teachers reported high
dissatisfaction with their supervisors.
Lack of parental involvement also poised a great challenge
when it comes to the predictors of teacher job dissatisfaction,
parents play a very important role in the education of their chil-
dren, hence the need for them to participate in learning activi-
ties of their wards and assist teachers in enforcing student dis-
cipline. Given the very high dependence of teacher satisfaction
on parental involvement, there is need for the Ministry of Edu-
cation to occasionally mount workshops and seminars for par-
ents to enlighten them on their place not only in the learning by
their wards but in greasing teachers psychological willingness
to teach and derive satisfaction by so doing.
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