Relationship of supervision with job satisfaction and retention of secondary school level agriculture teachers in Iowa

Abstract

This study investigated the relationships between supervision, job satisfaction and retention of agricultural education teachers in the secondary schools of Iowa. The study involved a census of all Iowa secondary school agricultural education teachers, 72% of who responded to the survey. The study reports information about the demographic characteristics of the teachers, their experiences with supervision, the types of supervision experienced, their levels of job satisfaction, and their intentions to stay or leave teaching. Agricultural education teachers in Iowa were predominantly male with an average age of 39 years and age range of 22-63 years. Most teachers earn between $30,000 and $45,000 per annum. The teachers' average teaching experience was 14 years, and the most experienced teacher had taught for 34 years. Observation with few pre-observation and post-observation conferences was the predominant style of supervision that the teachers experienced. The most frequent type of supervision experienced by teachers was directive informational. Supervisors of the respondents often guided them in their job, but the teachers felt that supervisors rarely supported them. Teachers who responded to this survey were satisfied with their jobs. One component of supervision had a low positive relationship with job satisfaction; other components did not have significant relationships with teachers' job satisfaction. Teachers who were supervised using a collaborative type of supervision were more satisfied with their jobs than those supervised by other types of supervision. Most of the agricultural education teachers (80.5%) in Iowa did not want to leave teaching. Each of the two participants with Doctoral degrees wanted to leave, but those with Master's and Bachelor's degrees had an equal proportion of those wanting to leave compared to those wanting to stay in the profession. The information generated through this study should be of use to Iowa Secondary School Teachers and their supervisors. The study may influence teachers and supervisors to work together to enhance the work conditions and collegial environment in schools. Some of the information would be useful to school administrators. They could use the information to adjust their supervision styles and practices. It will also help administrators to prioritize areas that need improvement, i.e. those that can improve working conditions and promotes and the collegial environment.