Job dissatisfaction among certified adapted physical education specialists in the USA

• Main Authors: Lucie Ješinová, Miroslava Spurná, Martin Kudláček, Jana Sklenaříková
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palacký University Olomouc 2014-09-01
• Series: Acta Gymnica
• Subjects: teachers; occupational stress; special education; disabilities
• Online Access: http://gymnica.upol.cz/artkey/gym-201403-0006_Job_dissatisfaction_among_certified_adapted_physical_education_specialists_in_the_USA.php
• ISSN: 2336-4912; 2336-4920

<b>Background:</b> Professionals working in the area of special education are exposed to the unique situation of occupational stress. Adapted physical education teachers are experiencing several symptoms of the burnout phenomenon. <b>Objective</b>: The purpose of this study was to identify factors causing job dissatisfaction among certified adapted physical education specialists in the USA. <b>Methods</b>: The survey was developed based (a) on Herzberg's (1959) theory of job satisfaction, and (b) a pilot study, which examined specific factors of job dissatisfaction among adapted physical education (APE) teachers in the USA. The survey consisted of three parts: (a) demographic information, (b) paired comparison of nine general factors which could cause job dissatisfaction, and (c) paired comparison of ten APE specific factors which could cause job dissatisfaction. The participants were 113 certified adapted physical education specialists (CAPES) (88 females, 25 males), a 38% return rate of all mailed surveys. <b>Results</b>: The results indicated that 39% of CAPES have seriously considered another job outside of APE and 26% of CAPES have actively searched for job outside of APE in the last two years. 113 CAPES indicated the general factors that they found the most dissatisfying in their job (listed accordingly to rank, frequency and percent of times chosen, <i>N</i> for each factor&nbsp;=&nbsp;1017) were working conditions (644, 71%); policies and administration (619, 68%); interpersonal relationship with supervisors (552, 61%); supervision (484, 54%); salary (404, 45%); interpersonal relationship with subordinates (404, 45%); benefits on job (301, 33%); interpersonal relationship with peers (293, 32%); and job security (245, 27%). 110 CAPES indicated the APE specific factors they found the most dissatisfying on their job (listed accordingly to rank, frequency and percent of times chosen, <i>N</i> for each factor&nbsp;=&nbsp;990) were paperwork (687, 69%); scheduling (659, 67%); facilities (617, 62%); individualized education plan (IEP) meetings (464, 47%); travel (450, 45%); number of students (429, 43%); equipment (417, 42%); variability of disabilities (381, 38%); severity of disabilities (357, 36%); and home base (353, 36%). <b>Conclusion</b>: It appears that the efforts should be focused in teacher preparation and in-service support in the areas related to cooperation and communication with school administrators.