L’engagement professionnel chez les nouveaux enseignants et la satisfaction des gestionnaires d’école à l’égard du travail effectué par les enseignants novices

Today’s world is marked by a steady increase in skill requirements, which demands teachers to adapt to continuously changing social, cultural and economic contexts. Adapting to these transformations, which can be challenging even for experienced teachers, makes school integration extremely difficult for new teachers, who have not yet fully mastered all aspects of teaching. These difficulties can drive new teachers to leave their profession. Nevertheless, a number of new teachers persevere through the obstacles imposed by their work, and their professional commitment and satisfaction may be important factors when deciding to continue pursuing their careers. The present study analyzes the elements related to the construction of the professional identity of teachers in the induction period, examining the perceptions of new teachers and principals of primary and secondary schools. The harmony between the perceptions of these two school actors can be an important factor in the performance of professionals and the effectiveness of educational institutions. Thus, the study examines the variables that may be related to the professional commitment of new teachers, and the factors that may be related to principals' satisfaction with the work done by the new teachers.  This study uses a quantitative approach and consists of secondary analyses of data obtained in the Pan-Canadian surveys of principals and teachers in elementary and secondary schools, conducted in 2005 and 2006 by a team of professors from universities across Canada. The statistical analyses are based on two theoretical models: (1) professional commitment of new teachers and (2) principals' satisfaction with the work done by the new teachers. In the analysis of these models, two methods were used: the classical test theory (CTT) and the item response theory (IRT). For CTT, path analysis and structural equation modeling were performed to examine the theoretical models. For IRT, Rasch modeling examined the psychometric properties of the scales used in the current study to determine if the data are adjusted to the models, and if items are grouped logically to explain the latent traits. The results highlight the human relationship that defines the profession. In other words, for new teachers, the emotions in the classroom, a product of the relationship between teachers and students, are the major factor associated with professional commitment. Similarly, the relationship of new teachers with members of the school community, such as students’ parents, principals, school staff and other teachers, proved to be a key factor in the satisfaction of principals with the work of new teachers. The findings also indicate the importance of job satisfaction for new teachers’ model. This variable is an important determinant of the professional commitment; at the same time, job satisfaction is also associated with other elements of this model. Finally, the results indicate the need for the construction of latent variables with a large number of items to better position people in the measurement scale. This result is important for the principals’ model which indicates an important maladjustment between items-persons.

Keyphrases: Professional commitment, Job satisfaction, Perceived competence, Emotions in the classroom, Evaluation of professional skills