A Study of Teacher Morale: A Comparison of the Importance of Selected Morale Building Factors as Indicated By Men Teachers, Unmarried Women Teachers, and Married Women Teachers
Authors:   , Pierce John 
Published: February 2023

The purpose of this study was to compare the importance of selected morale building factors as indicated by ninety teachers. The teachers were attending Fort Hays Kansas State College during the summer of 1968 and were divided into the following groups: thirty men teachers, thirty unmarried women teachers, and thirty married women teachers. Each of the main groups of thirty teachers were sub-grouped into three groups of ten teachers each: those with from one to nine years of experience; those with from ten to nineteen years of experience, and those with twenty or more years of experience. A questionnaire was developed which consisted of three sections: (1) the ranking in the order of importance selected factors contributing to good morale; (2) the ranking of selected factors contributing to poor morale in the order of Most serious to least serious; and (3) the choosing of the preferred school for employment between two schools in three different hypothetical situations. The questionnaire was distributed to the ninety teachers, and the results were tabulated. From the results of the study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Administrators and administrative practices were the most influential factors affecting teacher morale. 2. Salary was not one of the main factors contributing to teacher morale. 3. Items concerning adequate salary, materials, smaller classes, and free time for preparation were less important than the items more closely concerned with personality and human relations. 4. Teachers preferred, on the whole, schools that were democratically operated, over salary. 5. Teachers preferred appreciative, cooperative students and parents over factors such as adequate salary, materials, smaller classes, and free time for preparation. 6. The only consistency found to exist between the verbal complaints of teachers and the findings of this study was in the preference shown for the school with the heavy teaching load and no extra duty assignments. 7. An effective system of clear communications would help prevent misunderstandings of roles and objectives. 8. Professionalism seemed to be higher in teachers who had twenty or more years of experience. 9. Fostering good faculty morale rests primarily with competent administrators. 10. Communications were more important to the men with from ten to nineteen years of experience than to any other subgroup. 11. Job security was more important to the unmarried women with twenty or more years of experience than to any other subgroup. 12. Grievances were less important to married women than to men and unmarried. 13. Salary was more important to the men than to the women. 14. Staff relations were more important to the married women with from one to nine years of experience than to any other group. 15. Of the teachers who chose the autocratically operated school, married women were the most representative. 16. Of the teachers who chose the beautiful school plant, men were the most representative. The following recommendations were suggested: 1. more research is needed in the area of the importance of morale factors as they affect teachers. 2. More attention should be given to courses in human relations in preparing prospective administrators. 3. More attention should be given to desirable personality factors in screening candidates for admission to educational administration programs. 4. More stress is necessary on democratic leadership in educating persons for educational administration. 5. Administrators should check the importance of certain morale building factors as indicated by their faculty in order that the improvement and the maintaining of these factors can be attempted. 6. Similar studies should be made in different parts of the state and the nation to determine if the results would reinforce the findings of this study.