Job satisfaction of teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing

Abstract

The pressure that educators are experiencing to educate more students, with more challenges, to higher levels of learning than any time in the past is significantly changing their working conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of a national sample of teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing to ascertain their overall job satisfaction as well as to identify the specific factors that positively and negatively affect their ability to do their jobs well. In addition, responses of different subsets of teachers (e.g., itinerant, elementary, and secondary) were compared. Responses from 495 deaf educators are reported. Collectively, 89% of participants stated that they were satisfied to very satisfied with their overall job. Specific aspects of the job that respondents indicated that they were most satisfied or most dissatisfied with are presented and suggestions for addressing some of the identified challenges as well as recommendations for future research are provided.