A Study on the Relationships between Job Engagement of Middle School Teachers and Its Relative Variables

Abstract

The present paper, based on relative studies done both at home and abroad, intends to investigate the relationships between individual characteristics of middle school teachers and their job engagement. Methodology by using the UWES (Utreeht Work Engagement Scale) Result The relevance between middle school teachers' individual characteristics and the variables of job engagement is significant. The regression analysis further finds out that the regression is significant between middle school teachers' individual characteristics and the dimensions (vigor, dedication, and absorption) of job engagement. In addition, gender and length of teaching can predict the degree of teachers' engagement into teaching. Conclusion Teachers' individual characteristics studied in the present paper have an effect on their job engagement. With the development of Positive Psychology and Positive Organizational Behavior, the long-ignored human virtues, such as the strength and positivity of the members in an organization, and positive mental abilities are attracting more and more attention. Within this context, job engagement, as the opposite of job disengagement, becomes the new research focus of scholars. Kahn (1990) puts forward the concept of "personal engagement" for the first time. And he defines personal engagement as the harnessing of organization members' selves to their work roles (Kahn, 1990: 694). From the point of view of Kahn, self and work role exist in some dynamic and negotiable relation: when engaged deeper in his or her job, a person both drives personal energies into role behaviors (self-employment) and displays the self within the role (self-expression); in the opposite condition, the individual uncouples self from role, avoids creating job achievement, and displays an evacuation from role obligations. Scholars, such as Schaufeli, extend Kahn's concept of job engagement in another way. They define job engagement as a full state with persistent and positive moods and motivations, with vigor, dedication, and absorption as its major features. Although the factor of human beings is becoming salient in the new social conditions, the research into job engagement of teachers is relatively few. It is of great significance to study the roles played by teachers' job engagement in the improvement of teachers' work, life quality and the full cultivation of teachers' potentiality. Such kind of research is also of importance to promote the healthy growing-up of students and to push the development of the education cause. Based on studies done both at home and aboard, the present author attempts to investigate the effect of teachers' individual characteristics on their job engagement. 1. Subjects and methods 1.1 Subjects The current study selected 300 teachers randomly from six middle schools to fill in the questionnaires. 259 questionnaires were recovered, reaching a response rate of 86%. Among the six middle schools, three are located in the urban areas, and the other three are from the countryside. Of all the teachers, 149 were male ones, occupying 57.5%; and 110 female teachers, with a percentage of 42.5%.