Determinants of attitude of teachers – factor analysis and strategies for success

Purpose – Attitude is a major factor affecting behavior. It influences the perception of objects and people, exposure to and comprehension of information, choice of friends, co-workers and so on. Attitudes are subjective attributes of people. Attitude is nothing but conceptualization of human qualities that are formed on the basis of either rational consideration or statistical evidence. Thus, people may vary along each of a number of attitudinal dimensions. Keeping this measurement aspect into consideration, the attitudes might be defined operationally by describing the measurement systems that psychologists use to measure attributes. There are many methods of attitude measurement, i.e. self-report, indirect tests, direct observation techniques, and psychological reaction techniques. This study aims at enquiring into quality of working life differentials among teachers with a view to bring to the surface some of the conditions in context of job satisfaction categorically. Design/methodology/approach – This study has been designed to address the objectives given below: to analyse quality of working life differentials among urban and rural school teachers; to compare the urban and rural teaching environment on the basis of job satisfaction criteria like teaching and welfare facilities. The research has been conducted in government schools in India. It was carried out with two samples of 200 teachers each from the urban and the rural area. Primary data were collected and factor analysis was carried out, as a tool. Findings – The analysis reveals that in case of urban teachers, the factors identified as important in quality of working life include-excellence and satisfaction at work, intra-institutional satisfaction, peer group pressure, lower self-esteem, institutional and social pressures, overall organizational satisfaction and socio-organisational behaviour. On the other hand, in the case of rural teachers, seven factors have been identified as factors determining of quality of work, which are not the same factors as identified in the case of urban teachers. Originality/value – This comparative study has implications on competitiveness of teachers and their work performance. The educational institutions those who focus on the factors determining the quality of work life will have more opportunities to emerge as successful organizations.