A study of leadership styles and foreign English teachers' job satisfaction in adult English cram schools of Taipei and Kaohsiung cities in Taiwan.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect school leaders' leadership style had on the job satisfaction of foreign English teachers in 18 adult English cram schools in Taipei (North) and Kaohsiung (South) in Taiwan. The leadership styles were identified as one of the following: transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire. The leadership styles were measured using Bass and Avolio's (2000) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ-5X). Job satisfaction was assessed using the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and the Job in General (JIG) Scale by Smith et al. (1969). The study used a mixed method to determine the correlation among leadership styles and job satisfaction and demographic variables. Both the leaders and teachers completed the MLQ-5X. The English teachers completed the English version of the JDI and the Job in General Scale. Statistical analysis showed that the relationship between transactional leadership style and job satisfaction was abundant. Analyses showed that both transformational and laissez-faire leadership styles had moderate correlation with satisfaction with pay. The results can be summarized as follows: (a) gender affects job satisfaction in general and supervision; (b) satisfaction with pay differs among age; (c) years of teaching at an institution influences satisfaction with pay; and (d) participation influences satisfaction with opportunities for promotion. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to determine why there was no significant relationship between leadership styles and job satisfaction except for satisfaction with pay. The 12th cram school was the sample target, and results showed that a good teaching environment and easy-going coworkers were important factors that produce satisfaction among foreign English teachers. Many foreign English teachers think there are few opportunities far promotion and some think the school leader provides them with good opportunities for promotion. On the other hand, only a few of the foreign English teachers expressed their satisfaction with pay.