Abstract
Teachers perceive the characteristics of their teaching jobs differently. However, little is known about beginning teachers’ perceptions of their teaching job characteristics and how their professional identity differs with these perceptions. Grounded in the job demands-resources model, we clustered three typical types of job characteristics perceived by 1,088 year-1 school teachers in Chinese Mainland: Needy (N = 298), Stressful (N = 344), and Advantageous (N = 446). Across the three clusters, statistically significant differences were observed in these teachers’ professional identity as manifested in job satisfaction, occupational commitment, teacher self-efficacy, and motivation to teach. The advantageous cluster, characterised with ample job resources but average to medium levels of job demands, was found to be the most favourable work situation nurturing strong professional identity. We discussed the mechanism behind the variance in professional identity relative to clustered job characteristics. Implications were suggested for educational policymakers of varying levels.
Published Version
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