Psychological Disorder,Job satisfaction and Teaching Effectiveness among Iranian English and NonEnglish Teachers

Abstract

The task of shouldering the burden of fulfilling the expectations of students, parents, and principals and in a broader sense, the educational system, exposes teachers to highly stressful situations which are likely to bring about a host of mental disorders. The current study was intended to investigate the relationship between Iranian English and non-English teachers' mental disorder (i.e., distress, anxiety, somatization, & depression), their job satisfaction and effectiveness. To this end, 173 English and nonEnglish teachers working in English language centers and public high schools were conveniently selected. Umme Kulsum's Teacher Effectiveness Scale, Lester's Teacher Job Satisfaction and Terluin's Four Dimensional Symptom questionnaires were used to collect data. The findings revealed an inverse and significant correlation between Iranian English teachers' psychological disorder and their job satisfaction. However, for nonEnglish teachers, only depression subscale of mental disorder was found to be negatively correlated with their job satisfaction. Significant correlations were also found between both English and nonEnglish teachers' psychological disorder and their effectiveness. The results suggest important implications for policymakers and stakeholders in education to reduce the level of stress and job dissatisfaction among teachers through developing mentoring programs