Supporting in-Service Special Educational Needs Teachers to Stay Engaged: A Two-Step Hierarchical Linear Regression Analysis

Abstract

This study aims to propose and evaluate a model for work engagement in Special Educational Needs (SEN) teachers in Greece, in order to get insights into the effect of parameters such as job satisfaction, burnout and other personal characteristics. The sample consisted of 503 female and 161 male teachers of both primary and secondary education, working in special and mainstream educational settings. Based on these data, a two-step hierarchical regression model was used to identify predictors of teachers’ work engagement. Moreover, confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit (TLI = 0.974 > 0.95, RMSEA = 0.043 < 0.08, CFI = 0.952 ≥ . 0.900, χ2/df = 1.3 < 2, p > 0.05 and SRMR = 0.027 < 0.08) of the first order structural model for work engagement (WE-JS-BO). The second-order structural model for the work engagement included teachers’ demographic parameters, labeled personal characteristics, which yielded a good fit (TLI = 0.978 > 0.95, RMSEA = 0.039 < 0.08, CFI = 0.964 ≥ 0.90, χ2/df = 1. 1 < 2, p >0.05 and SRMR = 0.024 < 0.08) Results are discussed for their possible applications in special education teachers’ training.