THE PERCEPTIONS OF AUTONOMY AND JOB SATISFACTION AMONG ELEMENTARY TEACHERS IN SOUTHERN MAINE

This study sought to examine the perceptions of elementary teachers in Southern Maine with respect to teacher autonomy and job satisfaction. It examined these perceptions with respect to school size and local district provision for administrative supervision.; An analysis of the data revealed that the majority of the respondents perceived themselves to be satisfied with their jobs and to be professionally autonomous. However, no direct relationship was found to exist between local district provision for administrative supervision and teachers' perceptions of autonomy. No statistically significant relationships were found between the size of the school and teachers' perceptions of job satisfaction and autonomy.; A summary of the other findings of this study is: (a) the majority (94.9 percent) of the elementary teachers in Southern Maine are satisfied with their jobs; (b) regardless of type of supervision, 90.9 percent of the sample perceived themselves to be professionally autonomous, indicating high percentages of perceived participation in decision making that directly affect them; (c) the majority of the teachers who responded teach in schools of fewer than twenty-one teachers, and a majority (80.1 percent) are supervised by a full-time principal; (d) proportionately, teachers in larger schools perceived themselves to have more opportunity for decision making than their colleagues in smaller schools, indicating that size of school is not a factor when compared with autonomy for this population.; The literature suggests that job satisfaction is an important component of organizational morale and that autonomy in decision making and a feeling of security are of major importance to teachers. The morale in an organization has been found to increase when the workers feel that they are a significant part of the enterprise and when they feel that their contributions are valued. Additional research may be appropriate to examine the leadership styles that enhance or affect teacher job satisfaction and autonomy, as well as the effects of job satisfaction and autonomy on student achievement.