Perception of the Elementary Education Profession and Levels of Job Satisfaction: Is There a Correlation?

The purpose of this dissertation was to introduce the context and purpose of the research study. The study’s focus was on the perception of the elementary education profession and the prestige ascribed to classroom teachers working in public education by individuals outside the education system. The research questions were as follows: (1) What level of prestige is afforded to the elementary public school classroom teacher from the noneducator perspective? (2) To what extent do noneducators’ perceptions affect the level of job satisfaction among elementary public school classroom teachers? Themes found in literature supporting the research questions included the perceived devaluation of the education profession, professional training teachers receive, and potential impacts on prestige due to advancements in technology. In addition to levels of job satisfaction among teachers, review of literature also revealed potential factors leading to the teacher shortage that is prevalent among schools spanning the United States of America. Based upon the reviews of literature, the United States is currently experiencing a shortage of certified individuals willing to occupy teaching positions in public classrooms across the country (Sutcher et al., 2019). The literature hypothesizes the shortage is caused by potential reasons that include a decline in teacher preparation program enrollment, working conditions, teacher certification reciprocity limitations across states, teacher salaries, class sizes, pupil to teacher ratios, and high teacher attrition rates (Sutcher et al., 2019). Survey questionnaires were distributed to two people groups: noneducators and elementary public school teachers. Both people groups completed quantitative Likert scale surveys measuring participants’ perceptions and opinions regarding prestige afforded to the elementary education profession and job satisfaction among elementary teachers. Quantitative methodology was an appropriate method for this study because it allowed the collected data to be represented in numerical and statistical formats and portray any potential correlations clearly and comprehensively.