As of 2008, teachers' average yearly salaries tended to be between about $52,000 and $55,000.
Although teachers want to make enough money to pay their rent and other bills, financial gain is not a primary motivator for the profession. As the Oregon School Boards Association points out, what keeps a teacher wanting remain in her field is her desire to help her students learn. Indeed, when compared to doctors and lawyers, teachers do not earn enough cash for money to be a chief motivating factor. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that teachers' average yearly salaries, as of 2008, tended to be between about $52,000 and $55,000, whether they were elementary, middle or high school instructors.
Collegiality
Collegiality, or the ability to work with fellow teachers, motivates an educator to continue to want to remain in her profession. Being in an environment where the instructors colleagues support one another, whether in curriculum development or behavior management, keeps the instructor from feeling alone and wanting to quit when the job seems demanding and overwhelming.
Working Conditions
A teacher finds her job more appealing if the district is able to effectively manage the working conditions of the classroom. For instance, an instructor's job is easier when she is working with a smaller group of students. Even in classrooms with larger sizes, the presence of extra adults in the room, such as volunteer parents, paraprofessionals or both -- comforts a teacher's mind, allowing her to focus on instruction, instead of feeling that, as the sole adult in the room, she must multitask.
Support/Feedback From Administrators
Constructive, honest feedback on performance that praises exemplary work but provides sincere help on improving weak areas is helpful. As the Oregon School Boards Association says, it is a strong factor for job satisfaction. For instance, classroom management is a problem area for many teachers, especially those in their first year of service. Instead of placing them in fear of losing their jobs, administrators who share tips on improve, perhaps based on their own mistakes, are by far a more valuable asset to a teacher in her overall professional development.
Evaluation Process
An evaluation process that the principal makes clear from the first day on the teacher's job helps strengthen morale and ease her mind of having to constantly worry about losing her job over a minor mistake. On the other hand, if evaluations are more capricious and secretive, and the administrator calls the instructor into the office only after complaints from parents and other teachers have mounted over a period of time, it can lead to a breakdown of trust, especially if the principal has been constantly praising the teacher over her performance.
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