What Is Teacher Morale?
Morale has been thought of variously as a feeling, a state of mind, a mental attitude, and an emotional attitude (Mendel 1987). One source defines morale as the feeling a worker has about his job based on how the worker perceives himself in the organization and the extent to which the organization is viewed as meeting the worker’s own needs and expectations (Washington and Watson 1976). Another author conceptualizes morale as “the professional interest and enthusiasm that a person displays towards the achievement of individual and group goals in a given job situation” (Bentley and Rempel 1980). When a healthy school environment exists and teacher morale is high, “teachers feel good about each other and, at the same time, feel a sense of accomplishment from their jobs” (Hoy and Miskel 1987). What Are Some Factors that Affect Teacher Morale? As noted above, a healthy school environment and high teacher morale tend to be related. A principal’s ability to create a positive school climate a
