Teaching in a P-12 private or public school: is there a difference in teacher motivation?

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to compare motivations of teachers in P-12 private school settings with those in public school settings in a midwestern state in the United States. Through convenience sampling, 2315 surveys were sent out with 73 private and 234 public school teachers agreeing to participate. Descriptive statistics and t tests revealed that teachers from private schools responded statistically significantly lower than teachers on intrinsic career value (d = −.48), job security (d = −.47), family time (d = 1.04), social equity (d = −.43), work with children (d = −.41), prior experience (d = −.46), and social influences (d = −.43). The teachers from private schools scored statistically significantly higher on difficulty (d = .68), social dissuasion (d = .42), and satisfied teaching (d = .41) factors. The findings suggest that teachers in private and public-school settings are motivated to teach for different reasons.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher motivation
• private school teachers
• public school teachers
• FIT-Choice scale

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nancy L. Leech

Nancy L. Leech is a professor of Research and Evaluation Methods at the University of Colorado Denver in the School of Education and Human Development.

Courtney Donovan

Courtney Donovan is a Clinical Associate Professor of Research and Evaluation Methods at the University of Colorado Denver in the School of Education and Human Development.

Dara Prais

Dara Prais is a researcher at Hanover Research.

Carolyn A. Haug

Carolyn A. Haug is Director of Research and Impact, Educator Talent Division at Colorado Department of Education.

Ngoc Phan

Ngoc Phan is a Data Analyst with Cherry Creek School District in Colorado.

Angela Rexwinkle

Anglea Rexwinkle is a doctoral student at the University of Colorado Denver.