Job Satisfaction in Relatively Closed and Open Schools

Abstract

This study examines the ways in which teacher work values affect job satisfaction within relatively closed and open school organiza tional systems. The findings suggest that these different types of formal organization generate patterns of work attitudes which are related more to type of system than to the disparate work values of teachers. Nonetheless, certain differences among value types indicate a "directional trend" in problem emphasis from vertical to lateral work relations as one's attention moves from examining closed to more open organizational systems. Mr. Coughlan is an Associate Professor in The School of Education at Northwestern Unversity.