Models of teacher satisfaction post‐Herzberg have generally presented two mutually exclusive domains of teacher satisfaction/dissatisfaction. However, use of a survey with 2,000 teachers and school executive in England, New Zealand and Australia has provided evidence for a third domain of teacher satisfaction/dissatisfaction grounded in the wider environment surrounding the school, a domain which has grown in importance and influence and which teachers and school executive find uniformly dissatisfying. This outer domain has acted to erode overall teacher satisfaction in contravention of the general principles of “two‐factor” theories of job satisfaction. It is argued that teachers, schools, and others with an interest in education, need to build bridges, forge partnerships and actively participate in educational discourse with members of this outer domain. Further, educational systems and governments need to look within the outer domain of teacher satisfaction for answers to the problems currently facing teachers, schools and society.

This paper presents a model of teacher and school executive satisfaction derived from a study involving 892 respondents in 71 government schools in Western Sydney, Australia. Factor analysis of survey items was utilised to develop an eight factor model of teacher satisfaction. The eight factors were named: school leadership, climate, decision making; merit promotion and local hiring; school infrastructure; school reputation; status and image of teachers; student achievement; workload and the impact of change; and professional self‐growth. Scores on the scales fell into three domains: “core business of teaching” factors (student achievement; professional self‐growth); school level factors (school leadership, climate, decision making; school infrastructure; school reputation); and system level/societal factors (workload and impact of change; status and image of teachers; merit promotion). Respondents were most satisfied with “core business” aspects and least satisfied with system level/societal factors, while school level factors showed the most variation, reflecting the influence of teachers’ specific and varying within‐school experiences. Leadership, communication and decision making styles were found to be important contributing factors to satisfaction with school based aspects of respondents’ roles. It is argued that within the important, school level domain, action to improve teacher satisfaction is most likely to be effective.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Aims to explore the role of Principals in producing outstanding education outcomes in Years 7 to 10 in New South Wales (Australia) government schools. Design/methodology/approach -Sites where "outstanding" educational outcomes were believed to be occurring were selected using a variety of data including performance in standardised tests, public examinations, various value added measures and nominations from various stakeholders. Sites were of two types: subject departments responsible for teaching certain subjects and teams responsible for cross-school programs in Years 7 to 10. Sites were selected to be broadly representative. Some schools had more than one site, e.g. Mathematics and Student Welfare. A total of 50 sites across NSW from 38 secondary schools were studied. Findings -With both subject departments and teams responsible for cross-school programs, leadership was found to be a key factor in the achievement of outstanding educational outcomes. Often, this leadership was exercised by the Principal, but additional key personnel included Head Teachers (heads of faculties/departments), Deputy Principals, and teachers playing leading roles in faculties and programs. Analysis of data revealed certain attributes and practices of the Principals of these schools, which are explored, central to which is a focus on students and their learning. Research limitations/implications -Principals were those of secondary schools from one educational system. Other papers will explore the role of leaders such as Heads of Department, Deputy Principals and teacher leaders. Practical implications -This article has implications for principal selection, training, appraisal and professional development. Originality/value -Detailed case studies have provided an examination of leadership effectiveness in a wide range of contexts, which much commonality confirmed.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of the secondary Head of Department (HoD) in leading teams producing exceptional education outcomes in Years 7-10 in New South Wales (NSW, Australia) government schools. Design/methodology/approach -Sites where exceptional educational outcomes were believed to be occurring were selected using a variety of data including performance in standardised tests, public examinations, various value added measures and nominations from various stakeholders. Sites were of two types: subject departments responsible for teaching certain subjects and teams responsible for cross-school programmes in Years 7-10. Sites were selected to be broadly representative. Some schools had more than one site, e.g. Mathematics and Student Welfare. A total of 50 sites across NSW from 38 secondary schools were studied. Findings -With both subject departments and teams responsible for cross-school programmes, leadership was found to be a key factor in the achievement of exceptional educational outcomes. Analysis of data revealed certain qualities, attributes and practices of the HoD of these schools, which are explored, central to which is a focus on students and their learning. Research limitations/implications -HoDs were those of secondary schools from one state educational system. Practical implications -Despite the pressures of the secondary HoD role, the HoDs studied had been able to lead and facilitate teams that were thriving when others struggle to perform. Whilst innate, personal qualities are important, much of what these HoDs possessed and demonstrated had been learned from others. Originality/value -Detailed case studies have provided an examination of HoD leadership effectiveness in a wide range of contexts, with much commonality revealed. Thus, the study can inform future professional learning for secondary HoDs and possibly other middle managers in education. It may also have value for HoD selection.

Interest in teacher 'stress' and 'burnout' and their relationship to teacher well being has a long and distinguished history. However, there has been criticism of this research endeavour for, among other problems, its conceptual narrowness and its lack of psychometric rigour (Guglielmi & Tatrow, 1998). An interest in the consequences for teachers of the changing and turbulent international context of education led the researchers to initiate an international project investigating teacher and school executive career satisfaction, motivation and mental health. This project sought to develop a model of teachers' occupational well-being that was wider than a focus on 'stress', and, as noted, included occupational motivation and satisfaction as well.