What makes a difference between two schools? Teacher job satisfaction and educational outcomes

This article examines the interplay between school factors and teacher job satisfaction that influences educational outcomes by comparing two Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) schools in Cambodia. This small-scale qualitative case study was conducted over a period of eight weeks in 2005 in two NGO schools in a suburb of Phnom Penh. The findings show that teacher job satisfaction is crucially influenced by remunerative incentives such as salary level and welfare conditions. However, job satisfaction is also intertwined with non-remunerative incentives such as school management, principal leadership, professional development, and a meaningful sense of life through teaching. That is, both remunerative and non-remunerative incentives are associated with teacher job satisfaction. However, according to different school conditions, either remunerative or non-remunerative incentive is more prioritised by teachers. Finally, the different job satisfaction between the two faculties seems to result in the educational gap such as student enrolment rates and achievement between the schools.