The Influence of New School Buildings upon the Motivation Morale and Job Satisfaction of Teaching Professionals

This research was conducted in response to a government policy to create new school buildings in the United Kingdom. It sought to examine the influence such schools had upon teaching professionals in terms of their motivation, morale and job satisfaction. Using semi-structured interviews, this qualitative, longitudinal study, has focused on two new schools in a rural/urban target authority in the Midlands of the United Kingdom.
The findings support the notion that by creating new schools that teaching professional’s motivation, morale and job satisfaction may be positively influenced and this in turn has a positive impact upon their professional identities. The findings also illustrate that if centrally imposed initiatives are of a context specific nature then they will lead to empowered professionals. However for some individuals within the profession their initial calling to work with children and alongside colleagues prove to be just as important for their professional motivation and job satisfaction.