Elena Papanastasiou

Job satisfaction among school teachers in Cyprus

Recent national and international studies carried out in a number of countries have drawn attention to the degree of job satisfaction among teachers. In general, it has been found that context seems to be the most powerful predictor of overall satisfaction. However, given that most of the international studies on teacher satisfaction have been conducted in developed countries, one realizes the need in the available literature for similar research in developing countries as well. This paper examines job satisfaction and motivation among teachers in Cyprus – a small developing country in the Eastern Mediterranean. An adapted version of the questionnaire developed by the “Teacher 2000 Project” was translated into Greek and used for the purposes of this study that had a sample of 461 K‐12 teachers and administrators. The findings showed that, unlike other countries in which this questionnaire was used, Cypriot teachers chose this career because of the salary, the hours, and the holidays associated with this profession. The study analyzes how these motives influence the level of satisfaction held by the Cypriot teachers.

Major Influences on Attitudes Toward Science

This research study investigated the attitudes toward science of 8th-grade students in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, and Korea, based on recent TIMSS data, and suggests a model of family and school influences on their attitudes. The structural equation model contained 3 exogenous constructs – family’s educational background, aspiration, school climate – and 2 endogenous constructs – teaching and student attitudes toward science. Educational background, aspiration, and school climate were shown to have a direct effect on attitudes, while teaching was shown to directly affect attitudes and to be affected by aspiration and school climate.

Factors that Differentiate Mathematics Students in Cyprus, Hong Kong, and the USA

The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine how attitudinal and instructional variables differentiated 4th-grade students in Cyprus, Hong Kong, and the USA; and to determine how those variables were related to math performance on the TIMSS test. A discriminant analysis was performed to examine how those variables differentiated the students in the 3 countries. The most striking result was that the students from all 3 countries, who were similar to the average students in Cyprus, had the highest achievement within their countries. Thus, 4th-grade students who liked math, who thought it was important to do well in math for their friends, who did not need private instruction, and who had not been taught using computers or small group procedures, tended to be the better students. However, students who were similar to the average USA student had the lowest achievement within each of the 3 countries.

Math clubs and their potentials: making mathematics fun and exciting. A case study of a math club

The purpose of this study is to describe the results obtained from a survey whose goal was to examine the combination of variables that have contributed to the success of a middle school math club. This is a case of a middle school in which the students are extremely successful in mathematics, and where the majority of the students voluntarily attend its math club. The results of the study show that the students have positive attitudes about mathematics and the club, and that some of the reasons that influenced them to attend the club were those of being with friends and eating donuts at the club. The results were similar for students of both genders and all grades. In addition, since positive attitudes are associated with higher levels of math achievement, such clubs have the potential to encourage students to enrol in additional mathematics classes while in high school, as well as pursuing mathematics related careers.