Think, Know, Prove is a regular Saturday feature, where a topic with both mystery and importance is posted for community discussion. The title is a shortened version of the Investigative Mantra: What do we think, what do we know, what can we prove? and everything from wild speculation to resource referencing fact is welcome here.
It’s been a quiet week on the Lounge, as I’ve committed myself to catching up on grading the papers, exams and quizzes I’ve already collected this semester (along with the effective writing assessments I’m supposed to have done by Friday) before the end of the weekend. So far, what was an 14 and a half inch pile has shrunk a bit, it’s down to single digits, but not as much as I’d hoped to have it down by now. Still, the slowest of the grading is pretty much done, so I maintain my optimism.
In the middle of the week, while taking a break, I ran across THIS, which reports that teacher morale across the country is way down:
As a result, job satisfaction among public school teachers is plumbing new lows, according to the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher. The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of MetLife, found that teacher satisfaction has dropped to its lowest level in more than 20 years, and that the proportion of teachers who report being very satisfied with their work has fallen by 15 percentage points in just two years.
Only 44 percent of teachers surveyed reported being very satisfied with their jobs, compared with 59 percent in 2009…
Some of the findings of the Cutbacks and other economic factors contributed to the decline in job satisfaction. Teachers who expressed low job satisfaction were more likely to work in schools where there had been staff layoffs… Teachers who had seen an increase in the number of students claiming health services or other social services, as well as an increase in the number of students coming to school hungry, were also more likely to report low job satisfaction.
The survey is for K-12 teachers and so doesn’t exactly map to us but I thought it was interesting in light of some of the morale discussions we’ve had here over the last year or so, as well as Don’s recent post on the benefits of a little paranoia.
In other words, I’m wondering about how morale is out there. Worse than four years ago, but better than a year ago? Steadily declining? Steadily improving? Great? Awful? Speak for yourself, speculate about others, provide data or anecdotes–it’s all good here.
What do you think? What do you know? What can you prove?
The Harold Lounge 
Does the fact that there have been no posts prove that morale is really low?
Is this TKP analogous to the agoraphobic who couldn’t attend a support group ’cause it was going to meet in a big hall with other people?
Could it be that it’s mid-terms?
IMHO, On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very, very low and 10 being very, very high; I’d say I’m at a 4.76
Thanks for askin’.