Teachers' job satisfaction in multicultural classes: the role of autonomy, teacher-student relationships, and teaching materials

As more immigrant and refugee children enter the Greek school system, elementary school teachers strive to educate them while considering their cultural needs. Such an effort could influence their job satisfaction, tampering with the quality of their teaching. The study aims to determine the level of teachers' job satisfaction in multicultural classes. To achieve the above aim, a questionnaire was administered to 250 elementary school teachers who teach in multicultural classes in Thessaloniki, Greece. The analysis of the teachers' responses reveals that they are dissatisfied with the teaching materials available. At the same time, they are moderately satisfied with their relationships with the students and their perceived autonomy. Their demographic characteristics, namely age, gender, experience in years, and education level, do not correlate with their job satisfaction. As Greece is a host country for many culturally diverse students, policymakers are required to improve teachers' professional satisfaction in these classes.