Teacher work values, motivation, and job satisfaction: Mediation professional development engagement

The present study explored how teacher professional development (PD) activities function as a mediator between teachers’ perceptions of work value and policy orientation, their motivation, and their overall job satisfaction. The study drew on a sample of 3047 Chinese junior high school teachers from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), of whom 74.47% were female. Results from the mediation model revealed that job satisfaction was positively associated with teacher motivation, as well as with teachers’ perceptions of value and policy orientation. The findings further revealed that teacher participation in PD activities played a partial mediating role in the links connecting altruistic motivation, perceptions of value and policy orientation, and job satisfaction. However, this mediating effect was not observed in the link between teacher extrinsic motivation and job satisfaction. Our findings provide evidence for Schwartz’s human values theory proposition that, when work values are aligned with teachers’ values, their engagement in PD activities enhances job satisfaction. Practically, decision-makers should design PD programs and policy frameworks that help teachers internalize extrinsic motives into more autonomous forms.