Özet:

Ensuring teachers’ job engagement is critical in achieving educational goals. This study examined the relationship between meaningful work and job engagement using the data collected from 452 teachers in Turkey. The data collected by using Meaningful Work Scale and Job Engagement Scale Turkish Form were analyzed by descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, multivariate regression analysis, and moderation analyses. We found a positive, moderate, and significant relationship between meaningful work and job engagement. We tested the predictive effects of meaningful work and demographic variables (gender, seniority, and educational status). Meaningful work explained 47% of the variance in teachers’ job engagement in the first model. All subdimensions of meaningful work except for the search for meaning at work and work relations were found to be significant predictors of job engagement. With the inclusion of demographic variables, the second model again explained 47% of the variance in teachers’ job engagement. Furthermore, we found that seniority was a significant and positive predictor of job engagement. Moderation analyses indicated gender and educational status did not have a moderator role in the relationship between meaningful work and job engagement. We found that seniority had a moderator effect on the relationship between work relationships and job engagement. This study contributes to meaningful work and job engagement literature in the context of teachers.

Anahtar Kelimeler: