ESTABLISHING CAREER COMMITMENT VIA JOB AUTONOMY: EXPLORING GENERAL & SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The job autonomy and career commitment are essential but latent factors of teachers’ personality in education and special education. This study aimed to seek job autonomy for establishing career commitment among general and special education teachers. A correlational design was used for data collection from teachers of special education (N = 60) and general education (N = 60). A convenient sampling technique was used in this study. Two self-developed structured questionnaires were used as instruments of the study. The expert opinion (N=02) validated the instrument validity, and reliability coefficients were .816 and .873. The data analysis was done over SPSS version – 23 with descriptive and inferential statistics. The study's findings depicted that most respondents were having freedom to decide what to do each day. The degree of career commitment and autonomy shared by teachers is not significantly different. Thus, study offered valuable data in reaching desired conclusion. Study recommends that professional development opportunities must be provided by special education and school education departments of Punjab to maintain level of job autonomy to develop career commitment among teachers.