A comparison and suggestions to enhance job satisfaction among foreign language teachers at a private school in Turkey: Analyzing face-to-face and online settings during the COVID-19 pandemic

Following the declaration of COVID-19 pandemic across the globe in March 2020, various human affairs experienced dramatic transformations. Education sphere was no exception. Plans were made and practiced promptly so that learning could be resumed after a brief halt. All parties involved, including educators, learners, and administrative sector of the educations were affected. The present study aims to examine and compare factors that influence online and face-to-face job satisfaction among teachers of foreign languages, focusing on the recently ended COVID-19 pandemic era. It will probe into various elements that have a role in the sense of professional satisfaction on the side of foreign language teachers in a private K12 school in Turkey. It will also try to discuss the flaws and issues that perturb the educators' job satisfaction in online learning. To this end, a combination of qualitative and quantitative tools including questionnaires and interviews is used to collect data. Findings suggest that the online education program that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically decreased the educators' job satisfaction due to the absence or dilapidation of certain factors. Such issues will be discussed, and the study will attempt to set forth possible solutions to improve the conditions for teachers both professionally and personally.