Disappointing student outcomes in international educational assessments led to various initiatives aiming at fostering student learning and increasing the quality of learning. Here, teachers have a central role (OECD, 2005), as they are responsible for creating learning opportunities which foster sustainable learning. Accordingly, the role of teachers is also stressed in established models on educational effectiveness (e.g. Scheerens & Bosker, 1997; Kyriakides, Creemers et al., 2010).

Theoretical frameworks of school effectiveness and correspondent studies highlight the influence of the social composition of schools – as one contextual factor – on both students cognitive, motivational and behavioral outcomes and school processes (Bos et al., 2009; Opdenakker & van Damme, 2001; Harker & Tymms, 2004; Thrupp & Lupton, 2006; Willems et al., 2013). Although results concerning the school-mix effect are not always consistent, it can be summarized that unequal social compositions in rather privileged or disadvantaged schools cause substantial different learning environments (Baumert et al., 2006).

However, empirical data on how this school-level characteristic is associated with teachers’ motivational and emotional functioning is scarce (exceptions: Friedman, 1991; Klusmann et al., 2008a). Therefore, our paper examines the relationship between the social intake of schools and teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, their perceived job stress and their job satisfaction.

The psychological functioning of teachers can be approached from two perspectives (Klusmann et al., 2008a): One focuses on the negative side (e.g. teacher burnout, stress and job strain), the other on the positive (e.g. teacher engagement, self-efficacy or job satisfaction). Recent results show that the occupational well-being of teachers indeed influences the quality and outcomes of student learning: Klusmann et al. (2008b) showed that the quality of instruction and the students achievement motivation is higher for teachers who report less emotional exhaustion.

When looking at potential antecedents of teachers emotional and motivational functioning, it is usually distinguished between two types of sources: personal and situational factors. The majority of studies focus on personal resources and stressors such as gender, age, individual workload etc. One important variable in that context is the teachers’ self-efficacy as a resource that can protect from the experience of job strain (Schwarzer & Hallum, 2008). Less often, studies approach the question whether the particular school context makes a difference. Especially, the social composition of schools in relation to teachers’ motivational and emotional functioning is currently not analyzed in depth.

Based on school effectiveness models and results from studies in the field of motivational functioning in the teaching profession, the comprehensive aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between the social composition of schools and the teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs, their perceived job stress and job satisfaction. We approach two consecutive sets of research questions: (1) Which school-profiles can be identified regarding the schools’ social composition? (2) How do these school-profiles relate to the teachers self-efficacy beliefs, their perceived job stress and their job satisfaction?

Baumert, J., Stanat, P. & Watermann, R. (Eds.) (2006). Herkunftsbedingte Disparitäten im Bildungswesen. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Bos, W., Gröhlich, C. & Bonsen, M. (2009). Der Belastungsindex für die Schulen in der Sekundarstufe I in Hamburg. In W. Bos et al. (Eds.), KESS 7: Kompetenzen und Einstellungen von Schülerinnen und Schülern (pp. 123–132). Münster: Waxmann. Friedmann, I. A. (1991). High- and Low-Burnout Schools: School Culture Aspects of Teacher Burnout. Journal of Educational Research, 84, 325–333. Harker, R. & Tymms, P. (2004). The Effects of Student Composition on School Outcomes. SESI, 15, 177-199. Klusmann, U., Kunter, M. et al. (2008a). Engagement and Emotional Exhaustion in Teachers. Does the School Context Make a Difference? Applied Psychology, 57, 127–151. Klusmann, U., Kunter, M. et al. (2008b). Teachers' Occupational Well-Being and Quality of Instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100 (3), 702–715. Kyriakides, L., Creemers, B. et al. (2010). A Synthesis of Studies Searching for School Factors. British Educational Research Journal, 36(5), 807–830. OECD (2005). Teachers Matter. Paris: OECD. Opdenakker, M.-C. & van Damme, J. (2001). Relationship between School Composition and Characteristics of School Process and their Effect on Mathematics Achievement. British Educational Research Journal, 27 (4), 407–432. Scheerens, J. & Bosker, R. J. (1997). The Foundations of Educational Effectiveness. New York: Elsevier. Schwarzer, R. H. S. (2008). Perceived Teacher Self-Efficacy as a Predictor of Job Stress and Burnout. Applied Psychology, 57, 152–171. Thrupp, M. & Lupton, R. (2006). Taking School Contexts More Seriously. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54 (3), 308–328. Willems, A.S., Jarsinski, S., Holtappels, H. G. & Rollett, W. (2013). School Quality in All-Day Primary Schools – On the Relationship Between Social Composition and School-Process Factors. Paper presented at the ICSEI-Conference, Santiago de Chile.