Research Article: 2022 Vol: 21 Issue: 2S
Wan Kit Yee, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
Pau Kee, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
Nor Mashitah Mohd Radzi, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, Teacher-Students Relationship, Preschool
Yee, W.K., Kee, P., & Radzi, N.M.M. (2022). Validity and reliability in psychological well-being, job satisfaction and student teacher relationship among preschool teacher. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 21(S2), 1-5.
The purpose of this study is to identify the validity and reliability in psychological well-being, job satisfaction and teacher-student relationships among preschool teachers. This quantitative survey involved 86 preschool teachers in Larut Matang and Selama districts who were chosen through random sampling technique. The instruments used were PERMA questionnaire with the scale of 0 to 10, Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) questionnaire with scale of 1 to 6 and Students-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) questionnaire with the scale of 1 to 5. Data were collected and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings revealed a high validity and reliability in the questionnaire with the range 0.65 ≤Cronbach’s α≤0.95. The finding reported the reliability of the questionnaire using Cronbach's Alpha method. The finding showed high reliability in the questionnaire of psychological well-being questionnaire α=0.93, job satisfaction questionnaire α=0.91 and student-teachers relationship questionnaire α=0.89. In conclusion, these three variables are important as mentioned in the Malaysian Education Development Plan (PPPM) 2013-2025 to improve preschool quality and encourage universal enrolment by 2020. Thus, it is hoped that this study will benefit relevant stakeholders to improve the general understanding of the issue being discussed in order to improve the quality of preschool education in Malaysia.
In the present paper, three particular types of instrument are considered namely PERMA, Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and Students-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS). Reliability in the paper refer to the stability of scores in an instrument. On the other hand, validity in this paper refer to the meaningful of an individual scores in an instrument (Creswell, 2005). These three instruments are widely used in this paper especially in the context of early childhood education.
Early childhood education is a long journey in Malaysia. The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) began implementing annex preschool education program in 1992, as a pilot project based on the decision of the Cabinet on December 18, 1991, which agreed to create 1,131 preschool classes. Meanwhile, the Council of Ministers meeting on June 6, 2001 agreed that the MOE would continue to expand its preschool from 2002. Since then, preschool extensions have been conducted from time to time in accordance with existing policies and these actions are also listed in the Malaysian Education Development Plan (PPPM). PPPM 2013-2025 is to provide equitable access to international quality education (Preschool Management Guidelines, 2018). The target under this shift is to improve quality of preschool and encourage universal enrollment by Wawasan 2020. According to the Preschool Management Guidelines (2018), the number of preschools under the MOE through 2018 is 9,398 across Malaysia and the total number of preschool and preschool teachers is 9,398 people.
This research is a quantitative study in the form of surveys. This study aimed to look at the validity and reliability in psychological well-being, job satisfaction and teacher-student relationships among preschool teachers. Sampling design in this study through random sampling. Data were collected in Larut Matang & Selama district. A total of 86 preschool teacher participated in the study. There are three instruments used in this study. PERMA is used to measure psychological well-being of preschool teacher, Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS) used to measure job satisfaction among preschool teacher and the last Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) is used to measure relationship between students and teacher in preschool. In data analysis, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) will be used to analysis validity and reliability. Descriptive analysis in decimal places and percentage was performed across the content validity and reliability.
In this study, the validity and reliability of PERMA, Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) have been identified. Before the real study, a pilot test has been carried out. The results were reported in table form as below.
| Table 1 Cronbach Alpha In Pilot Test |
||
|---|---|---|
| Instruments | Total Item | Cronbach Alpha Value Achieved |
| PERMA | 23 | 0.893 |
| JSS | 36 | 0.668 |
| STRS | 28 | 0.733 |
Table 1 is the Cronbach Alpha value achieved in each instrument in this study based on 30 respondents. The Cronbach Alpha value for the PERMA instrument is 0.893 while the Cronbach Alpha value for the JSS instrument is 0.668. The STRS instrument reached a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.733. All three instruments are said to be satisfactory as they reach Cronbach Alpha values between 0.65 to 0.95.
Validity and Reliability of PERMA
In this study, the validity and reliability of PERMA instruments have been identified. Table 1 below shows the validity of the instrument through six experts and one outstanding preschool teacher. While Table 3 shows the reliability of the instrument from internal consistency (alpha coefficient) based on a sample of 1,877 people (Butler & Kern, 2016).
| Table 2 Validity Of The Perma Instruments |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Position | Percentage of Validity |
| 1 | Expert 1 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 95.65 % |
| 2 | Expert 2 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 86.96 % |
| 3 | Expert 3 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 86.09 % |
| 4 | Expert 4 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 73.04 % |
| 5 | Expert 5 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 89.57 % |
| 6 | Expert 6 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Early Childhood Education, UPSI | 89.57 % |
| 7 | Preschool Teacher | Outstanding Preschool Teacher in Taiping, Perak | 94.78 % |
| Overall Percentage | 87.95 % | ||
| Table 3 Reliability Of The Perma Instrument |
|
|---|---|
| Scale | Alpha Coefficient |
| Positive Emotions: P | 0.82 |
| Engagement: E | 0.80 |
| Relationship:R | 0.82 |
| Meaning: M | 0.92 |
| Accomplishment: A | 0.84 |
| Negative Emotions: NE | 0.74 |
| Health: H | 0.91 |
| Total | 0.93 |
Validity and Reliability of Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS)
In this study, the validity and reliability of the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) instrument has been identified. Table 4 shows the validity of the instrument through six experts and one outstanding preschool teacher. While Table 5 shows the reliability of the instrument from internal consistency (alpha coefficient) based on a sample of 2,870 people (Spector, 2001).
| Table 4 Validity Of The Job Satisfaction Survey (Jss) Instruments |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Position | Percentage of Validity |
| 1 | Expert 1 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 91.67 % |
| 2 | Expert 2 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 85.55 % |
| 3 | Expert 3 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 88.88 % |
| 4 | Expert 4 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 76.67 % |
| 5 | Expert 5 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 81.67 % |
| 6 | Expert 6 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Early Childhood Education, UPSI | 85 % |
| 7 | Preschool Teacher | Outstanding Preschool Teacher in Taiping, Perak | 93.88 % |
| Overall Percentage | 87.95 % | ||
| Table 5 Reliability Of The Job Satisfaction Survey (Jss) Instrument |
|
|---|---|
| Scale | Alpha Coefficient |
| Pay | 0.75 |
| Promotion | 0.73 |
| Supervision | 0.82 |
| Fringe Benefits | 0.73 |
| Contingent rewards | 0.76 |
| Operating conditions | 0.62 |
| Coworkers | 0.60 |
| Nature of work | 0.78 |
| Communication | 0.71 |
| Total | 0.91 |
Validity and Reliability of Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)
In this study, the validity and reliability of the Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) instrument has been identified. Table 6 shows the validity of the instrument through six experts and one outstanding preschool teacher. While Table 7 shows the reliability of the instrument from internal consistency (alpha coefficient) based on a sample of 72 people (Pianta, 1992).
| Table 6 Validity Of The Student Teacher Relationship Scale (Strs) Instruments |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Position | Percentage of Validity |
| 1 | Expert 1 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 89.29 % |
| 2 | Expert 2 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 77.14 % |
| 3 | Expert 3 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 90 % |
| 4 | Expert 4 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 73.04 % |
| 5 | Expert 5 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counseling, UPSI | 95 % |
| 6 | Expert 6 | Senior Lecturer, Department of Early Childhood Education, UPSI | 89.29 % |
| 7 | Preschool Teacher | Outstanding Preschool Teacher in Taiping, Perak | 92.14 % |
| Overall Percentage | 87.95 % | ||
| Table 7 Reliability of The Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) Instrument |
|
|---|---|
| Scale | Alpha Coefficient |
| Conflict | 0.88 |
| Closeness | 0.92 |
| Dependency | 0.76 |
| Total | 0.89 |
Besides, it was found that the overall value of Cronbach Alpha in this study was 0.885 as shown in Table 7 below. The following Table 8 also shows the Cronbach Alpha values for each section in the questionnaire instrument. According to Chua (2011), Cronbach Alpha values between 0.65 to 0.95 are satisfactory. Therefore, the overall Cronbach Alpha value of 0.885 in this study indicates high internal reliability and consistency.
| Table 8 Cronbach Alpha Values Actual Study |
||
|---|---|---|
| Instrument | Total Item | Cronbach Alpha Value Achieved |
| PERMA | 23 | 0.906 |
| JSS | 36 | 0.847 |
| STRS | 28 | 0.733 |
| Overall | 87 | 0.885 |
According to Chua (2011), the Cronbach Alpha value between 0.65 to 0.95 is satisfactory because the value that is too low indicates the ability of the study instrument items to measure the concept in the study is low while the Cronbach Alpha value that is too high indicates that all items are similar or overlapping with each other.
Overall, these three instruments have gained high validity as the overall percentage exceeds 70%. According to Chua (2011), an instrument is said to have high content validity when obtaining 70% and is considered to have mastered or achieved a high level of achievement. Thus, the PERMA instrument, Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) are instruments with high validity.
Besides, all three instruments are also said to have high reliability as their value is more than 0.06. According to Mohd Majid Konting (2005), the value of reliability is high when it reaches a minimum of 0.60. Thus, the reliability of this study instrument is high with the total value of the alpha coefficient PERMA 0.94, the total value of the alpha coefficient Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) 0.91 and the total value of the alpha coefficient Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) 0.89.
In conclusion, the instruments for psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and student-teacher relationships are suitable to be used. It is also an important role in preschool education as preschoolers are the capital that needs to be fully focused on optimal and holistic development in order to compete globally in the future. Researcher hoped that this study can carry out and help improve the aspects of psychological well-being, job satisfaction and student-teacher relationships in preschool education. Considering that the validity and reliability indexes of the questionnaires are reported in acceptable range. Thus, the PERMA instrument, Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) and Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) are suitable to be used.
Butler, J., & Kern, M.L. (2016). The PERMA-Profiler: A brief multidimensional measure of flourishing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 6(3), 1-48.
Chua, Y.P. (2011). Research methods and statistics: Research methods. Edisi Kedua. Shah Alam: McGraw Hill.
Creswell, J.W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research, (2nd Edition). Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Mohd, M.K. (2005). Educator research methods. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Pianta, R.C. (1992). Student-teacher relationship scale. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia.
Preschool Management Guidelines. (2018). Daily school management division. Ministry of Education.
Spector, P.E. (2001). Job Satisfaction Survey, JSS.
Received: 24-Nov-2021, Manuscript No. asmj-21-7720; Editor assigned: 26- Nov -2021, PreQC No. asmj-21-7720 (PQ); Reviewed: 30- Nov -2021, QC No. asmj-21-7720; Revised: 11-Dec-2021, Manuscript No. asmj-21-7720 (R); Published: 06-Jan-2022.