Date of Award

Spring 2025

Project Type

Dissertation

Program or Major

Education

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

First Advisor

Suzanne Graham

Second Advisor

Ruth Wharton-McDonald

Third Advisor

Eleanor Kane

Abstract

Social media significantly influences teachers’ perceptions of their professional environment, shaping job satisfaction, respect, autonomy, and professional support. This dissertation, split into three articles, investigates how exposure to positive, negative, or mixed social media posts impact these perceptions, addressing concerns surrounding teacher well-being and attrition in K-12 education. The study began with a literature review in Article 1 to establish a theoretical framework, followed by a series of validation steps to refine a survey instrument aligned with teaching perception constructs in Article 2. The final survey was administered to 406 K-12 teachers across the United States in Article 3, using a pre-test and post-test design. Participants viewed a curated set of positive, negative, or mixed social media images in which changes in perceptions about teaching were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and fitted regression modeling. Results reveal that negative social media content may significantly impact perceptions of respect, support, autonomy, and job satisfaction, with respect and support most adversely affected. Demographic factors such as ethnicity and teaching experience further moderated these effects, offering insight into individual differences in how teachers respond to social media portrayals. The findings highlight the potentially harmful impact of negative social media narratives on teacher perceptions and emphasize the need for interventions to amplify positive narratives. This study contributes to understanding social media’s role in shaping professional experiences and provides a foundation for future research on teacher support and retention strategies.

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