The Effectiveness of a Group Guidance Program Based on Mindfulness in Improving Job Satisfaction Among Male and Female Teachers

| ABSTRACT The study aimed to identify the effectiveness of a group guidance program based on mindfulness in improving job satisfaction among male and female teachers. The study sample consisted of (60) male and female teachers, divided into two groups: an experimental group that underwent a group guidance program to improve job satisfaction for a period of eight weeks, at a rate of two meetings per week, the duration of each meeting (60) minutes. His control group was not subject to any program. The job satisfaction scale (pre-measurement) was applied to all study members, then the guidance program was applied to the members of the experimental group, and the study scale (post-measurement) was reapplied, and the results indicated an improvement in the level of job satisfaction in the experimental group, and no effect of sex appeared.


Introduction
Nowadays, group guidance in the workplace has expanded to become an educational institutional process aimed at supporting teachers and plays an important role in improving job performance and achievement, where workplace guidance can be considered as a preventive measure, according to the American Psychological Counselor Association (APCA, 2019).
Mindfulness based guidance has only recently been applied in guidance, but there are indicators indicating its effectiveness; teachers and counselors should employ mindfulness skills to enhance and improve performance, as the field of mindfulness has made great progress since the late nineties in helping individuals towards improving their performance and reaching positive mental health (Duckworth, 2017).
The mindfulness techniques aim to form a person's sense of satisfaction with his life; the higher the individual's satisfaction with life, the more this leads the individual to bear the pressures of life and work and the ability to solve them and then support the positiveness of his future expectations (optimism), but the more he is The individual has a low degree of satisfaction with life, which will lead to his inability to face the problems of life and work (Al-Sayed, 2021).
Mindfulness is seen as a regulation of attention, and it includes two basic components: the first is awareness, which is determined by focusing on the present experience rather than being absorbed in the past, and the second refers to the way in which awareness is dealt with in the present moment and focuses on openness, receptivity and Attending rather than avoiding, as well as facing events as they are (Cardaciotto, Herbert, Forman, & Farrow, 2018) Davis and Hayes (2019) defined it as the awareness of experiences moment by moment without issuing any judgment, and in this sense, it is viewed as a state rather than a trait and can be developed through practices and activities such as meditation.
The basics of practicing mindfulness are: -Non-judgment: It means trying to live the experience as it is without issuing evaluative judgments.
-Deliberateness: refers to understanding and acceptance because sometimes some things appear at their appointed time.
-The novice's mind: refers to seeing experiences as if they were happening for the first time.
-Confidence: It means trusting what is happening here and now away from thinking about what we should do in another time and place.
-Reality: Refers to not seeking to change what cannot be changed in reality.
-Acceptance: refers to the acceptance of seeing experiences as they really are in the present moment (Brown, 2018).
Mindfulness has psychological benefits represented in reducing stress and symptoms of psychological depression and anxiety, improving attention processes, reducing stress, and self-satisfaction (Lee, Zhang, & King, 2017).
Abdel-Rahman (2020) notes that mindfulness also contributes to improving cognitive processes for noticing thoughts or feelings, coping with pressures, and psychological toughness, and contributes to improving the quality of teachers' relationships with their students within schools.Mindfulness training contributes to alleviating anxiety and increasing levels of awareness.Mental-health and improving the quality of life and psychological well-being.
Hosker (2020) confirmed that mindfulness has a positive correlation with self-change, psychological stability, and stress reduction.The various work pressures are a major problem that workers suffer from at different roles and levels, and it may be one of the factors that lead to a decline in the performance of male and female teachers and a decrease in job satisfaction, as the concept of satisfaction is vague, because it is an emotional state, which affects people's behavior and is affected by material aspects and grants., and job satisfaction is one of the basic goals that all institutions seek to achieve, and in the field of education, the importance of job satisfaction for male and female teachers has increased due to the multiplicity of sources of pressure (Atair, 2019).
Job satisfaction is affected by two basic factors: the individual himself and the environment surrounding the individual (Sharaf, 2023).Al-Obaidi (2020) referred to three types of job satisfaction: internal satisfaction, external satisfaction, and self-satisfaction.
The state of job dissatisfaction has some consequences, such as withdrawal from work and a decrease in the level of performance at work (Al-Amyan, 2021).
The analytical theory explains job satisfaction through the individual's fulfillment of the pleasure principle.When these needs are not met, the individual experiences a state of anxiety or tension and dissatisfaction (Giacolini & Sabatello, 2019).while behaviorists see that the use of reinforcement leads to an improvement in job satisfaction (Ololube, 2020).while Rogers asserts that in order for a person to achieve himself and feel job satisfaction, there must be a compatibility between the ideal self and the self.Realism and job satisfaction for Adler through lifestyle and social interest, while Glaser believes that job satisfaction is when the individual has the identity of success and shouldering responsibility, while Alice sees it in the rational thinking of the individual (Gopinath 2021).
Job satisfaction is part of psychological health in the workplace, as it represents the extent to which expectations have reached and their conformity to real job life.It is closely related to the behavior of the individual in the workplace.(Davis, 2017).Job satisfaction is the worker's feeling of success in the job and achieving psychological satisfaction through it (Kaliski 2017).
Among the problems affecting job dissatisfaction are personality problems, such as anxiety and depression, absenteeism from work and poor motivation.Organizational problems: such as poor work relations, Feelings of injustice, job insecurity, salary problems, bonuses, or promotion.And external problems: such as family problems and leisure (Secapramana & Mawardi, 2019).

The Study Problem:
Despite the clear need to provide specialized counseling programs, there is a clear lack of guidance programs that are based on clear theoretical frameworks based on mindfulness, as some institutions consider the availability of these services as a kind of unnecessary functional luxury.The main problem lies in determining whether mindfulness improves the motivation of male and female teachers and improves their achievement through the application of a counseling program for male and female teachers, which aims to develop mindfulness and not only reduce problems.A healthy work environment depends on the mental, emotional and physical health of its employees.
Work stress can lead to job dissatisfaction, illness, and absenteeism.A study (Harvey et al., 2018) indicates that mental health problems are the main cause of low work performance.One in six people in the workplace suffer from depression and anxiety at any time, which can lead to more serious mental health challenges.

Study Hypotheses: -First Hypothesis:
There are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group and the control group in job satisfaction due to the group guidance program.
-Second hypothesis: There are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group and the control group in job satisfaction due to the gender variable.

Objectives of the Study:
1-Building a counseling program based on the techniques and skills of mindfulness.2-Improving the job satisfaction of male and female teachers.

The Importance of Studying:
-Theoretical significance: The study presents theoretical literature dealing with mindfulness and job satisfaction.
-Applied importance: If the effectiveness of the group guidance program is proven to improve job satisfaction for teachers, the results of the study may help in building various counseling programs in order to train different samples of male and female teachers.

Conceptual and operational definitions:
-Group guidance program: It is a set of planned psychological procedures and methods in terms of preparation, organization, supervision, evaluation and follow-up, and is used with a specific group of individuals.The program is determined by special tools and a specific time, and each session includes a number of activities and procedures (Sligman, 2019).
-Mindfulness: It is the degree of sensory awareness and mental flexibility possessed by individuals that enables them to interpret and analyze events and situations around them and refine their future expectations.It is defined procedurally by the degree obtained by male and female teachers on the mindfulness scale that was used in this study.
-Job Satisfaction: A set of feelings and beliefs that individuals have about their current job.The levels of job satisfaction range from high to low regarding various aspects of their jobs, such as the type of work, their colleagues or subordinates, and their salaries (George, Louw & B, Adenhorst, 2017).It is defined procedurally by the degree obtained by male and female teachers on the job satisfaction scale that was used in this study.

The limits and limitations of the study:
1-Temporal limits: The study was implemented in 2023. 2 Human boundaries: male and female teachers.3-Spatial boundaries: The study was applied in a private school in the city of Amman.

Determinants of the Study:
It determines the results of the study through the research methodology used and the application of the mindfulness scale and the job satisfaction scale as a pre-and post-test.

Previous Studies:
Sharaf conducted (2023) a study aimed at identifying the level of job satisfaction among female teachers in Iraq.The researcher used the job satisfaction scale.The population of the study consisted of kindergarten teachers, and the sample amounted to (100) teachers; the results indicated that teachers enjoyed a good level of job satisfaction, career average and that there are no differences in job satisfaction between female teachers in private kindergartens according to the specialized and non-specialized variable.
The study by Metwally (2021) aimed to identify the level of psychological capital, job satisfaction, and mindfulness among special education teachers in Egypt.The sample consisted of (88) special education teachers.The results of the study confirmed the existence of statistically significant differences between the mean scores of males and females of special education teachers in favor of females in job satisfaction and the existence of statistically significant differences between the mean scores of males and females in favor of females in mindfulness.
The study by Abdul Rahman (2020) aimed to identify the relationship between mindfulness and job satisfaction among a sample of employees in Egypt and to detect differences between employees in mindfulness and job satisfaction, and the research sample consisted of (300) by (150) from Al-Azhar University employees and (150) employees of the Egyptian Tax Authority, and the mindfulness scale and the job satisfaction scale were applied to them, and the results indicated that there is a positive correlation with statistical significance between mindfulness and job satisfaction, and there are differences in the sub-dimensions of the scale in gender in favor of males and gender Education in favor of higher education and the interaction between gender and education, and the type of education in favor of higher education in a measure of job satisfaction, and the results indicated that mindfulness can be predicted through job satisfaction and psychological flexibility.2019) also conducted a study aimed at identifying the factors associated with mental health for a sample of (153) employees.The results concluded that there is a strong statistically significant correlation between positive feelings on the one hand and mental health on the other hand.While participation and relationships were more closely related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment of workers.

Kern et al. (
The study (Hytti, Kautonen, & Akola, 2018) aimed to identify some of the determinants of job satisfaction among a group of male and female teachers.The study sample included (2327) male and female workers.Job satisfaction compared to male and female teachers who work in different professions, as well as the importance of factors such as work independence and work diversity as factors affecting the level of job satisfaction for workers.
In a study conducted by (Davis, 2017), the aim was to find out the effect of a computerized training program in career guidance in improving the level of job performance among a sample of female teachers.The study sample consisted of (68) male and female employees, who were divided into an experimental group and a control group.The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences in favor of male and female teachers who were exposed to the computerized program in improving the level of performance and job satisfaction.
The study by Martin & Vat (2016) aimed to find out the relationship between mindfulness, job performance and job satisfaction in the Czech Republic.Gender was a weak indicator of job performance, and mindfulness had a weak positive effect on job performance, as there is no positive relationship between job satisfaction and performance.
The study of Al-Shawahra (2015) aimed to identify the level of job satisfaction among male and female private school teachers according to the variables of gender, years of experience, and educational qualification in the town of Beitunia, in a sample of (365) male and female teachers.Based on the gender variable, there were no significant differences in the effect of job satisfaction due to the educational qualification and years of experience variable.

Study Methodology:
The study used a semi-experimental design; the job satisfaction scale was applied as a pre-measurement of the study sample, and the guidance program was applied to the experimental group only.The scale was applied as a post-measurement.The design is an experimental group: pre-measurement -group guidance program -post-measurement.Control group: pre-measurement -no treatment -post-measurement.

Study Population and Sample:
The study population consists of all male and female teachers in the city of Amman, and the study sample was chosen in an intentional manner.The study sample was chosen randomly after applying the job satisfaction scale.The sample of the study was (60) male and female teachers who had low scores on the job satisfaction scale; then they were randomly divided into (30) males and (30) females, and they were distributed into three groups as follows: -Experimental Group: It consisted of (30) male and female teachers who received a group guidance program to improve job satisfaction.They were exposed to a guidance program of eight sessions at a rate of two sessions per week; the duration of each session was (60) minutes.
-Control Group: It consisted of (30) male and female teachers who did not receive a group guidance program to improve job satisfaction and were not exposed to any program but were put on a waiting list.
The pre-measurement of the study tool was applied to the members of the experimental and control groups.Table (1) shows the distribution of the study sample by group type, gender, and pre-and post-measurement.

Study Tools:
In this study, two scales were used: the first is the job satisfaction scale, and the second is to measure the change that occurs in the study variables.

First: Job Satisfaction Scale:
The job satisfaction scale was used, as the scale consisted of (33) items divided into four dimensions: self-confidence dimension, 2-emotional dimension, 3-responsibility dimension, and 4-cognitive dimension.The answer to the scale is within five alternatives as follows: (1-5) degrees, agree, strongly agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree, where ( 5) means the highest level of satisfaction Career, and the negative phrases take the opposite of gradual.For the purposes of the current study, the logical validity of the scale was extracted by presenting it to a number of arbitrators specialized in psychological counseling, as most of the observations came to keep the scale in its current form.The stability coefficient was calculated using the internal consistency method using the Cronbach alpha equation on a sample of (30) male and female teachers from outside the study sample, as the stability value was (0.88).

Second -Group Guidance Program:
The program prepared by the two researchers consisted of the following meetings: -The first meeting: focuses on the concept of mindfulness, awareness, and attention regulation.
-The second meeting: the nature of non-judgment, patience, confidence, acceptance, psychological stress, anxiety and cognitive processes.
-The third meeting: adapting to change, cognitive re-evaluation, problem-solving skills.
-The fourth meeting: the skills of job satisfaction, self-satisfaction, and satisfaction with the surrounding environment and raising awareness of mental health problems.
-The fifth meeting: a sense of internal and external satisfaction, not withdrawing from work Observation training, attention control and recognition of abilities and tendencies.
-The sixth meeting: the skill of description, the skills of flexible self-regulation, the relationship of the profession and its psychological and economic impact.
-The seventh meeting: social relations at work, active response, personal meaning of job satisfaction.
-The eighth meeting: mental and physical relaxation, cognitive awareness and finding meaning for the concept of satisfaction.

Study Procedures:
The study procedures were the following steps: -Determine the study population in Amman schools.
-Developing a group guidance program to improve the level of job satisfaction.
-extracting the indications of the validity and reliability of the study scales.
-Applying the job satisfaction scale on the study sample as a pre-and post-test.
-Applying the guidance program to the first and second experimental groups only.

Study Design and Statistical Treatment:
In the current study, the researcher relied on the semi-experimental design so that the tribal measurement was applied to all members of the study sample, and the guidance program was applied to the members of the first experimental group, males and the second, females.After the completion of the application of the program, the post-measurement was applied to all members of the study again.This takes into account the gender variable.Thus, the design used in this study is as follows: Type of measurement Gender Experimental group Control group To answer the questions of the study, the statistical software package (SPSS) was used in order to enter the statistical data and extract each of the arithmetic means and standard deviations of the scores of the respondents and to determine the level of job satisfaction among male and female teachers as well as the use of each of the (T) test and one-way analysis of variance to examine the differences in the pre and post performance of the experimental and control study samples.

Results:
The study aimed to identify the effect of a group guidance program and measure its effectiveness in improving job satisfaction for male and female teachers, and its results will be presented based on the hypotheses of the study.
Table (2) The arithmetic means and standard deviation of male and female teachers' scores on job satisfaction measures in the pre and post measurement according to the variables of group and gender.It is clear from Table (2) that there are differences between the experimental and control groups in the pre-measurement and postmeasurement in their scores on the study scale (job satisfaction).The following is a presentation of these results:  3) that there is no effect of the interaction between the group variable and gender on the variables (job satisfaction), which indicates that there are no differences between the effectiveness of the program between males and females.The value of lambda (0.824) and to find out if (job satisfaction) created these differences, a binary covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was performed, and the following is a presentation of these results in the order of their hypotheses:

Groups
-First hypothesis: There are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group and the control group in job satisfaction due to the guidance program.
Table (4) Results of the bilateral covariance analysis to indicate the differences in the scores of male and female teachers on the job satisfaction scale between the categories of the variables of group and gender and the interaction between them.4) that there are statistically significant differences between the two experimental groups and the control group in job satisfaction, where the P value was (5.74), which is statistically significant at the level of significance (=0.05α), and the differences between the arithmetic means were in favor of the experimental group, (where the modified dimensional arithmetic mean for the experimental group was (119.97), while the adjusted arithmetic mean for the control group was (108.59), as shown in Table No. (4), which indicates that the guidance program that the experimental group underwent 1,2 contributed to improving the level of Teachers' job satisfaction.

Source of variation
-Second hypothesis: There are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) in the job satisfaction of male and female teachers due to the gender variable.
It is clear from Table No. ( 4) that there is no significant effect between the group and gender on the job satisfaction of male and female teachers, which indicates that there are no differences in the effectiveness of the program in improving job satisfaction between male and female teachers, and this result is consistent with the results of the previous multiple analysis of variance in Table No. (3).The study aimed to identify the effectiveness of a group guidance program based on mindfulness in improving the job satisfaction of male and female teachers.
-Discussion of the first hypothesis: The binary covariance analysis showed that the differences in the averages between the experimental group and the control group reached the level of statistical significance.The experimental group showed an improvement in the level of job satisfaction between the pre-measurement and the post-measurement compared to the control group.This can be attributed to the group guidance program.,He focused on methods related to mindfulness, such as training on various skills, such as the skill of regulating attention and awareness, the skill of problem-solving and job satisfaction through the guidance program meetings on how to use methods such as non-judgment, patience, trust and acceptance, as well as the use of strategies to adapt to change and muscle and body relaxation As well as the application of the skills of self-satisfaction, observation, control, attention, and recognition of abilities and tendencies, all of which showed an impact on the interaction of teachers, as the exercises were employed through the method of the group guidance program, which allows participation and discussion in meetings and gives an opportunity for interaction and dialogue.The group guidance program based on mindfulness contributed to improving the job satisfaction of the experimental group of male and female teachers, and this was evident through the program's eight meetings, each meeting lasting 90 minutes, with intensive and continuous training.Also, the experimental group members were provided with information during the meetings.A theory about mindfulness, levels of job satisfaction, and how the theories contribute to providing us with methods to improve the level of satisfaction of male and female teachers.The program worked to improve the level of job satisfaction, and the positive result can also be explained by the fact that training male and female teachers on a group guidance program for job satisfaction, including training on professional counseling skills, has led to an awareness of male and female teachers of their capabilities, tendencies, and readiness, and that the nature of the guidance program used has included methods Appropriate strategies and application skills.Teachers were provided with duties, skills, and answers to questionnaires and open-ended questions, which may have constituted an important aspect of job satisfaction.Such as recognizing abilities and comparing them with tendencies and interests, which enhances job awareness among male and female teachers and thus develops a new concept of job satisfaction for them.This result is consistent with the results of the study (Sharaf 2203), whose results indicated an improvement in job satisfaction among male and female teachers and is also consistent with the results of the study (Kearen et al., al 2018), which indicated that there are statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group in job satisfaction.
-As for the second hypothesis, the multivariate covariance analysis showed that the differences in averages between the experimental group and the control group in the gender variable did not reach the level of statistical significance, and this can be explained by the knowledge of male and female teachers who suffer from difficulty in job satisfaction that they acquired skills from The guidance program, because all of them, male and female, need such skills, and this can be explained by the knowledge of the male and female teachers of these skills and their desire to learn them, as well as their enthusiasm and impulsiveness to apply what they have learned to invest their skills, and considering it from their point of view a new way that suits their thinking, all of this encouraged them to respond greatly to the program This is probably due to the fact that males and females have a similar point of view in that, and through the interaction of these male and female teachers with the activities of the guidance program based on mindfulness skills, this was reflected in their responses at a similar level.The application did not include any bias towards teachers at the expense of female teachers or vice versa, and this objectivity in the application contributed to the absence of differences due to the gender variable, and this result does not agree with the result of the study (Metwally, 2021).The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the level of job satisfaction between the experimental group and the control group, and also differed from the result of the Al-Shawahra study, 2017, which indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the gender variable between the experimental group and the control group.

Recommendations:
Training male and female teachers on job satisfaction skills through specialized programs in guidance, individual and group counseling in various professions.

-18 Study Limitations and Future Research
The researchers did not face any major problems during implementation, but there were some minor difficulties, such as organizing the teachers' time during the program sessions.There was no problem in providing a place for the application, and the standards were also applied easily before and after implementing the program.We suggest that other researchers in the future use Mental alertness skills with other samples such as school and university students, doctors and engineers, as well as workers in professional institutions.

Table ( 1
) Distribution of the study sample members according to the type of group and gender Pre and post measurement.

Table ( 3
) Results of the multivariate covariance analysis dependent on MANCOVA The Effect of the group variable (control, experimental) and the interaction between the group and gender on the level of job satisfaction of male and female teachers.

Table ( 5
) Adjusted post arithmetic means of male and female teachers' scores on job satisfaction according to the variables of group and gender.