The Relationship between Reinforcement Aspects, Work Atmosphere, and Job Satisfaction with The Job Performance of Early Childhood Education Teachers

The aspects of reinforcement, work atmosphere, and job satisfaction are important factors that can influence teacher performance in formal educational institutions. This study aims to test the significance of simultaneous and partial correlations between the aspects of reinforcement, work atmosphere, and job satisfaction with teacher performance. The population of this study was 4,759 early childhood education teachers in Surabaya, East Java Province, Indonesia who had a minimum of two years of service and were actively working until 2025. The research sample of 210 teachers was determined using a purposive random sampling technique. Data on the aspects of reinforcement, work atmosphere, and teacher job satisfaction were collected using a Likert scale questionnaire with five answer choices: Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree, which had met the item validity test and the Alpha Cronbach reliability test, while teacher performance data were collected using a teacher performance assessment rubric instrument that had been tested by experts. The research data were analyzed using parametric linear regression statistical techniques, resulting in the simultaneous positive correlation between the reinforcement, work atmosphere, and job satisfaction aspects with the performance of early childhood education teachers. Partially, the reinforcement aspect was significantly positively correlated with the performance of early childhood education teachers. The work atmosphere aspect was not significantly correlated with the performance of early childhood education teachers. The job satisfaction aspect was significantly positively correlated with the performance of early childhood education teachers. The findings of this study imply that it is important for leaders of early childhood education institutions to provide reinforcement to teachers and implement school management that can create teacher satisfaction in an effort to improve the quality of early childhood education to support the development of superior human resources with global competitiveness.