THE IMPACT OF TEACHERS MOTIVATION ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Work motivation refers to the psychological processes that influence individual behavior with respect to the attainment of workplace goals and tasks. Motivation therefore is the act of getting people to do things more efficiently or quickly with a sense of responsibility (Analoui, 2000). According to psychologists’ remuneration on its own does not increase motivation; there are other issues to be met too, which include occupational, recruitment, attrition, deployment and overall job satisfaction (Bennell, 2004). Only when the basic needs have been met is it possible for “higher-order” needs, which arc the basis of true job satisfaction, to be realized. Motivation guides people’s action and behaviors toward achievement of some goals (Analoui, 2000). According to Sansone and harackiewicz (2000), motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic, Intrinsic motivation, derive from within the person or from the activity itself, positively aecting behaviors, performance and wellbeing (Ryan & Dcci, 2000). Extrinsic motivation on the other hand, results from the attainment of externally administered rewards, including pay, material possessions, prestige and positive evaluation among others. The government of any state should be responsible to ensure that teachers perform to the best of their abilities. A study on investigation as to why teachers leave the profession cited inadequate salary, low prestige for teachers and lack of opportunities for promotion as the major factors (Bame, 1991). More recent studies have found poor or non- implementation of services and deplorable socio-economic conditions in rural areas, where most teachers work as additional factors (Cobbold, 2007). Bennel (2004) also remarked that teachers‟ pay and other material benefits were too low for individual and house hold survival needs to be met in developing countries. Teacher motivation has to do with teachers‟ attitude to work. Teacher motivation could therefore be referred to as those factors that operate within the school system which if not attended to, could slow down their performance, cause stress, discontentment and frustration all of which consequently reduce classroom effectiveness and student quality output. This implies that teacher motivation includes factors that cause, channel, sustain and influence teachers‟ behavior towards. There are many strategies of motivation and they all depend on the organization.

Example of motivation style are intrinsic factors like pay, benefits and working conditions while other are extrinsic factors like restructuring jobs, Positive reinforcement high expectations treating people fairly, satisfying employee’s needs, setting work related goals. According to (Rawd, 2003), motivation work is mutually exclusive to job performance. Motivation is the combination of a person’s desire and energy directed at achieving a goal. In managing the employees’ performance, motivation is one of the elements that managers should capture into their attention. In fact, to get the best from the employees, managers have to spend much of the managerial time on addressing motivation to them. It is because motivation being the force that acts upon individuals to initiate and direct their behaviors. In the organizational context, motivation influences the way employees behave and respond towards their tasks and how persistent they would maintain a particular attitude with them. To motivate, managers require sustainable approaches and skills to maintain people’s enthusiasm and commitment. An important point to take note is that different people possesses different behavior because their needs and goals vary. So, different people may require different kind and level of motivation. Therefore, when considering motivation, it is important for the managers to look forward positively and to take a long-term view for the success

1.2 Statement of the Problem

It is generally accepted that the competence and commitment of teachers should be the most important determinant of learning outcomes. The learning outcomes in this study are the teachers’ job performance. Indicators of intrinsic motivation assessed by the study included job satisfaction of derived from leaching, enjoyment of leaching, the challenging and competitive nature of teaching, recognition, career development, and control over others and, teaching as one’s goal in life. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation includes externally administered rewards like salary, free accommodation, free meals, weekly duty and extra teaching allowances, advance payments in case of financial problems, leave of absence and free medical care among others. Motivation of teachers in has been cited in many forums as one of the root cause of administrative problems impeding quality teaching and learning in primary school, therefore this research intends to find out the impact of teachers motivation on the improvement of quality teaching and learning in public primary schools.