Abstract
The study was carried out in zone C Education Zone of Benue State to investigate the influence of motivation on the work performance of teachers in secondary schools. Ex-post-facto research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised 1155 principals and teachers in zone C Education Zone in Benue State. The sample size was 500 respondents selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection and this was face-validated by three experts. Cronbach Alpha method was applied in computing the reliability estimate. Four research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The collected data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while t-test was used in testing the stated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that teachers are motivated through delegating of challenging duties, provision of teaching materials, involving them in decision making, granting in-service training and regular promotion and payment of salaries. It also showed that motivation influences teacher’s work performance through increasing their morale, providing for their welfare, proper accommodation and improved candidates of service among others. Problems of teacher’s motivation include poor attitude to their welfare, non-recognition of their efforts, irregular promotion and high teacher-student ratio among others while steps identified to improve teacher’s motivation and work performance include provision of adequate teaching facilities, taking care of their welfare, regular payment of salaries and promotion amongst others. The researcher recommended among others that government should ensure regular payment and promotion of teachers as well as improvement in their conditions of service.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
All organizations have their key actors that help to actualize their goals and objectives. In education, the main actors especially with regard to secondary school include the principals and the teachers including the non academic staff. Thus, education has the teacher at the centre of its implementation process for the realization of its goals. The teacher is an agent delegated by the society to carry out the process of education of the children in a formal setting. Hornby (2006) defines a teacher as one with the ability to impart knowledge, practical skills or understanding. Awah (2007) describes a teacher as an expert in area of knowledge and skills, as well as an agent for social change.
The teacher remains an indispensable actor that ensures the implementation of the programmes and activities of the school system in the classroom situation. Nwankwo (2005) asserted that the teacher is at the center of knowledge and frontiers of new findings, be it scientific, technological, social and economic. The teacher is specially trained with the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to impart necessary behavioural changes in learners. The teacher interacts with the learners for the purpose of effecting a change in the learner.
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The teacher performs this by guiding the learner through teaching and learning activities in schools. The teacher engages in interactive behaviour with the learner(s) through guiding them using planned classroom and co-curricular activities in the school system. Teaching is not the sole job of the teacher but represents one major aspect of the teacher’s responsibility. According to Fabumni (2000) apart from teaching, the teacher himself is a motivator, moderator, counselor and supervisor of learning. Thus, teachers are the most important human resources in the education programme. To ensure best quality in teachers’ workforce, government polices must take into account the interplay of certain issues that influence teachers careers in the education industry especially their motivation in schools as well as pre-employment training, remuneration and personnel development.
A teacher serves as a motivator, guidance counselor and supervisor of learning. In plural society, with developments in all human endeavours, culture and value system, the teacher is the one who is at the hub of activities. He helps to nurture, transform, translate, improve and interpret ideas to create social harmony. Therefore, for the teacher to perform such numerous tasks effectively and efficiently, he requires appropriate motivation and encouragement from the various stakeholders in education like the government, principals, parents and the society. This is so because teaching is not the sole responsibility of the teacher but represents one of the major aspects of his/her responsibilities. Therefore, for the teacher to perform such task, the teacher requires to be adequately motivated in the school by the principal.
Motivation is a legitimate psychological construct, an inner drive incentive, inspirations or encouragement leading to achievement of desired goals (Nwankwo, 2005) Motivation is one of the major aspects of administrative process. Awah (2007) defines motivation as an entity or stimulus that impels one to a particular action. Motivation is further described by Oboegbulem (2004) as an inducement, incentive, inspiration, encouragement in order to incite an individual into action. Motivated behaviour is characterized by action and it is directed towards the satisfaction of a goal or a need. In the same vein, Fabumni (2000) sees motivation as the process of stimulating people to achieve desired goals. Motivation in this study refers to all efforts an encouragement given to the teacher to enhance his work performance in the school, with or without supervision, with eagerness and happiness effectively. Okeke (2007) stated that motivation includes all incentives given to teachers like good pay, recognition of their efforts, provision of teaching aids among others in the school to enable them perform effectively and become satisfied with their teaching job. It is the force that accounts for arousal, selection, direction and continuation of behaviour of teachers in the performance of their duties in the school system.
Within the school/ it is the duty of the principal as the head to ensure that teachers are fully motivated to ensure not only smooth administration but also effective teaching. The principals can motivate the teachers by providing for them the necessary teaching facilities, proper accommodation, taking care of their welfare, and ensuring carrying them along in decision making. Okeke (2007) pointed out that effective principals motivate their teachers through different ways such as rewarding an exceptional teacher who distinguishes himself in the performance of his functions, taking proper care of the teacher’s needs and delegating jobs to the teachers. This helps to give the teachers sense of belonging as well as recognition in the school thereby enhancing their productivity level.
Motivation creates the circumstance that influences one to do what he wants to do. Teacher motivation is the arousal of the teacher’s interest to perform his duties and be sustained on the job. This is done through provision of incentives, promotion, and regular payment of salaries, enhanced welfare scheme and salary, recognition of raising the status of the teacher among others. A teacher with much enthusiasm in his job has to be motivated. Ajala (2003), asserts that productivity level is the yardstick to measure the out put of the person who has a well boosted morale as a good form of motivation. This means that motivation is a determinant vis-avis productivity level.
Motivation plays essential role in the performance of a given task especially in the field of teaching. Fabunmi (2000) noted that in an organization, productivity is usually the major task of the leadership. This is also true of the school system. The achievement of educational goals depends to a great extent on how well the teachers are motivated in performing their teaching responsibilities.
The problem of motivation and morale of teachers as well as their performance has become topical in recent times. Everyone extols the importance of the teachers in the education process, but where motivation and improvement of their welfare come up for implementation, the story changes. Awah (2007) asserted that such situations results to lukewarm attitude of the teachers towards the performance of their duties hence there is low out put by teachers, low student academic achievement and poor results in examination. Thus, according to Nworgu (2007) for teachers to perform effectively, they are required to have good working conditions as well as enhanced welfare schemes like other professionals in the society
Teaching as a professional is a part of the labour forces required to share such variables as enhanced salary structure, socio-economic status, motivation, job satisfaction for improved productivity. Productivity and work performance in an organization like the school is a result of the behaviour of members (teachers) in the organization (school) and motivation is the key to achieving its goals. The extent to which such teachers’ needs are met determines the teachers level of motivation and hence their performance as well as their commitment to work.
Work performance is experienced when the teacher is able to meet his teaching obligations and achieve his/her set general and specific objectives. Olujide (2001) defines performance as the ability of an individual to
accomplish a set goal using the available resources in his environment. This promotes the psychological, social and cognitive competence of the individual with regard to his duties and responsibilities. This implies that individuals perform better in an environment or organization in which they are provided with the necessary incentives. Similarly, Ejiogu (2003) defines performance as any combination of psychological and environmental circumstances that cause a person to say that he has accomplished a task. As applied in this study, performance simply means the ability of the teacher to achieve his specific teaching objectives in the classroom setting.
In the school, the degree of teachers’ performance to assigned duties to some extent depends on his motivation. Procter (2003) asserted that performance is the feeling of pleasure and achievement which one experiences in his job when one knows that work is worth doing or the degree to which one’s work gives one this sense of accomplishment. Teaching requires that the reward of the teacher is no longer the one to be in heaven but one that the teacher will experience the benefits within the school system to be able to solve problems and enjoy the performance duties. The teachers need to be encouraged through effective and well planned motivational packages to enhance not only the quality of instructional delivery but also achieve a sense of high productivity. Teachers lay the foundation for the educational development and achievement of the students.
However, the condition under which teachers carry out their teaching responsibilities leaves much to be desired in zone C education zone of Benue State. Teachers are not regularly paid, regularly promoted while they work under the dilapidated buildings with poor accommodation and poor teaching facilities. This no doubt affects their work performance and the achievement of teaching and learning at the secondary school level in the zone. It is against this background that the present study is embarked upon to examine the influence of motivation on the work performance of the teachers in secondary schools in the area.
