CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background to the Study
Teachers were accorded due respect among other professions during
the era of quality educati 1950s and late 1960s. In our contemporary Nigeria,
teachers'' have not been given adequate priority as stipulated in the national
policy of education (Imo, 2013). Teachers are expected toearn be intrinsic and
extrinsic reward from work. It is understandable that the success or failure of
an educational system depends mainly on the teachers. In line with the
foregoing, Imo (2013) posit that educational goals can be accomplished by
giving teachers the relevant motivation, necessary, attention and priority they
deserve while they are working towards achieving the purpose of learning.
It is a
well-known fact that a well-motivated teacher, who is provided with working
incentives, good working conditions and adequate remuneration is bound to be
dedicated to his/ her teaching responsibilities so as to bring about the needed
learning among learners. This is buttressed by Archibong (2013) who argued that
quality education does not just occur miraculously but can be achieved through
continuous and improved efforts by the stakeholders in the education
enterprise, especially by enhancing teachers'' motivation through several
welfare packages. If the aforesaid welfare packages are well harnessed,
teachers would be motivated to prepare adequately for their lessons, go to school
regularly and punctually, attend classes as scheduled, teach the students well
and carry out the necessary academic performance assessments both within and
outside their respective schools.
The word “motivation”
according to Longman Dictionary is derived from motive, which is an eagerness
and willingness to do something without needing to be told or force to it. On
the other hand, the importance of education motivational methods cannot be
undermined due to the fact that high motivation increases productivity which is
basically in the interests of all educational systems (Ololube 2010, 2011).
According to Paul Bennell
(2012), ‘’Over one-third of all the teachers at the survey primary schools in
five of the six extended case study countries indicated that teachers at their
school are ‘poorly’ or ‘very poorly’ motivated. Motivation levels appear to be
significantly low in Nigeria. High job performance is what is expected of
qualiied teachers therefore, the Ministry of Education is always being concerned
about the job performance of its teachers. A high measure of loyalty,
patriotism, dedication, hard work as well as commitment are been demanded from
teachers by the Ministry of Education (Ubom & Joshua, 2013).
Researches carried out on
motivational stratetegies on students’ academic performance in Pakistan,
Nigeria, and the whole Sub-Saharan Africa as well notable case studies carried
out in Ghana on Education Management Information Systems, Induction for Teacher
Retention, Motivation and Incentives for teachers and Teachers Job Satisfaction
and Motivation for school effectiveness have brought results to support the
idea of motivation of teachers if there is to improvements in the performance
of the schools.
Therefore, the value of
teachers in preparing human beings for a useful living very high and as
contained in the national policy on education (2010) that teacher help to
“equip“ students to interact, relate live responsibly in this era of science
and technology.This has made the growing complexity in terms of environmental
expulsion, resource mobilization and organization of education institutional
the increasing societal demand the more result, oriented schools have made the
duties of the staff in the schools to be more critical in organization behaviour.
It is worthy of
note that teachers'' effectiveness will only become meaningful if students''
performances are adequate and improved upon. In the words of Orji (2014) how
well a teacher has performed can only be ascertained by how well the student
has performed, if all things be equal. Thus, students'' academic performances
are largely dependent on how well the teacher is motivated or how discouraging
the teacher feels about his job. Teachers at all levels of the education system
should be adequately trained, respected, remunerated, and allowed to
participate in making decisions that affect their professional lives and
teaching environments (Decker, 2004). Thus, when teachers are enabled to do
their jobs effectively, their students are enabled to learn effectively.
Teachers'' motivations occupy a unique place in the entire education system and
it becomes absolutely expedient to give it prominent attention.
Teacher
motivation in developed countries like United States of America (USA), the
United Kingdom (UK), Canada and Australia is due to the fact that teachers are
provided with good quality teacher training and development hence they have
opportunities to further improve their training (Evans 2014). They work in
acceptable physical school contexts. Their level of motivation increases when
they hear or see their students excelling academically in their various fields.
It is on these premises that the study seeks to examine teachers’
motivational strategies and academic performance of secondary school student.
1.2 Statement of
the Problem
In Nigeria, the status of teachers remains in jeopardy. Usman
(2015) lamented that there exists alarming maltreatment of teachers in Nigeria
to the extent that many teachers feel ashamed to proclaim the teaching
profession. He further reported that teachers are paid meager salaries/wages
with almost absence or insignificant welfare packages. Based on the foregoing,
teachers are now termed ''natural economists'' because their hands are forced to
resort to simple living as they could hardly afford luxury. Most teachers live
in poorly built houses surrounded with little or no ventilation, unclean water,
no electricity, poor road network and mockery by workers from other highly
remunerable occupations. Teachers'' salaries, pension, allowances and gratuity
are mostly delayed, owed and or ceased. Omeoga (2013) further lamented that
NUT, Abia Branch went on indefinite strike as a way of agitating for the
payment of enhanced Teachers'' Salary Structure, the inclusion of secondary
school teachers in minimum wage and the payment of arrears of leave allowances.
To compound the headache, teachers are also compelled to cope with
teaching-learning environment that are ill-equipped with outdated office
fittings, furniture, laboratories, libraries, basic technology workshops,
inadequate farmland and sporting arena. The non-functional state of the
afore-painted school plant is enough to implant false perception to teacher
vis-a-vis how the society values the teaching profession. The condition of
teachers in the states is further highlighted as they complain of lack of
motivational incentives for them. Accordingly, Usman (2015) buttressed that
teachers complain of lack of fringe benefits of the workers like transport,
housing, and medical allowances; lack of payment of leave allowances for many
years; lack of recognition, merits awards, bonus and in-service training. With
all these nasty experiences, it will become difficult for teachers to remain
committed to their official assignments in the various schools.
1.3 Research Objectives
The general objective or main objective of this study is to examine teachers’
motivational strategies and academic performance of secondary school student. The specific
objectives are:
i)
To establish the reasons why
teachers are not well motivated in secondary schools in nigeria
ii)
To find out the motivational
techniques used by secondary school teachers in Nigeria
iii)
To determine the best ways to
motivate teachers to bring acamdemic excellence among the secondary school
students
1.4 Research
Questions
The following are
some of the questions which this study intends to answer:
i)
What are the reasons why
teachers are not well motivated in secondary schools in Nigeria?
ii)
What are the motivational
techniques used by secondary school teachers in Nigeria?
iii)
What are the best ways to
motivate teachers to bring academic excellence among the secondary school
students?
1.5 Research
Hypotheses
The followings are the research hypotheses to
be tested in this study:
i)
There is a significant
correlation between motivational
strategies used by teachers and academic performance of students
ii)
There is a significant
relationship between teachers motivation and academic performance of students
1.6 Significance of the Study
In all educational institutions, the whole
teaching-learning process is directed towards achievement in the academic field
as well as in the sphere of co-curricular activities. The academic achievement
is required to be of greater value and for the attainment of which the
students, teachers and parents strive towards it (Verma, 2016). Achievement is
the act of accomplishing attaining or finishing something that has been
accomplished successfully, especially by means of skill, practice or
preference. The innate phenomenon, motivation is influenced by environmental
factors. In order to achieve their goals, needs and instincts, human beings
acquire sufficient motivation. Particularly with respect to students,
motivation for academic achievement is of great importance. By such motivation
people are stimulated to successfully complete an assignment, achieving a goal
or a degree of qualification in their profession. In educational perspective,
motivation has a multi-dimensional structure which is correlated with learning
and academic motivation (Mohamadi, 2006). So the investigator wants to study
about the various teachers’ motivational strategies and how it influences the
students’ academic performance.
1.7 Scope of the Study
The study will
be carried out among ten selected secondary schools around Egbeda Local Government Area, Ibadan, Oyo State. For
better result, five selected secondary schools each from public and private
schools in the area will be selected for the study.