It has previously been found that (e.g., Al-Habsi, 2009) the main resources of education in any country are teachers. Recent studies (Brown, 2018, Abugre, 2014) have also echoed the point that education could not be possible without teachers. This usually spawned from early childhood through to secondary and tertiary education where teachers are the main actors for students’ learning. However, it is well established that one of the challenges most countries are facing especially in sub-Saharan Africa is the shortage and quality of teachers (Murage, 2014; Firestone, 2014). Several studies have shown that there are many factors that affect the motivation of the teacher and the reason why teachers are leaving the profession. For example, Rasheed, et al. (2010); Ahmed and Kolachi (2013); Alshammari, Al Qaied, Al-Mawali and Matalga (2016), in their study conducted in a higher education context, reveal that compensation in the form of payment is a strong factor in this regard.
It has been established that salary and wages and other financial incentives, as well as non-financial incentives such as participation in decision-making, effective supervision; training and human development, recognition, and respect among others, are the factors affecting teacher motivation (Murage, 2014).In addition, teachers’ motivation can be affected by some other factors such as low wages when compared with other professionals, lack of career advancement opportunities, high teacher-pupil ratio, poor work environment, irregular payment of teacher salaries, low status in the society among others (Murage, 2014).
Studies (e.g. Zhila, 2013; Firestone, 2014; Akafo & Boateng, 2015) have established that teachers are likely to be satisfied with their pay when they realized the pay they receive is equitable and commensurate with the efforts they put into the job. They noted that “when there is inequality in workers’ pay even within the same establishment or industry, it demotivates workers”. Similarly, Bakotić (2016) has also found that pecuniary motives are likely to be dominant among teachers in low-income countries where pay and other material benefits (car and housing for example) are often too low for individual and household survival needs to be met.
In cross-national research concerning the motivation of teachers in sub-Saharan Africa, the literature revealed conflicting views regarding teacher motivation. In a study conducted in Sierra Leone by Action Aid, a major non-governmental organization (NGO), a majority (80%) of the teachers stated clearly that they did not prefer the teaching profession and that they did not want to be teachers. Further studies also revealed that only 13% of the teachers and school managers interviewed said their morale was high and that they did enjoy teaching as a profession. Yet, somewhat contradictory, the same study found that one-third of respondents reported that they did not intend to stay in the profession (Takyi, Anin & Asuo, 2014). Unlike the one conducted by Action Aid, the one conducted in Tanzania, which drew upon 149 Teacher questionnaires among a small sample (10) of primary schools and interviews with 55 key stakeholders revealed that job satisfaction and motivation levels were not as critically low as predicted. Only two out of ten headteachers specifically reported issues of teacher motivation in their schools (Bennell & Mukyanuzi, 2005).
In contrast to Action Aid finding again, in a study of 11 Save the Children Country Offices, staff reported that the majority of permanent public school teachers with whom they worked in both Africa and Latin America were “somewhat unmotivated”. On the contrary, the majority of teachers with whom they worked in Asian countries were mixed between “somewhat motivated” or “somewhat unmotivated” (Guajardo, 2011). In the USA, for instance, both basic and pre-tertiary school teaching is marked by high and increasing rates of annual departures of teachers from schools and teaching altogether. It was estimated that teacher turnover annually is about 14% in the national level and peaks at 20% for high-need schools. In their analysis, it was found that other workers in traditionally highly respected professions such as law, engineering, architecture, and academia remain in their profession for a longer period compared to teaching and child care (Auguste et al., 2010; Ingersoll et al., 2014).
Another challenge facing teacher motivation and job satisfaction globally is the issue of recruitment and the retention of teachers. The literature established factors that affect teacher recruitment and retention. Among them are salary and the value placed on the teaching profession in some societies. Daykeay, (2016) has established that the teaching profession used to be a noble one but that is not the case in the present circumstances especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the study of Keuren et al. (2014) has shown that the status of teaching as a profession has declined and making it difficult for teachers to remain in the classroom for a long period. Other researchers such as George et al. (2008) and Hasan and Hynds (2014), expressed similar views.
It follows that motivation has been a challenge for most teachers in the developing world. Studies by Abugre (2014) has noted that factors responsible for demotivating even the most committed and well-performing teachers are not limited to poorly functioning educational delivery systems, poor working conditions, a lack of resources, limited human capacity, weak accountability, low salaries, and poor management- involving recruitment trough to the retention process (p. 174); but also, the low regard with which teachers are often held, the low position of the teaching career in many contexts, the professional hopelessness many teachers feel, and education systems in which teacher’s voice is excluded (Ingersoll et al., 2014). Because of the aforementioned, it has been established that the outcomes of such challenges place the teaching force at high-risk for non-compliance of duties, attrition, poor performance, professional misconduct, and poor well-being, which further depresses motivation (Ingersoll et al., 2014). This, according to the literature, has weakened the overall system and depresses the quality of teaching and learning.
In the United Kingdom (UK) and the USA, for example, extensive research has been conducted in the form of qualitative and quantitative in order to find out the degree to which teachers are leaving the classroom and to identify the conditions and factors responsible for the motivation of teachers and those that demotivate them since there is a partial relationship between teachers attitudes, job satisfaction, and performance. Moreover, issues of low salary and poor conditions of service were found to be the prime factors (Ingersoll et al., 2014).
Studies carried out by researchers (e.g. Phipp, 2009; Nelsol, 2011) on Ugandan teachers and on Congolese teachers respectively found that the most dissatisfying factors impacting teacher performance are salary. In Ghana, for instance, literature established that intimidation of teachers by some officials from the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) also impacts negatively on the performance of teachers as reported by Bame (2005), Takyi, Anin and Asuo (2014). Furthermore, Takyi et al., 2(014) noted the complaints of teachers during the supervision and appraisal period by the circuit supervisors; they face more intimation from these seniors. The result pointed out that over 70% of the respondents (teachers) aver that they were always criticized by their supervisors without offering any constructive advice to them on how to go about the situation. The only solace the teachers have according to the findings was the fact that the teaching profession is steady and secured but also added that poor remuneration is their single principal disadvantage.
A study conducted by Murage (2014) has found that teachers’ and headteachers’ principal advantage is the secure nature of their profession while poor remuneration is their main disadvantage. The issue of poor salary in the teaching profession also came out as one of the dissatisfying factors as this was in agreement with the finding of Rude and Wiseman (1962) where they studied some 432 teachers from the University of Manchester, School of Education some decades ago.
There is a consensus among researchers (for example, Akyeampong, 2011, Ahmed & Kolachi, 2013: 234) that “teacher’s accountability in many countries is generally weak, especially in sub-Saharan Africa due to inadequate systematic control which makes the discipline of teachers very difficult”. Again, because of the lack of effective supervision on the part of circuit supervisors, most of the teachers also become ill-disciplined. Once teachers’ salary is deposited into banks, heads of schools and even top officials from GES, for instance, cannot withhold the salary for non-performing teachers and face lengthy and ineffective means of sanction in them(Methodological Guide for the Analysis of Teacher Issues, 2010).
In addition, the pay and promotion of teachers are rarely linked to performance. The supervision teachers received from their superiors during an inspection is purely on routine purposes since there is no constructive advice on how to go about their duties effectively to improve productivity/performance. Research conducted by Bennell and Akyeampong (2007) catalog the need for greater accountability in order to rein in unprofessional teacher behavior in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Ahmed and Kolachi, (2013) underscore that accountability that is not complemented with proper support can damage teacher motivation. In addition, they maintain that teachers’ job satisfaction decreases if there is a large number of inspector (circuit supervisors) visits or a large degree of parental oversight although parental oversight and visit by the inspectors increase student achievement. It has been proposed earlier by Finnigan and Gross (2007) that authorities must consider demotivating outcomes before continually sanctioning poor-performing teachers without putting adequate measures to support them to improve their performance.
A study conducted in Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Uganda by Mulkeen et al. (2007) report that these countries have a variety of unattractive conditions of service for teachers that make teaching as a profession to less attractive work destinations. The report also opined that unprofessional treatment of teachers such as arbitrary teacher deployment systems, lack of professional development opportunities and insufficient supportive supervision are worrisome phenomena, which need to be tackled. Akyeampong (2011) and Firestone (2014) have supported this view in recent years.
Perceived low salary has also been identified as some of the unattractive conditions of service. Akiba et al., (2011) for instance conducted a study on 30 different countries in connection with teacher’s salary and national achievement found that attrition rates and teacher dissatisfaction is high due to low salary. Sawitri, Suswati and veHuda (2016) have supported this argument recently when they argue that low salary affects employee’s performance. Further, there is an increasingly focus of attention on teachers from the Sub-Sahara Africa region due to emphasis on quality education. However, far too little attention has been given to research on this subject. It was against this background that this research was commissioned on Public Senior High schools (PSHS) in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana.
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About the Auther:
Dr. Divine Komla Vulley is PhD holder in Education Management from the University of South Africa. He currectly works with the Bank of Ghana
EMAIL: vulley@yahoo.com
Phone: 0244967729