Motivation and job performance among teachers in junior high schools in the Kwadaso Municipality

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate motivation and job performance among teachers in Junior High Schools in the Kwadaso Municipality. The objectives of the study were to find out the level of teachers’ motivation in Junior High Schools, determine the effect of motivation on teachers’ job performance in Junior High Schools and to identify ways to improve teacher motivation to enhance job performance in Junior High Schools. Descriptive survey design was used. The target population includes all Junior High School teachers both public and private in Kwadaso Municipality. The accessible population was all 153 teachers in public Junior High schools. The lottery type of the simple random sampling technique was used to select 110 teachers. Questionnaires with closed ended items were used. The reliability test yielded Cronbach Alpha of 0.81. The data collected were analyzed with simple descriptive statistics such as tables, percentages and frequencies. The study revealed that as motivation, teachers were provided with incentives on the job and teachers’ salaries and other needs were met. Teacher motivation enabled teachers to go the extra mile to teach and give the required assignments to students, and enabled teachers to prepare their lesson notes as and when due. Ways to improve teacher motivation to improve job performance were presence of salary and other incentives and use of open administration. It is recommended based on the findings that the Ghana Education Service and the Kwadaso Municipal Directorate of Education should provide teachers with more and regular professional development training to sustain their motivational level to promote job performance and retention.