Education in developing countries is at a critical stage, as international efforts are stimulated towards the success of internationally agreed targets to expand and improve education as part of the Education For All (EFA) movement. However at the same time, a potential crisis in teaching threatens the ability of many developing-country governments to reach these targets. In such countries, the teaching force is demoralized and fractured.
Most developing countries have encountered a marked decline in standards of living and purchasing power since the mid-1970s, when fiscal pressure caused by hindrance in economic growth started to take its toll on public purses. This was intensified by the adoption of structural adjustment policies in the 1980s, when teacher salaries became an obvious target for cost-savings in education budgets which leads to low teachers performance, (Retrieved November 26, 2007 from VSO Organization, 2006 website).
“Motivation cannot be done to someone – it cannot be controlled or commanded into being; it is a complex human dynamic that, at best, we can aim to understand and work to inspire” (Retrieved November 8, 2007 from Northwest Regional Educational
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Laboratory, 2001 website). As a result it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that teachers perform to the best of their abilities. In order to get this task done government must take notice of a number of factors that affect teachers’ performance.
Teacher compensation is vital but not the only factor in teacher motivation; Educators may be compensated through salaries or other cash payments, food, training, or special assistance such as shelter, transport or agricultural support.
Robbins and Judge (2007) stated in the terms of definition that the three components of motivation are intensity, direction and persistence. Intensity focus on how hard a person tries which is the focal point when discussing the topic on motivation.
Nevertheless, elevated intensity is improbable to lead to favorable job-performance outcomes except if the effort is channeled in a direction that benefits the institution.
Therefore, one must take into account the quality of effort as well as its intensity. Effort that is directed toward, and consistent with, the institution’s goals is the kind of effort that principals should be seeking. Lastly, motivation has a persistence dimension which is a measure of how long a person can maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.
According to Diamantes (2004) little research has been conducted to study teacher motivation in regards to what rewards they value. However, he stated that
Public perception of teaching usually includes the belief that all teachers are completely free to do whatever they want immediately after school dismisses at 3pm and have all the summer off (never mind grading papers, lesson-planning and night courses in graduate school and most summers back at the university, (p.
2).
Neves de Jesus and Conboy (2001) stated that there are three reasons why teachers motivation is important first for the effect on student motivation, secondly the advance of educational reform and finally for the satisfaction and fulfillment of teachers themselves. Beyond the level of personal well-being, such feelings of satisfaction are consistently associated with lower levels of organizational absenteeism and turnover.
Thomas (1984) mentioned that the proper tactic to work motivation lies in a careful distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Herzberg (1964) distinguishes between extrinsic rewards surrounding a job such as salaries, fringe benefits, and job security; and intrinsic rewards of the job itself can be classified as self-respect, sense of
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accomplishment, and personal growth. Intrinsic rewards, according to Herzberg, are more satisfying and motivating. However, Thomas (1984) sited three policies that administrators can use which will effectively improved morale and motivate staff: shared governance, in-service education (formal and informal), and systematic supportive evaluation.
Firstly, shared governance will enhance teachers’ professional status and their ownership in planning and operation of the school. As a consequence teachers show interest in school performance and also promote harmony and trust among themselves and administrators. Secondly, formal in-service education promotes sharing of ideas and interdependence among teachers which can be done through workshops and seminars;
while informal include resource sharing or conversations among teachers about professional concerns. Thirdly, an evaluation system, if well designed, provides teachers with the necessary feedback to assess their own professional growth. Thus an inadequate design evaluation system can be devastating, putting teachers against administrators and stimulate anxiety, mistrust, and resentment.
Principals’ efforts to empower teachers
Teacher empowerment in many schools has expanded the role of teachers in helping in the process of planning and making decisions to help the school achieve its goals and formulate policies. “In this context, power involves the formal authority or control over organizational resources, and empowerment is the process of sharing that power” (Davis & Wilson 2000, p. 349). It is widely believe that if teachers participate in the decision making process, the greater their job satisfaction. Some research, therefore, has reveal that if teachers help in the decision making there will be negative outcomes on the lives of the teachers and the principals because of their perceptions.
Another view of empowerment is when teachers become more professional and work towards improving their performance. This will help the teacher in building self-confidence and to shape the way the job is to be done. It is evident that personal power needs are met when individuals believe they have the power to cope with situations.
It is evident from the literature that due the market decline in standard of living and purchasing power since the mid-1970’s which hinders economic growth on public
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purses, which later in 1980s lead to adjustment policies when teachers salaries was targeted for cost-savings in education budgets hence lead to low teachers motivation.
Nevertheless, motivation cannot be done to someone; one must first understand what motivate that individual to be inspired. However there are three policies that administrators can utilize to enhance teachers morale: share governance which will improve teachers’ professional status; in-service education which helps in promoting of ideas; and thirdly a systematic supportive evaluation which facilitate teachers to assess their personal growth. As a result the government as well as principals must take into consideration what factors affect teachers’ performance so that those can be eliminated to boost teachers’ performance and move forward in accomplishing their goals.