Relationship Between Teacher’s Motivation And Students Academic Performance Of Students In Junior Secondary School

Description

ABSTRACT

This study on Staff motivation set out to analyze the impact of teachers’ motivation on the academic performance of students of some selected secondary schools in Jos metropolis. The survey research method was adopted using questionnaire as instrument to elicit information from the respondents.

Findings from the analysis of the data gathered showed that the staff off the selected secondary schools are not well motivated and this inadequate staff motivation makes the teachers not to discharge their duties effectively.

Findings further revealed that the teachers who teach in the private secondary schools are more motivated than those who teach in the public secondary schools. Based on the above findings, the study concluded that  the extent to which the staff of the selected secondary schools are motivated is minimal and this has in turn had negative implications on the performance of the students academically.

Thus, the academic performance of the students is poor. It therefore recommended among others that, the management of all secondary schools whether private or public should make conscious efforts to motivate their teachers at all times.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page

Approval page

Dedication

Acknowledgment

Absract

Table of content

CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION OF “RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER’S MOTIVATION AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS”

1.1      Background of the study

1.2      Statement of the problem

1.3      Objective of the study

1.4      Research question

1.5      Research hypothesis

1.6      Significance of the study

1.7      Scope, limitation

Reference

CHAPTER TWO

• REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE OF “TEACHER’S MOTIVATION AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS”

• Previous research on the topic
• Historical background of the project
• Affect of teachers motivation on students

CHAPTER THREE

• RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1      Research design

• Area of study
• Population
• Sample and sampling techniques
• Instruments of data collection
• Methods of data presentation
• Methods of data analysis

Reference

CHAPTER FOUR

• DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF “RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER’S MOTIVATION AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS”

CHAPTER FIVE

• FINDINGS RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION OF “RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHER’S MOTIVATION AND STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS”

5.1      Findings

• Recommendation
• Conclusion

Bibliograph

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                        INTRODUCTION

Societies all over the world have used education as an instrument for the achievement of their national interests and objectives. Education is an instrument par excellence for effecting national development. It fosters the worth and development of the individual, for the individual’s sake and for the general development of the society (National Policy on Education, 2004). All these call for functional education for the promotion of a progressive and united country. Therefore, school programs need to be relevant, practical and comprehensive, while interest and ability should determine the individual’s direction in education. It is only when these 2 factors come together that we can achieve the nation’s objectives.

In Nigeria, for example, in order to achieve the goals and objectives of education, the government set up 3 levels of education: primary education, secondary education and tertiary education (National Policy on Education, 2004). For the purpose of this research, the discussion is limited to secondary education.

Secondary education is the second level of education in Nigeria. According to National Policy on Education (2004), secondary education is the education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage. The goals of secondary education are to prepare the individual for:

• Useful living within the society.
• Higher education.

The question which this research raised is: Is our secondary education fulfilling these objectives for which it is set up? Again, how useful are those who pass through our secondary education to themselves, their parents, their society, the state and the nation as a whole? Another question to is: how has our secondary education prepared our youths for higher education?

On one hand, looking at the number of students that graduate from secondary schools every year, one may say that secondary education is trying to fulfill these obligations. But on the other hand, considering the quality of those students that graduate every year, it looks like secondary education is not realizing the goals and objectives for which it is set up. According to Uwadiae (2006), as long as there are still examination malpractices in secondary schools, the goals and objectives of secondary education are not being realized. Elaborating on this he says that, the percentage of reported cases of examination malpractice against Edo State of Nigeria, for example, has been on the increase. The state was 18th in 2001, 17th in 2002, 9th in 2003, 7th in 2004 and has increased to be the 4th ranked state with cases of examination malpractice in 2005. This has cast some level of doubt on whether secondary education fulfills its objectives and on the veracity of any good academic performance. If the number of reported cases of examination malpractice could be as high, how are we sure that the number of unreported cases, some of which formed part of the good performance, are not as high or even higher? If examination malpractice is increasing every year in secondary education in Edo State of Nigeria, it implies that students are not being prepared well for higher institution. As Uwadiae (2006) said, the issue of examination malpractice in the secondary education should be a food for thought for all of us because it betrays the aim and goal of secondary education and reveals a lacuna in our secondary education. In the opinion of Awanbor (2005), this lacuna in our secondary education among other things is lack of students’ motivation. It is the opinion of Rusillo and Arias (2004), that there is significant influence of academic motivation on learning at school. Awanbor (2005) holds that students, who lack sufficient level of academic motivation exhibit a weak drive towards the pursuit of academic goals. Such students manifest signs and symptoms of indifference and apathy towards school. Majority of such students, if not all, are those who are involved in examination malpractices.

Furthermore, Awanbor (2005) noted that because of poor motivation due to inadequate remuneration, poor teaching environment as a result of lack of basic teaching materials, listless and unmotivated learners in the classroom, among others, the teachers have become the endangered species in their own profession. They no long teach and the students in turn no longer learn. He suggested that students should be academically motivated as this will go a long way to solving most of the problems faced in education system and also increase students’ academic performance. He further remarked that motivating students will help them to be more responsible and have more interest in studies. He also holds that motivation of students will reduce, if not completely eliminate, high school dropout rates, low enrolment rates, truancy, etc. In the view of Renchler (1992), every educator needs to be concerned about motivation. It is a quality that students, teachers, parents, school administrators and other members of the community must have if our educational system is to prepare young people adequately for the challenges and demands of the coming century. Of course, the way these various groups of individuals generate and use motivation differs greatly. Students need motivation to learn, parents need it to track the educational progress of their sons and daughters, teachers need it to become better teachers and school administrators need it to ensure that every facet of the schools they manage continues to improve. How true is this claim that students are not academically motivated in Edo State of Nigeria? It is against this background that this study investigated the influence of motivation on students academic performance in Edo State of Nigeria.

1.1                                           BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The teacher is basically saddled with the responsibility of transferring knowledge, skills, attitudes and techniques to his pupils. The teacher makes an attempt to help people to acquire some skills, attitudes, knowledge, ideas and applications. Thus, the teacher’s task is to influence or create desirable changes in behaviour in his or her own pupils. The teacher often guides the pupils through a series of planned activities so that his pupils may acquire the highest learning possible form their experiences.

The teacher is a critical element in the teaching-learning situation. What he does or does not do affects learning in a proud way. Research has shown that the quality of teaching makes a considerable difference in students’ learning and performance. This implies that the teacher is the key factor in whether a child learns well or not. Thus, for the teacher to be able to transfer knowledge, ideas and skills to the pupils, he or she must be well motivated. It is therefore in line with this that the researcher intends to examine the impact of staff motivation on student’s performance.
The success of any system of education depends to a large extent on the number of teachers, their quality and their devotion to duty and their effectiveness on the job. It is as a result of this central position of the teacher that it is often said that no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers.

There are certain qualities expected of a good teacher: The teacher as a moulder of lives must be an embodiment of good character. A good teacher is the type whose personal life sets a good example to his pupils. He/She must like people especially the young ones. The teacher with good sense of humour and care for the young ones instills confidence in the parents that their children are in safe hands. Students soon get to know the teacher that is sincere and honest.
A good teacher is always friendly and helpful to his students. Bing aggressive does not help the situation as it will only distant the students from the teacher, thus making it difficult for him to understand their problems. A good teacher always takes interest in his students’ genuine personal problems and shows a lot of understanding in assisting to solve them. He treats any personal problems of his students with utmost confidentiality with a view to enlisting their confidence.
He must always show cooperation to the parents of his students in finding solution to their confidence.

The import of the above is that the teacher plays a significant role in bringing about positive attitudinal change in the students. All learning therefore, results from the teacher who is the instructor. Through the teacher, the pupils learn.

The teacher has to provide staff motivation for his learner. The learner has to be excited, interested, attentive and eager to participate in the learning activity. Use of positive reinforcement and incentive programming is essential in maintaining staff motivation.

However, a teacher who is not motivated will hardly regard the principles mentioned above.

The teacher has to be energized before he can take positive steps to impart skills and knowledge into his pupils. Staff motivation refers to what energizes a person to behave in a particular way. It is a complex concept that deals with people’s wants, needs, demands and desires. Staff motivation is central in energizing an individual to seek to teach or remain ready to teach.

A motivated teacher strives to put effort together in the classroom so as to affect the students positively. Thus, staff motivation is a push, a propellant or a force that activates a teacher to teach. This implies that when a teacher is highly motivated it affects the students positively.

It is therefore in line with the above that the researcher intends to find out how the teacher’s moral impact on the primary schools.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Education and learning is simply aimed at influencing the learner positively. That is, to affect behaviour of the student positively. Effective learning takes place only when the environment is conducive for both the teacher and the learner.

The man who transfers skills and knowledge to the pupils needs to be well motivated as the moral will exert a tremendous influence on the learner. The teachers need to be well paid; they need to be promoted as at when due, their welfare has to be taken of as it is only when this is done that the teacher will be better prepared to discharge his responsibilities which will in turn affect the performance of the students positively. A teacher who is happy will definitely be ready to impart knowledge to the pupils while a teacher who is not happy will do otherwise.

Against this backdrop, it becomes pertinent to ask: Are teachers in the public and private secondary schools in Jos metropolis well motivated? To what extent does the staff motivation of teachers affect the performance of students?

Therefore, the problem the study would resolve is the extent to which the staff motivation of teachers affects the performance of students in public and private secondary  schools in Jos metropolis. This forms the basis for the research work.

1.3    PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of the study is to find out the role of staff moral on student performance.

However, the specific objectives of the study are:

1.  To determine the extent to which staff moral affect the performance of students in the selected secondary schools.
2.  To ascertain the extent to which the staff of the selected secondary schools are motivated.
3.  To determine if there are factors that hinder the effective staff motivation in the selected secondary schools.
4.  To ascertain the academic performance of the students in the selected secondary schools.
5.  To contribute to the reservoir of knowledge existing in the field of education.
   g.    To make recommendations based on the findings.

1.4    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions for the study are:

1.  To what extent does staff moral affect the performance of students in schools?
   b.    To what extent are the staffs motivated?
2.  What are the factors that hinder effective staff motivation?
3.  What is the level of academic performance of the students of the selected secondary schools?

1.5    RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The research hypotheses are:

Ho1:    There is a significant relationship between staff motivation and the performance of students in secondary school.

H1:    There is no significant relationship between the staff moral and the performance of students in secondary schools.

Ho1:    There is a significant difference between motivated staff and non motivated staff in secondary schools.

H1:    There is no significant difference between motivated staff and non motivated staff in secondary schools.

1.6    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of the study cannot be over emphasized. Thus, it is important for the following reasons:
It serves as a reservoir of knowledge where future researchers can easily tap knowledge as the work will be documented.
The study is significant in the sense that will serve as a tool to the management of post secondary schools and education policy makers in appreciating the crucial role of staff motivation can play in enhancing the academic performance of the students. This will however give a direction to policy formulation. Moreso, the study is important because it offers useful recommendations on how teachers and staff motivation so as to positively impact on the students.

1.7    DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The study is restricted to the role of teacher’s moral on secondary school students’ performance, with a focus on some selected secondary schools in Jos north local government area of Plateau State. Geographically, the study is delimited to G.S.S Gangare, G.S.S Tudun wada, G.S.S bidabidi, Mafeng Private School and Township Secondary School, Jos.

1.8                                       OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Teacher:    A teacher is someone who has the requisite training and who is saddled with the responsibility of creating the desirable changes in the behaviours of his or her pupils. The teacher is someone who helps others to acquire skills, attitudes, knowledge, ideas, techniques etc. The teacher is therefore seen as someone who possesses knowledge and methods of imparting it into the children.

Teaching:     Teaching is described as the process and system of transferring ideas, attitudes, skills, techniques etc to other individuals for the purpose of bringing about positive behavioural change. It is the interaction that takes place between a teacher and student under the responsibility of the teacher with the principal aim of bringing about the expected change in the student’s behaviour.

Staff motivation:      Staff motivation is simply described as a driving or moving force that makes an individual to strive hard to achieve aims and objectives that have been set.

Role:    It is simply seen as function. The function played by something.

Student: A student is anyone who is still undergoing any form of training. That is, any one who is still undergoing learning is regarded as a student.

Education:    Education is simply described as the process of providing information to an inexperienced person for him or her to develop physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, spiritually, politically and economically. Education is the process through which individuals are made functional members of their society. It is a process through which the young acquires knowledge and realizes her potentialities and uses them for self-actualization, to be useful to her self and others. Education is a means of preserving, transmitting and improving the culture of the society.

CHAPTER TWO

2.1                                                    LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter critically reviews materials relevant to the study. The whole essence is to ascertain what others have said concerning the topic under study. Thus, in this chapter, the researcher looks at the conceptual clarification of terms, learning, learning processes, evaluation of learning outcomes, learning theories, staff motivation and theories of staff motivation etc…