GENERIC THEORIES ON MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION

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FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF TEACHERS

Several factors play a role in the motivation and job satisfaction of employees at the workplace. As elucidated earlier in the study (cf. 1.5) the constructs ‘motivation’ and ‘job satisfaction’ are autonomous and their meanings are mutually exclusive. However, several researchers are of the view that there is a complementary relationship between the two variables (Evans, 2001:304). In analysing the roles played by the various factors, this study will by and large adopt a complimentary approach, promoting the view that motivated employees are generally (but not necessarily) satisfied with their work setup, and satisfied personnel are generally (but not necessarily) motivated to perform well.
For the purposes of this study, the factors are categorised as demographic, organisational and organisational practice factors, and are discussed hereunder. The factors are largely generic and ubiquitous, in the sense that they are applicable to educational and other organisational milieus although the main focus is on (secondary) schools.

Organisational practice factors

Organisational practice factors refer to those factors that influence motivation and job satisfaction of teachers as classroom practitioners, and involve the diverse roles that teachers are expected to play in their interactions with the various stakeholders involved in the education of the learner. These stakeholders include education authorities, non-governmental organisations, business and religious/tribal leaders and other community organisations. The organisational practice factors link up with Hertzberg’s (in Steyn & Van Wyk, 1999:38) motivators which relate directly or indirectly to the teacher’s job performance. As education practitioner, curriculum implementer and being the direct interface with learners, the teacher is challenged on several fronts (Dehaloo, 2008). A review of the literature reveals that these challenges continually impact on teacher motivation and contributes significantly to their levels of job satisfaction. For the purposes of this study, the organisational practice factors include the nature of teaching as a job (e.g. workload, class size, autonomy, role conflict and rewards). It also includes interpersonal relationships (e.g. with colleagues, superiors, learners, parents or guardians and the broader community

The data collection instrument (questionnaire) and variables

The data collection instrument used by the researcher for the quantitative phase of the research was a questionnaire (see annexure C). The questionnaire was made up of four sections (A, B, C and D). Sections A, B and C comprised closed questions in which respondents were expected to circle the appropriate numbers to indicate their choices. Section D comprised four open-ended questions in which respondents provided their own answers in the spaces provided.
Section A determined the biographical and demographic backgrounds of the teachers and included: gender (question 1), age (question 2), race (question 3), years of experience (question 4), post currently held at school (question 5), highest teaching qualification (question 6), perception of own core personality (question 7) and perceptions of work or self-efficacy (questions 8, 9 and 10). This section thus comprised ten questions. (The questions were derived from Chapter 3, section 3.3.1.)
Section B focused on the organisational factors that influence the motivation and job satisfaction of teachers. Teachers were requested to respond to 50 questions by circling the number to indicate their preferred answer on a three-point Likert scale as follows:
1: disagree
2: neutral/uncertain
3: agree

READ FROTH FLOTATION FOR BENEFICIATION OF PCB FINES

TESTING FOR SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS

Research question 2 and related hypotheses focused on whether there were significant differences in the perceptions of different groups of teachers of the physical environment (items 11-21); school policy (items 22-50); school structure (items 51-54); school culture (items 55-59); nature of the job (items 60-72); interpersonal relationships (items 73-85) and the organisation overall (items 11-59). The hypotheses were tested by means of t-tests and ANOVAs. If ANOVAs found significant differences for normal distribution of data, post hoc t-tests were performed to identify where the significant differences were. (Significant differences were tested on the 5%-level.) School structure and school culture did not have a normal distribution of data and therefore the Wilcoxon test was used as this is a non-parametric test. The results are depicted in tables 5.9 to 5.23.

CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.2 THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.3 AIMS OF THE RESEARCH
1.4 AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
1.5 DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS
1.6 THE DIVISION OF CHAPTERS
1.7 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 2 GENERIC THEORIES ON MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION
2.1 INTRODUCTION
2.2 INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
2.3 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
2.4 JOB SATISFACTION
2.5 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION
2.6 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 3 A REVIEW OF FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE JOB SATISFACTION AND MOTIVATION OF TEACHERS
3.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2 THE SOUTH AFRICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM SINCE DEMOCRACY: A CURSORY OVERVIEW
3.3 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE MOTIVATION AND JOB SATISFACTION OF TEACHERS
3.4 THE EFFECTS OF LOW JOB SATISFACTION AND LACK OF MOTIVATION OF TEACHERS
3.5 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
4.1 INTRODUCTION
4.2 SPECIFIC RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES
4.3 ETHICAL MEASURES
4.4 THE RESEARCH DESIGN
4.5 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 5 RESULTS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 BIOGRAPHICAL DATA AND TEACHER SATISFACTION WITH ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS AND ORGANISATIONAL PRACTICE FACTORS
5.4 TESTING FOR SIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN VARIABLES
5.5 DISCUSSION ON QUANTITATIVE RESULTS
5.6 QUALITATIVE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
5.7 SUMMARY
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND LIMITATIONS