CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.9.     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

In organizational psychology, it is frequently expressed that job performances is a function of ability and motivation. Performance can be regarded as almost any behaviour which is directed towards task or goal accomplishment. The importance of motivation and its effects on employees’ performance and retention is recognized by many organizations today. Good performance among employees in an organization has many implications such as high motivation among employees, outstanding ability, good organizational climate and infrastructure excellent leadership that can sustain rapport and productivity and good relationship among staff. Job motivation is important to the effectiveness of an organization.

In educational organization, significantly, job satisfaction and motivation are very essential to the continuing growth of educational system around the world. The relevance of job satisfaction and motivation are very crucial to the long term growth of any educational system. They are ranked alongside with professional knowledge and skills, center competencies educational resources and strategies as the veritable determinants of educational success and performance. Professional knowledge, skills and centre competencies occur when one feels effective in one’s behaviour. In other words, professional knowledge skills and competencies can be seen when one is taking on the mastering challenging tasks directed at educational success and performance. Needs satisfaction and motivation to work are very essential in the lives of teachers because they form the fundamentalreason for working in life. An economics teachers who is highly achievement motivated would tend to be very conscientious in his or her work and tend to be more responsible while almost every economics teacher works in order to satisfy other needs in lye he/she constantly agitates for needs satisfaction, that is why motivation is said to be the activation or energization of goal oriented behaviour. Motivation is defined as some kind of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve something (Hairnes 2001) Achievement motivation becomes the driving factor for future understanding and can be defined as a predisposition to strive for success.

1.10. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

It is assumed that teachers’ agitation and demand are beyond the resources of the ministry of education or the government. As a result the Nigerian Government and Union of Teachers (NUT) are in constant stand-off over the increase in salaries benefits and improvement in teachers working conditions. The Federal and State Government have argued during the National Council on Education (NCE) meeting which held in Kano 2002 that the present economic realities in the country cannot sustain the demand of teachers.

In economics education, it is obvious that without economics teachers there will be no economist in the nation. It becomes a basic necessity if the nation is to advance in economic development and keep abreast with other nations of the world. The problem is that economies teachers have no union unlike other subjects like mathematics, English to mention but this two. They only depend of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT).

The government position concerns the job performance of teachers as they accuse the teachers of negligence, laziness and lack of dedication and zeal to work. It is realized that the act of neglecting the request for salary increment, incentives and better working condition of the economics teachers would adversely affect and in fact retard the economic development of the nation in future.

1.3       PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main focus of this study is to investigate the effect of motivation on economics teachers’ performance in, Nigeria. Specifically, it sought to:

i.     Find out the effect of motivation on economics teachers performance;

ii.   Explain job satisfaction and economics teachers work motivation in relation to Nigerian teachers’ needs satisfaction for school effectiveness; and

iii.  Assess the differences and relationship between the level of teachers job satisfaction, motivation and performance.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i.     What are the effects of motivation on economics teachers’ performance?

ii.   What are the factors that tend to motivate economics teachers in terms of needs satisfaction and job performance?

iii.  What is the view of Ministry of Education on motivation and its effect on economics teachers’ performance?

iv.  What are the benefits of having highly motivated economics teachers?

v.    What is the importance of needs satisfaction and job motivation in the life of economics teacher?

1.5       RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

i.     There is no significant relationship between factors that tend to motivate teachers in terms of job satisfaction and teachers performance.

ii.   There is no significant difference between needs satisfaction and economics teachers job motivation.

iii.  There is no significant difference between motivation and economics teachers’ performance.

1.6       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings arrived at this study shall contribute to the continuing growth of educational system in Nigeria and around the world. This study would help in describing or explaining the pivotal role of motivation on the needs satisfaction of economics teachers in Nigeria. The result of this study would also help educationist and policy makers in emphasizing the need for the inclusion on motivation packages for economics teachers so as to prepare them for better performance.

1.7       SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study investigated the effect of motivation on economics teachers’ performance in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State. It addressed issues such as effects of motivations on economics teachers’ performance, benefits of having highly motivated economics teachers, importance of needs satisfaction and job motivation, government view of motivation and job performance of economics teachers.

1.8       DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

ECONOMICS: A study of how a society organizes its trade money and industry.

EDUCATION: This is the process of teaching, training and leaving in the school to improve knowledge and develop skills.

MOTIVATION: This is referred as the degree of readiness of an organization to pursue some designated, goals and implies the determination of the nature and locus of the forces that maintains degree of readiness.

NEEDS: Things that somebody requires in order to live in a comfortable way or achieve whatever they want.

ORGANIZATION: A group of people who form a business together in other to achieve a particular aim.

PERFORMANCE: This is regarded as almost any behaviour which is directed towards task or goal accomplishment.

RELATIONSHIP: This is a way in which two people or group of people or things behave towards each other or deal with each other.

SATISFACTION: The good feeling that you have when you have achieved your aim.

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