17-03-2011, 10:38 AM
presented by:
Udo, Otobong Nna
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ABSTRACT
This study was designed to find the relationship between teachers’ job satisfaction and teachers’ job performance in Secondary Schools in Ibiono Ibom local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Four hypotheses were formulated to guide the research and sample of two hundred (200) respondents (teachers) were randomly selected for the study. The main instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire. The hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistical Analysis at 0.05 level of significance and at 198 degree of freedom. The information obtained showed that teachers’ Job performance is significantly dependent on their job satisfaction. Based on the findings of the study and its implication on the future of the students, educational sector and the general society, it was recommended that government should adopt measures that will enable teachers to get their job satisfaction if the school must achieve their aims and objectives.
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
Job has a central role in people’s life. Apart from the fact that it occupies a lot of their time, it also provides the financial basis of their life. Thus, the context of employees’ job should be attractive and contribute to their satisfaction. It is believed that satisfaction at work may influence various aspects of work such as efficiency, productivity, absenteeism, turnover rate and intention to quit and finally employees’ well being, Baron (1986), Mayhrahi (1999)
This premise holds for a variety of employees, including qualified educational staff. Indeed, educators’ well-being has serious implications on the quality of education they provide, French (2006). Maslach and Leiter (1999), Stremmel. Benson and Powell (1993). Satisfied teachers are expected to hold their job longer to be able to engage in more responsive, positive and consistent interaction with students and to influence positively students’ performance, Maslach and Leiter (1999). Thus, it is easy to understand why performance and job satisfaction among teachers continue to be an enduring research issue.
According to Lease (1998) job satisfaction can be viewed as the degree of an employees’ effective orientation towards the work role occupied in the organization. De Noble (2003) on his part defines job satisfaction as the extent to which a staff member has favourable or positive feeling about work or the work environment.
The relevance of job satisfaction and performance are very crucial to the long-term growth of any educational system around the world. They probably rank alongside professional knowledge and skill, centre competencies, educational resources and strategies as the veritable determinants of educational success and performance. Professional knowledge, skills and centre competencies occur when feels effective in one’s behaviour. In other words, professional knowledge, skills and centre competencies can be seen when one is taking on and mastering challenging tasks directed at educational success and performance, Filak and Sheldon (2003). The above factors are closely similar to efficacy and of course, it is well known that many teachers lose or fail to develop self efficacy within education setting Dweck (1999). In addition, needs satisfaction and motivation to work are very essential in the lives of teachers because they form the fundamental reasons for working in life. While almost every teacher works in order to satisfy his or her needs in life, he or she constantly agitates for needs satisfaction. Job satisfaction in this context is the ability of the teaching job to meet teachers’ need and improve the job/teaching performance.
However, it is assumed that teachers’ agitations and demands are beyond the resources of the Ministry of Education of the government. As a result, the government in Nigeria and the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) are in a constant stand-off over the increase in salaries, benefit, and improvement in working conditions of teachers. The government argues that teachers’ level of efficiency and effectiveness does not necessitate the request for salary increase, incentive and better working conditions, while the teachers argue that as far as their job is concern, there is no equity or firm balance between their input (example, hard work, skill level, tolerance and enthusiasm) and output (example, salary, benefits and intangible such as recognition) compare to other sectors in Nigeria, Ololube (2004).
More so, research on teachers’ job satisfaction suggests that educators are most satisfied from the teaching itself and dissatisfied from their salary and promotional opportunities, Dinham and Scott (2000), Koustelios (2001), Oshagbem (1999). If the above statement should be correct, why do the teachers are in constant stand-off with the government over salary increase and incentives? Why are teachers being accuse of negligence, laziness, purposeful lethargy, lack of dedication and zeal to work? Why then do the performance of students in both junior and senior WAEC does not reflect that teachers are satisfied with their job as such nothing disrupts their performance?
The researcher seeks to find out this issue among secondary school teachers in Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State because it is expected that teachers’ intrinsic and extrinsic needs must not be compromised to expect their optimum performance.
1.2 Theoretical framework
There are several theoretical positions that provide some useful insights to why job satisfaction leads to effective job performance but in this study, we shall concentrate on the scientific management movement and Herzberg two factor theory.
1.2.1 Scientific management movement
The extent to which teachers’ satisfaction with take home pay relates to their job performance can be traced back to the works of the scientific management which holds the economic man assumption (man is motivated by money) to be its essential theory of motivation. The principle of scientific management thought was the first to be propounded by Fredrick Taylor. Taylor’s (1974) “One Best” is based on the assumption that human beings are rational, greedy and calculating animals who can and should in fact be made to make more by material economic reward. Taylor assumes that there is no conflict between the individual worker and the organization from a highly managerial stand point by assuming that, what is good for the management is also good for the workers. Taylor and his associates also believe that higher productivity would lead to high pay for workers and greater workers’ satisfaction. In their time and motion studies, they believe that the human engineers combined the study of physical capabilities of workers and economic approach which view was as always being motivated by the fear of hunger and search for profit; workers know that they have no time to lazy about since their performance is being recorded and pay is tied to performance. Central to their argument is the fact that if material rewards are correlated with one’s output, then one will respond with the maximum performance he is capable of, in terms of work load pace and the workers should be closely related with work performance and output. Teachers’ case should not be an exception.
Denga (1996) has pointed out that “Taylorism” has been criticized for its dehumanized workers and failed to look at the psychological and sociological aspects of workers. “Workers at all times need to be treated like human being bearing their personal success and welfare in mind”. The economic man assumption has also been questioned because of relatively simple view of the nature of man is relevant only to a simple kind of worker.
