Motivating a Teacher in Educational Institutions - Essay Example

MOTIVATING A TEACHER IN EDUCATIONAL S No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind. The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding. The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it. And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither. For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man. And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth. - Khalil Gibran in The Prophet INTRODUCTION The profesion of teaching has had far more impact on development of a society than most people realise. After parents, the teacher is the most important person in the toddler's life. This interaction forms the foundation for the future life of the child, as to how he or she will contribute to the betterment of the society when he grows up to be an adult. With such an important role to play in lives of the future citizens of a nation, neither parents nor a country can afford to take chances. If a teacher is motivated, he or she can turn around the very lives of the children who come into their contact. This author has personal experiences with some such teachers, who actually turned life upside down in a short period of few years spent with them in a school. However, in today's context, thin budgets, materialistic lifestyles and big fat payscales available for other jobs have made teaching a last resort for most professions. In these circumstances, the teacher cannot be expected to stay motivated enough towards his students, and a good teacher is always an exception than rule. Under these circumstances, the administration has no choice but to evolve ways and means to increase motivation levels of teachers so that they can perform their jobs upto required levels of competencies without compromising the future of the the very students they are entrusted with. AIM This paper aims at bringing out some novel ways of improving motivation levels of teachers in modern educational institutions. BACKGROUND THEORIES Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well. - Aristotle During past few decades, most governments and local schools have enacted some plans to recruit, reward, and retain the best teachers. Merit pay and career ladders were intended to provide financial incentives, varied work, and advancement opportunities for seasoned teachers. These, along with across-the-board pay raises, work environment premiums for difficult assignments, and grants or sabbaticals for research and study, were expected to improve teacher performance and motivation. Things did not move as expected and motivation levels of teachers continue to concern authorities even now. Additional aspects given due consideration were the historical contexts, factors affecting them internally and externally, and how new opportunities are devised for better motivation of teachers. - www.osba.org/lrelatns/teacherq/motivate.htm According to Johnson (1986), motivation aspects of teachers can be improved by three theories: Expectancy theory. Individuals are more likely to strive in their work if there is an anticipated reward that they value, such as a bonus or a promotion, than if there is none. It is true that monetary compensation is still the most important motivator in the present times. Teachers also belong to the same society as any other professional; have same dreams about lifestyles and the life they want to ensure their children should lead etc. It can be stated that this principal motivator shall always form the basis of all future employments as it has in the past. Equity theory. Individuals are dissatisfied if they are not justly compensated for their efforts and accomplishments. This compensation is not only monetary but also psychological. If a teacher puts in serious effort towards organizing a school level event like a sports meet or the annual day function, and doesn't get complimented by the authorities would not like to take similar initiative the following year. Job enrichment theory. Workers are more productive when their work is varied and challenging. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life. Monotonous teaching in an isolated classroom standing in front of a black board and dumb looking students is not a very attractive option. Hence, most teachers are always looking to add more life to their school sessions and feel content. Children, of course, love such teachers. (Motivating Teachers to Improve Instruction by Educational Research Service, 2000) Since salary and career paths are expected to be well defined in modern educational institutions, the third theory deals with improving the motivation through better job environment and innovative management techniques. Based on these theories of motivation, some measures can be introduced into modern educational institutions' day to day lives to improve motivational aspects among the teachers. WAYS TO IMPROVE MOTIVATION The management is always looking for simple ways of improving motivation levels of teachers so as to improve their performance, retain them in present job and affect children's lives in the best possible manner. Enumerated in succeeding paragraphs are some simple but effective ways to improve motivation levels of teachers. Positive work environment. People do not always change jobs just for salary but also the job environment. This adage applies to the profession of teaching as well. Once the primary goals of motivation as per Maslow's hierarchy of needs is satisfied, the person moves on to satisfy his higher goals These, if left unfulfilled, start affecting his or her motivation again. Positive work environment would ensure that the teacher feels his needs are recognized by the authorities and that they will be looked after eventually. Moral and technical support This moral and technical support on a day to day basis, say to meet teacher's initiative of planning a picnic for children of the class, is a big morale booster for the teacher. Praise While rewards can cost a fortune, praise comes free. And nothing can be more pleasing for an individual than a public acknowledgement of his/her efforts, no matter how small it might be. A small word like thank you or a sorry goes a long way towards maintaining motivation level of an individual, including a teacher. And believe it, no teacher spends a day without positively influencing a youngster's life in some way or the other! Opportunities Opportunities are vast in this field, and each and every day is important in the process of learning for the student. If teacher is given opportunities to display their capabilities in moulding lives of the children, this can boost their motivation to perform better each passing day. Improve Day-to-day Life. Some small innovative concepts in daily life used frequently by the corporate world need to be introduced. These will make not only the students, but also teachers to look forward to something new daily. Plan short lunch breaks for the staff periodically. A local cafeteria or restaurant can be contracted to supplement routine cuisine with some delicacies and make teachers feel content with their palate too. In military, it is said that a happy and well fed soldier can't complain much, in spite of whatever adversities he may face. Organize periodic fund-raising activities to fund a big get-together at the end of session. These could be through small events like contributing $2 for small school emblem or a sticker. Idea is not to build up funds but to fund a future mega-event internally. Contact local restaurants, sports franchises, movie houses, arts centers, and other businesses to arrange for gifts, gift certificates, tickets, or discount coupons. Encourage teachers to join personal and professional development courses. Any such course has a profound effect on an individual's confidence level, and confidence always shows in the field, and also the classroom! Organize a trip to the movies. This could be with students for some new appropriate release or organised screening of some children oriented movie. Send welcome cards to teachers back after an illness, celebrate a birthday etc. Provide free coffee in the teacher's lounge from every day. It matters! Introduce programs like a "Teacher of the Month." This keeps the morale of selected persons very high, and becomes an incentive for others to achieve something. Added perks like providing a separate parking slot next to Principal to the selected teacher of the month can make a lot of difference. Appoint a teacher to be "acting principal" when the Principal is out of the building. Encourage teachers' participation in school-level decision making. This gives them a sense of belongingness and the power to make amends. Be sure to publicly commend staff members volunteering to be part of district-wide or state-level committees. Organize a social committee to plan events just for fun. It could be a picnic, trekking, sailing, summer/winter camps or any such fun-filled activity. These keep teachers busy and looking forward to something new. Feedback. Like all humans, teachers too are looking forward to a feedback regarding their efforts from authorities, parents and even children. This feedback helps them in future planning and improving their skills which they are convinced about. Early retirement incentives Young blood makes a difference. Like Army, this field also needs young teachers who can relate better with youngsters, especially those in teens. Hence, early retirement incentives, if offered to teachers reaching a plateau in their career paths with no further motivation, would pave the way for new players with more current outlook. And nothing works better for the student than a bright young teacher leading them. Even today, I sometimes miss not becoming as enterprising as some of my young and dedicated teachers. LONG TERM IMPLICATIONS Teachers have a severe impact on the society due to their constant interaction with future citizens of a country. A good motivated teacher can be expected to perform his task with zeal, enterprise and confidence about his capabilities. There used to be some teachers during my childhood who used to take full responsibility of both success and failures of a student. Personal attention used to be given to weaker students with the aim of bringing them up to desired grades. Slowly, teachers have started blaming parents for non-performance of a student in a class, which was unheard of in previous generation. The most important reason behind this can be expected to be lower motivation levels of the teachers today. A Principal who intervenes and puts in sincere efforts to motivate his staff rarely fails. And not only is the grades achieved by the students, but the simple ever-present smile on the face of all staff-members and students the reward for his efforts. And no adult ever forgets his good schools and great teachers. THE FUTURE The mediocre teacher tells, The good teacher explains, The superior teacher demonstrates, The great teacher inspires. - William Arthur Ward In these days of tight budget and less aid from the governments, classroom overcrowding, materialistically oriented world and such other reasons, it is difficult to keep teachers motivated. Many good teachers have changed their profession and most new teachers are looking for a job, not teaching. And people without right aptitude can create havoc with the system, and society. Of course, one of the biggest ways to show support or to motivate a teacher would be by paying him a salary commensurate with his worth and providing him with a good looking career graph. However, once these limits have been reached, the next step is more difficult, which is, as to how to sustain it in future. Innovative and dynamic ways will be required to be implemented by the management to maintain better motivation levels for the teachers in future. Several recommendations have been offered by NFIE (National Foundation for Improvement of Education, 1996) towards achieving better motivation of teachers: Professional development should be part of growth of teachers in school. The school curriculum should encourage teachers to work as a team together as well as individually throughout the year. www.neafoundation.org/publications/charge/section2.htm Teachers should be made responsible to handle their own responsibilities based on analysis of students. The development goals, standards to be achieved by students should be decided by the school administration and parents together. Collaboration with local community should be encouraged so the teachers and students work in close association towards a common social cause. This achievement should be given wide publicity and notable performers should be lauded publicly. Nothing works better than appreciation. CONCLUSION Ascertaining as to what matters to teachers and how best to motivate them for sustained and improved performance is a complicated challenge being faced by most well-managed schools. While salaries and career prospects are motivators, they have severe limitations in accordance with Maslow's theory of needs. External rewards that have been tried in the past have generally not produced the desired results for a sustained period. Research and experience adequately show that teachers are most likely to value intrinsic rewards such as self-respect, responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment. To inculcate this sense of achievement, the management has a tremendous task ahead. However, since most teachers adequately understand their responsibilities towards children and that towards the society, and at the same time love their jobs, small amounts of efforts from the management like even maintaining a friendly and conducive environment in the school, a participative culture or other such measures can have long term implications for motivation of teachers. "Most teachers have little control over school policy or curriculum or choice of texts or special placement of students, but most have a great deal of autonomy inside the classroom. To a degree shared by only a few other occupations, such as police work, public education rests precariously on the skill and virtue of the people at the bottom of the institutional pyramid." - Tracy Kidder SOURCES 25 Ways to Motivate Teachers by Gary Hopkins, 2006. Motivating teachers to improve instructions, Educational Research Service, 2000. North American Association of Educational Negotiators, 1999. Teacher Motivation - Who Teachers the Teachers By Charlie Cory, 2007. Read More