Job satisfaction and teachers teaching effectiveness

Job satisfaction and teachers teaching effectiveness

ABSTRACT

Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. It is a relatively recent term since in previous centuries the jobs available to a particular person were often predetermined by the occupation of that person’s parent. There are a variety of factors that can influence teaching effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to investigate job satisfaction and teaching effectiveness in Economics in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local government Area of Akwa Ibom State. To achieve the purpose of this study, four research hypotheses were generated to direct the study. A literature review was done according to the variables and hypotheses for the study to facilitate the discussion of findings. The survey research design was adopted for the study. This was because the researcher has no direct control of the independent variables because their manifestations have already occurred. A sample of one hundred and sixty (160) respondents was randomly selected for the study. The selection was done through the simple random sampling technique. This was to give the equal and independent opportunity to all the members in the population area to be selected. The questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. The data were collected personally by the researcher.  To test the hypotheses formulated to direct the study, the independent and dependent variables were identified. Pearson product moment correlation analysis was considered most appropriate to test the hypotheses for the study. This statistical technique was used because of the nature of the variables involved in the hypotheses directing the study. The .05 level of significance was used for the statistical testing of each of the hypothesis for the study. The result of the analysis indicated that workers promotion, pay system, good working condition, and work supervision significantly influence teachers teaching effectiveness. Based on the findings of the study, conclusion, and recommendation were made

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1            Background to the study

Education has been the bedrock of developments all the world over. Nations and individuals all the world over now agree that the way out of series of bondages plaguing them is through education. Thus, the educational standards set up for the school must be challenging to meet the needs of the students and the society (Olaniyonu, Adekoya and Gbenu, (2008).  In many developed countries of the world, science, technical and vocational education is the major form of education that has transformed their economies with modern facilities provided to effect the required change. It has been found that the major cause of differences between the economies of developed and developing countries lies in the quality and quantity of education offered. The quality of education offered in developed countries is such that makes recipients creators of jobs rather than jobseekers largely in addition to the fact that basic education is mandatory which is responsible for high literacy level.

Education enables individuals to fix themselves up in the society into which they have found themselves. It equips individuals with the ability that will enable them explore the world, manipulate it for their survival and establish themselves. Potentials deposited in individuals are exposed through education so that individuals can acquire training and knowledge in a profession and earn a living (which is a continuous exercise) and education enables individuals cultivate good habits and develop the right attitude to work and life as good citizens.

Education in Nigeria is regarded as an instruments “par excellence” for effecting national development (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004, p.iii). This could be the reason why every scholar irrespective of the school of taught agrees to the fact that education is the bedrock of economic, political and technological development of a nation. A highly literate an economically productive educated citizenry can contribute far more tremendously to a nation’s gross domestic product than a large pool of irrelevantly educated population. It is note worthy and highly pathetical that for the past three decades Nigerian educational system continues to witness enormous quantitative growth at the expense of qualitative development. Thus, the current education reforms in the education sector in Nigeria in the areas of planning, curriculum innovation and teacher education among others are management mechanism to revamp education industry to instill sustainable school quality reform. This is where Human resource management comes in.

Every educational system at every level depends heavily on the human resources for execution of its programme.  Human Resource Management (HRM) is the function within an organization that focuses on recruitment, management, and providing direction for the people who work in the organization (Esuong, Eyo & Ekpang, 2009). Human resource management (HRM) refers to the policies, practices and systems that influence employee’s behaviour attitudes and performance. The strategy underlying these practices needs to be considered to maximize their influence on organization performance (HR planning), attracting potential employees (recruiting), choosing employees (selection), teaching employees how to perform their jobs and preparing them for the future training and development, and rewarding employees (compensation), evaluating their performance (performance management), and creating a positive work environment (employee relations). Effective HRM has been shown to enhance organization performance by contributing to employee and customer satisfaction, innovation, productivity, and development of a favorable reputation in the firm’s community.

Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. It is a relatively recent term since in previous centuries the jobs available to a particular person were often predetermined by the occupation of that person’s parent. There are a variety of factors that can influence a person’s level of job satisfaction. Some of these factors include the level of pay and benefits, the perceived fairness of the promotion system within a company, the quality of the working conditions, leadership and social relationships, the job itself (the variety of tasks involved, the interest and challenge the job generates, and the clarity of the job description/requirements). The happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. Job satisfaction is not the same as motivation, although it is clearly linked. Job design aims to enhance job satisfaction and performance methods include job rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. Other influences on satisfaction include the management style and culture, employee involvement, empowerment and autonomous workgroups. Job satisfaction is a very important attribute which is frequently measured by organizations. The most common way of measurement is the use of rating scales where employees report their reactions to their jobs.

For the employee’s point of view, job satisfaction leads to several benefits such as, reducing moral stress, create new thinking and innovation which lead them to a high level, fresh mind good relationship, with co-workers, supervisor, and employees etc.

Organizations are said to be efficient when they derive the maximum output from the available resources. Although an organization possesses many of the assets human resource is considered to be the most valuable asset of any organization. Non-human resources become effective for an organization only with the help of labor force (human resource). In the present world of globalization, a competent work force is believed to be a competitive edge for any firm. To be successful in the corporate world, the companies need to have a highly motivated, loyal and satisfied workforce.

Researches have shown that a person who is a satisfied employee and stays motivated at the work place has higher probability of performing his other roles as a member of the society, which is interacting with other members of the society in various capacities. Promotion is said to be happened when an employee makes a shift in the upward direction in organizational hierarchy and moves to a place of greater responsibility (Dessler, 2008). Promotion can make a significant increase in the salary of an employee as well as in the span of authority and control. It will help the competitors to identify the most productive employees in the business world at the same time the employees are being recognized by their own organization. The employees themselves feel to be an effective contributor and thus will be more satisfied with their job. It is vital to consider that the glass industry that had been taken into consideration is the one in which very little research had been conducted in our country and meager details and findings are available about this industry; both documented and non-documented Owing to the increasing usage and applications of glass in the construction sector; both commercial and residential, the demand for glass is ever increasing. Glass is now a highly integral and important ingredient for the construction sector.

The people are supposed to be more satisfied when they feel happy in their jobs. The main reason behind this issue is to satisfy employees less likely to run off from the job and have low absenteeism rate and have more output than others so it can be argued that a   happier workforce can have a constructive contribution in any organization Bowles, Gintis and Osborne (2001). Job satisfaction is influenced by a lot of variables. Pro-motions are an important aspect of employee’s life. A considerable increase in pay or wage of an employee also constitutes major affect on work Brown, Michelle. (2001). Different organizations or institutions use promotion as a reward for high productivity of their workers which accelerate their efforts. It can be an only useful way of compensation where an employee gives significant value to promotion, if not then pay or wage increment is the best reward for more exertion.

People management is an important aspect of organizational processes. This emanated from the recognition that the human resources of an organization and the organization itself are synonymous. A well-managed business organization normally considers the average employees as the primary source of productivity gains. These organizations consider employees rather than capital as the core foundation of the business and contributors to firm development. To ensure the achievement of firm goals, the organisation creates an atmosphere of commitment and cooperation for its employees through policies that facilitate employee satisfaction. Satisfaction of human resource finds close links to highly motivated employees. Satisfied employees then develop loyalty or commitment to the firm resulting in greater productivity and lower turnover rates.

This means that achieving job satisfaction to develop organizational commitment is not simple or easy and works according to the context of individual firms. Although there are best practices within industries, it is up to the individual organisations to determine which human resource strategies meet its needs and objectives. To determine the manner that individual industries develop and achieve organizational commitment through job satisfaction, the study will investigate in-depth the job satisfaction strategies and teaching effectiveness of teachers in Mkpat Enin Local government Area

1.2            Statement of problem

The state of education in Nigeria largely explains the high level of underdevelopment or low rate of development in the country. Schools/structures are dilapidated, infrastructure has collapsed, population is increasing, teacher supply and quality are declining, poor method of ensuring quality within the education industry, (except until recently when National Universities Commission, NUC took a bold step towards quality assurance in the nation’s universities) and more terrible is the issue of old curricula which are still in use in Nigeria today. These have failed to address the modern day challenges.

The deteriorating quality of education which has continued unabated impinges heavy traumatic effects on Nigeria citizens and the nation as a whole (Adewuya, 2002; Alumode, 2006; and Ezenwafor, 2006). As noted by Gidado (2003) indicators of declining quality and wastages include high dropout, failure rates, rampant examination malpractices and low performance in the national survey of achievement.

Job satisfaction of employees plays a crucial factor in determining teaching effectiveness . Highly performing individuals will be able to assist the organization to achieve its strategic aims thus sustaining the organization competitive advantage (Dessler, 2010).

The role of teachers in the re-engineering of quality of education cannot be overemphasized. The progressive decline in students’ academic performance in secondary schools has raised a lot of questions among parents, community and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s educational system

Based on this background the question that comes to mind is how does human resource management practices in terms of the motivation of teachers, selection procedure, staff development, promotion, conditions of service, working environment and supervision among others influence quality of teaching in secondary schools. This is the problem which this study seeks to find solution.

1.3            Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study was to examine job satisfaction and teachers teaching effectiveness in Economics in Secondary Schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Specifically, the study seeks to:

i.                   Examine how fair promotion relate with teaching effectiveness .

ii.                 Determine the extent to which reasonable pay system enhance teachers’ teaching effectiveness .

iii.              Investigate whether working condition contribute to teachers teaching effectiveness.

iv.              Examine whether supervision relate with teachers teaching effectiveness .

1.4            Research questions

All the employees working in an organization experience in various level of job satisfaction. This job satisfaction can be caused by several factors. Such as promotion, pay, working condition and job supervision etc.

i.                   How does fair promotion improve teachers teaching effectiveness?

ii.                 Does reasonable pay system enhance teachers teaching effectiveness?

iii.              How does good working condition contribute to teachers teaching effectiveness  ?

iv.              Does job supervision contribute to teachers teaching effectiveness?

1.5            Statement of the hypotheses

v.                 There is no significant relationship between fair promotion and teaching effectiveness.

vi.              There is no significant relationship between reasonable pay system and teachers teaching effectiveness .

vii.            There is no significant relationship between level of good working condition and teachers teaching effectiveness  .

viii.         There is no significant relationship between supervision and teachers teaching effectiveness  .

1.6            Significance of the study

          It is often imperative to ask what would be the significance of any endeavour, be it academic or otherwise. This is also true of this study. The researcher anticipates that the study shall be of invaluable and great benefits to administrators, and general public. To the administrators, the study shall be of great importance to them because in realizing the factors or motivational techniques that lead to workers’ productivity, they would work hard to improve their condition of service and establish good working relations.

          Since the study will have its implication on motivation and productivity, there are certain factors that when fulfilled in working life of staff would improve their performance. These factors will be highlighted in the study and administrators shall then be prepared to device all means at their disposal to effect job satisfaction approach that could enhance workers’ productivity.  

          To the school administrators and educational planners, the findings will enable them to identify the extent to which human resource management practices variables improve the quality of teaching in school.

          The findings of this study will help to improve students’ performance in school.

          The study will assist teachers to be aware of the nature of students’ academic deficiency and address them.

          To the larger society, sanity will be injected to redeem the image of the nation from the present moral decadence to a morally, peaceful and disciplined society. The findings of the study will also contribute to the knowledge bank so as to enrich the knowledge base of future researchers on human resource management practices among secondary school teachers.

          The findings will also serve as a vehicle and useful guide to future researchers in the field of industrial and labour studies and other disciplines.

1.7            Scope of the study

This study is restricted to all teachers in secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. It is also delimited to the variables (promotion, pay system, , working condition and job supervision).

1.8            Limitations of the study

Like any other study, this study encountered considerable problems in the areas of finance to move around for data collection and analysis, the distance involve because of the nature of the area of study and the unwillingness of some respondents to fill questionnaires and to grant interview request owing to fear of victimization by the authority.

1.9            Definition of terms

Job satisfaction: Contentment (or lack of it) arising out of interplay of employee's positive and negative feelings toward his or her work.

Teaching effectiveness : is an individual output in terms of quality and quantity expected from a teacher.

Promotion: is the advancement of an employee's rank or position in an organizational hierarchy system

Pay system: A payment system consists of a set of instruments, banking procedures and, typically, interbank funds transfer systems that ensure the circulation of money.

Working condition: refers to the working environment and aspects of an employee's terms and conditions of employment.