THE IMPACT OF TEACHERS MOTIVATION ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Conceptual Framework

2.1.1 Concept of Motivation

Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. There are three major components to motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation involves the decision to initiate a behavior, such as enrolling in an education class. Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist, such as taking more education courses in order to earn a degree although it requires a significant investment of time, energy and resources.

Finally, intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing a goal. For example, one student might coast by without much effort, while another student will study regularly, participate in discussions and take advantage of research opportunities outside of class. The same can be said of teachers in day secondary schools. Different types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsic or intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and often involve rewards such as trophies, money, social recognition or praise. Intrinsic motivations are those that arise from within the individual, such as doing a complicated cross-word puzzle purely for the personal gratification of solving a problem. Implications for Management is that; if the motivation-hygiene theory holds, management not only must provide hygiene factors to avoid employee dissatisfaction, but also must provide factors intrinsic to the work itself in order for employees to be satisfied with their jobs.

Some of the things that caused low teacher motivation include; Student –related problems where, poor discipline, laziness, lack of work ethics, disrespect of teachers and school rules, late-coming, high absenteeism and absconding. Others include; Academic Instruction and curriculum, where the teachers complained that the focus is mainly academic and not holistic; maintenance of records and assessment tasks is time-consuming; deteriorating numeracy and literacy skills impedes progress; drop in pass requirements lowers standards; lack of professional development and collaboration at school level reduces teacher confidence; they needed to be consulted for input in syllabus changes. This was according to a study by Magendri Perumal (2011).

2.1.2 Concept of Teacher Motivation

Teacher motivation refers to those variables, factors that influence teachers to do things. In its more technical usage, teacher motivation is to be seen as a psychological concept. It is regarded as a process of organizing behavior in rogress and channeling behaviours into specific course. It is a process ofstimulating, channeling and sustaining behavior. According to Asemah (2012),teacher motivation is a general term applying to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and similar forces initiated for teachers, in order to induce them to act in desirable academically productive manner. Teacher motivation encompasses forces both within and external to the individual.

According to Hicks (2011) the internal teacher motivation comprises of the needs, wants and desires which exist within an individual; as such influence the teachers thought which in turn leads to a positive change behavior toward improving learning. Teacher motivation entails that the teacher is made to satisfy the life supporting elements of his physical body like food, water, shelter etc. the teacher should be able to satisfy needs like insurance, medical allowances, retirement benefits etc. the implication is that school management should be more concerned with providing meaningful and challenging work, feeling or achievement, added responsibility, recognition for accomplishment, opportunities for growth and advancement as all these, among other motivators drive the teacher to be acting undesirable way.

2.1.3 Concept of Academic Performance

Academic performance also known as academic achievement/academic attainment is the outcome of education; it constitute the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals. Academic performance is commonly measured by examinations or continuous assessment but there is no general agreement on how it is best tested or which aspects are most important procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts. Academic performance can be defined as excellence in all academic disciplines, in class as well as extracurricular activities. It includes excellence in sporting, behaviour, confidence,communication skills, punctuality, assertiveness, Arts, Culture, and the like. In educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance, or how well a student meets standards set out by local government and the institution itself. As career competition grows ever more fierce in the working world, the importance of students doing well in school has caught the attention of parents, legislators and government education departments alike.

2.1.4 Growth and Advancement of Teachers and students’ Performance

Boredom and discontent in the workplace is a serious business performance issue. Owen S. (2014) in a major international study of organizational effectiveness involving more than 28,000 respondents, Right Management has found that two-thirds of employees globally are less than fully engaged by their work and organization. With weak engagement translating into lower retention, greater absenteeism and poorer productivity, organizations almost everywhere are simply failing to perform to their true potential.

It is clear from the many employee satisfaction surveys and exit surveys we have done that career growth and development are among the primary reasons why employees decide to stay or leave where they work. However, benchmark norms suggest that many employers are not taking sufficient action to fully develop their employees and to help them successfully build their careers, which can lead to the unnecessary turnover of valuable employees. This applies to teachers too.

Teacher professional development in China has existed since the introduction of teacher education a century ago Yang and Wu, (2011). Since the late 1970s, China has devoted itself to increasing the quantity and enhancing the quality of existing teachers. The unified nationwide professional standards designed and issued by the government in the early 1990s (Schmidt 2015) urged teachers to seek further education opportunities through in-service training. This is evidenced by the government‘s efforts in restoring and establishing advanced training institutions to undertake in-service training, especially for those who missed their education and training during the Cultural Revolution years.

In-service training of teachers can be divided into degree and non-degree education. Degree education includes not only the ‗top-up‘ education for in-service teachers without qualified certificates but also the ‗upgrading‘ education for in-service teachers with qualified certificates. The non-degree education for in-service teachers is the main part of continuing education. This has been the key to teacher training embraced by teachers to meet the ever increasing societal expectations. Schools are encouraged to establish partnerships with teacher education and in-service training institutions to create chances for teachers both in and out of schools.

The Ministry of Education sets regulations on continuing education by defining the contents, categories, organization administration, infrastructure standards, examination and verification, awards and penalties of continuing teacher education. The targets of such training are to meet primary school teachers‘ requirements of continuing education, to orient new teachers during the probation period and to enhance the basic skills of all that hold teaching posts.

One kind of professional development model is called Action Education (Xingdong Jiaoyu in Chinese). It is a form of school-based training model which aims at updating ideas of teaching and learning, and designing new situations to improve classroom practice through exemplary lesson development. As it directly tackles issues in teaching and learning, although there are some challenges in implementing the model, it has shown the potential to enhance in-service teacher learning and professional development with comparatively low cost. It is promoted in many schools in China.

However, the increased demand for change in the nature, the purpose and the mode of delivery of professional development in teacher education (Garner, 2016) is particularly challenging due to the growing disparities in wealth within the country and the unevenness of the teaching force profile. Teachers are increasingly urged to seek professional development with insufficient support in many aspects.

Some of the ways for employers to start breaking down some of these barriers to internal career growth and advancement include; Provide self-assessment tools and career self-management training to all employees, Offer tools and training on coaching for all managers. Clearly define a variety of career paths and the related skills required and make these information readily accessible, Create meaningful alternatives to traditional career ladders Keep employees informed about your organization's strategy and direction, especially your forecasts for talent needs etc..

Assessment could be by measuring of progress and using your employee survey to assess how your teachers feel about their career possibilities, how fairly they believe promotions are made and the degree to which they believe that talent and merit decide who advances within your organization influences the improvement on performance. (Schmidt 2015)

2.1.5 Incentives of Teachers and students’ Performance

Few studies have credibly identified the causal effect of merit pay programs that reward individual teachers—or groups of teachers—for the test score performance of their students. Glewwe, Ilias, and Kremer (2003) randomly assigned 50 Kenyan primary schools to a treatment group eligible for monetary incentives (21-43% of monthly salary). ―The broad consensus among occupational psychologists in developed country contexts is that pay on its own does not increase motivation. However, pecuniary motives are likely to be dominant among teachers where pay and other material benefits are too low for individual and household survival needs to be met. Only when these basic needs have been met is it possible for higher-order needs, which are the basis of true job satisfaction, to be realized. This was according to (Bennell and Akyeampong (2012). Teacher salaries are generally low, especially in Africa. Corresponding to Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs, lack of a living wage can undermine the foundation of basic need fulfillment teachers required before they can focus on improving their work. When teachers do not have enough money to live, they often resort to secondary employment activities, which can undermine their motivation to perform in their primary job and lead to increased absenteeism these were the findings of (Methodological Guide for the Analysis of Teacher Issues 2010). One such secondary employment activity, was private tutoring, which can be especially harmful to student achievement, or at least the distribution of student achievement, when teachers cut back on teaching part of the curriculum in school in order to generate demand for their tutoring services out of school (Bennell and Akyeampong 2011).

Besides resorting to secondary employment, teachers who earn poverty wages are often unable to eat properly before coming to school (Bennell and Akyeampong 2012). This reduces their concentration and further their motivation to teach hence affecting the students‘ performance to a greater level. Furthermore, it is difficult to motivate qualified teachers to work in the neediest schools and in rural areas without sufficient material incentives. This is due to the low socio economic status that was associated with most rural dwellers in developing countries. Although the rural dwellers in developed countries also have low socioeconomic status in some cases, it cannot be compared to the ones in developing countries. Low pay also alters the profile of those who are most motivated to become teachers, as the opportunity cost of joining the poorly-paid teaching force is lowest for the unskilled, inexperienced, women, and those from rural areas (Umansky and Vegas 2010).

However, beyond a reasonable salary, there is little evidence that further pay increases motivate teachers. Michaelowa (2012) does not find a salary structure to be an obvious determinant of teacher job satisfaction. Delannoy and Sedlacek (2010) note that across-the-board salary increases in Brazil were ineffective in increasing teacher performance.

If teachers are able to support themselves and their families, how teachers are paid may be more important than how much they are paid. Teachers are more motivated when they are paid on time, when retrieving their pay is easy, and sometimes through performance bonus-pay schemes. For example, in India irregularly paid salaries are a major source of low motivation (Ramachandran and Pal 2015). In terms of bonus pay, Muralidharan and Sundararaman (2012) find that individual and group performance pay schemes significantly increased test scores in India through encouraging greater effort among teachers.

The winning schools were determined by their test-score performance relative to other treated schools, and all teachers in such schools received awards. The program produced test-score gains in treated schools, but the only lasted for the program‘s duration, and they appear to be the result of test preparation activities. Although the literature has focused on school-based incentives, most classroom settings involve one teacher, which makes it possible to reward more effective teachers.

We know of just one published paper that studied incentive programs for individual teachers. Eberts, Hollenbeck, and Stone (2012), comparing means across two schools, found that individual incentive programs for teachers were associated with a significant fall in dropout rates but were unrelated to student achievement. The only evidence of a correlation between individual incentive programs and student learning is reported in a working paper by Lavy (2013), who found that large teacher incentives in Israel were associated with increases in the tests directly rewarded by the program.

A similar program in Israel made 62 secondary schools eligible for performance awards. Of these, the top third of performers received monetary awards distributed to all teachers in a school. Lavy (2012) compares these schools‘ performance to schools that just missed participating—based upon program selection rules—and finds effects on a range of student outcome measures. More recently, Lavy (2014) analyzed a second Israeli program that awarded performance bonuses to individual teachers. The awards, up to 25% of annual wages, were allocated on the basis of the teacher‘s performance compared with their school colleagues. Schools‘ participation was determined by cutoff-based assignment that facilitated a regression-discontinuity analysis.

Ultimately, program participation appears to have increased student outcomes. The Mexican program that is subject of this paper differs in several respects. First, it has been implemented for over a decade and the majority of eligible public school teachers have participated in the program. It is the one of the few large-scale merit pay programs in any country.

Second, it provides incentives to individual teachers, rather than the group-based incentives that are the subject of much of the empirical literature. Third, its incentives are nonlinear (i.e., they are awarded if teachers‘ assessment scores fall above a cutoff). This point is more than an institutional curiosity.

2.1.6 Determinants of Teacher-Learner Interactions for Better Students Academic Performance

The status of teachers

Reports from teacher organisations are unanimous in stating that the status of teachers has declined, often drastically, in recent years. This decline is due both to material and non-material factors. It is clear that the vast majority of teachers believe that they do not receive the moral support and material recognition appropriate to their level of qualifications and responsibilities

Class size:

There is a trend in several countries to increase the number of students in each class. Class sizes have reached unacceptable levels in many developing countries. Many teacher organisations report class sizes exceeding 100 pupils. Obviously, learning suffers under such conditions. Smaller classes allow teachers to use more personalised instructional techniques and develop and apply new teaching methods. Furthermore, teachers with smaller classes report less stress and higher morale, and turnover rates among these teachers are also lower.

Increasing workload

There is strong empirical evidence that the work load of teaches has increased. Reports from a range of countries are striking. The number of teachers eligible for disability pensions has steadily increased. Teachers report problems with sleeping, marital problems and higher frequency of depression due to the job situation. Teachers generally are used to working hard for a good cause, but if their good will is exploited, the results can be counterproductive.

Professional freedom

There has to be a general trust in the competence and creativity of the teacher. How teaching is done in the classroom should never be prescribed by persons outside the classroom reality. This does not mean that education authorities should not encourage new teaching methods through in-service training, professional development and other means. It is important and necessary to propose different approaches and good models for teaching, but teaching methods should not be dictated to teachers.

The work environment

The working conditions of teachers are closely related to learning conditions for the students. A school environment that allows teachers to do a good job will automatically improve the learning conditions of the students. There is an obvious and close relation between the infrastructure of the school system and the quality of education. In many countries investment in school equipment has been neglected during recent decades. It is essential to provide at least the basic teaching equipment and materials in each school. Studies have reported a consistent relationship between pupilperformance and the availabilityof books. An important investment to improve educational quality is to ensure that all students have at least one textbook. Research has pointed to the importance of teacher motivation for effective learning. The obvious relation between motivation and good working conditions is thus a strong argument for improving the status and working conditions of teachers. Another factor affecting motivation is the ability to influence one's working conditions.

Teacher education and professional development

All too often, teachers begin their duties without proper or sufficient pedagogical and psychological training. Some studies of factors affecting the academic performance of school children conclude that the influence of classroom variables, like the education of the teacher, is of greater importance in developing countries than in other countries. This is a powerful argument in favour of improving teacher education especially in developing countries. Teaching is a life-long process of learning. Continuous professional development through in-service training to up-date the teacher's knowledge and teaching methods is of crucial importance in providing quality education. In-service training is most effective when based on pre-service education that has laid a good foundation. Still today, in many parts of the world, persons with in sufficient training are engaged as teachers. So long as the hiring of untrained teachers is used as a temporary and transitional solution, it can be tolerated.

Teachers' salaries

Another factor affecting teacher motivation and commitment to teaching is the financial remuneration. Real salary rates inlow-income countries have deteriorated in recent years. In many countries salaries are not paid regularly, with delays often of several months.

Consequently, many teachers are forced to look for other jobs in addition to teaching and some are driven to leave teaching altogether. According to reports from some African countries, it has become almost impossible to convince good students to choose a teaching career, as the prospects of job security and adequate income are too uncertain.

Negotiations and consultations

Government decisions regarding education are more likely to succeed when planned and implemented with the fullparticipation of teachers and theirorganisations, since the teachers are directly concerned and have far-reaching knowledge and experience of classroom realities. No education reform can be fully effective without the agreement and active partnership of the personnel who will ultimately be responsible for implementation. Education workers' organizations contribute to the policy-making process by representing their members' views. Negotiation and consultation with these organizations should be encouraged at all levels. Sufficient time, transparent procedures and effective communication with all interested parties are key factors in ensuring that consultations and negotiations achieve their objectives.

2.1.7 Impact of Teacher Motivation on the Academic Performance of Students

As teacher motivation is very central in energizing the teacher to teach and to seek to impart knowledge effectively, below are ways that teacher motivation influence students’ academic achievement: a teacher who is motivated will put more efforts to in the classroom to pass adequate knowledge to his students in order to affect the behavior of the learner in the most desirable and positive manner; teacher motivation is so crucial to the academic performance of students because it explains why teachers behave the way they do at in their various schools. Thus, if a teacher shows the hunger to teacher well, then students will invariably demonstrate the zeal to learn. In line with this, Bateman (2010) noted that teacher motivation is the force that energize, direct and sustains teacher-learner efforts; motives are desires to attain goals. Thus, the stronger these desires are present during teaching-learning encounter;the greater will be the efforts towards achieving these goals. Therefore, teacher motivation ensures that both teachers and learners sustain their efforts in a quest to achieve expected objectives of the classroom encounter;teacher who is motivated helps relevant learners to acquire more favourable disposition towards school in general and learning in particular; teacher motivation provides the desire in students to learn. This is because learners are encouraged to learn, to express themselves through answering questions, taking parts in both individual and group assignments; infact get involved or committed in the learning process by acquiring ideas, skills and concepts for total development; since teacher motivation provides teachers the desired to teach his students well, this results in the students getting better grades, developing higher adjustment potentials and better self-concept etc.

2.1.8 Importance of Motivation

The term motivation is derived from a Latin word “movers”, which means to move into action. This means that motivation is simply the cause and why of human behavior. To further-stress on the meaning of motivation, Monday Holmes and Flippo (2012), sees motivation as a process of stimulating an individual to take decision and action in order to achieve a specific desired goal. Morgan, King and Robinson (2014) defined motivation as a state, which individual or animal gingers or derives behavior towards some specific goals. Furthermore, Herberg (2011) was not far from the perception of motivation from the above view as he defined motivation as the psychological process that arouse, direct and maintain behavior towards a goal.

Hence, going by the definitions of motivation as x-rayed above, one can simple conclude that efficiency, good performance and high productivity is a direct function of adequate motivation on the part of workers in an organization. And when workers were properly motivated, leading to efficiency, good performance and high productivity, the implication of this is sudden and sustained rise in national growth and development and invariably the general improvement in the welfare of the citizens.

However, in the field of education, the role of motivation cannot be over emphasized. That is to say that motivation plays a very significant role in attaining the overall educational aims and objectives through teaching and learning process. To further buttress this argument, Ormond (2013) sees motivation as a direct behavior towards attaining a particular goal. Steers and Porter (2010) viewed motivation as concerned with how human beings are energized, sustained, directed, stopped and the type of subjective reaction presents in the individual whole as all these processes are taking place. As if these were not enough, Ugwu (2014) still on motivation implies that behavior has an origin, which terminates when the goal of an individual is achieved. Ekong (2010) emphatically stated that to achieve effective performance in the teaching learning process, the teacher must be motivated. Reasons is because motivated teachers are seen to be working tirelessly in the schools. They prepare their lesson notes at and when due, teaches students, gives assignments, conduct tests, exams and marks, records them appropriate. Herzberg (2015) stated that if teachers are properly motivated, this can change an otherwise mediocre group into a highly productive team. Equally, motivation brings about the use of good teaching methods in the classroom.

2.2 Theoretical Framework

2.2.1 Theories of Motivation of Learning Outcome

There is a general agreement among psychologists that with a few exceptions, which will be noted, all behaviours are motivated, people have reasons for doing the things they do and that behavior is oriented towards meeting certain goals and objectives. That is why Freud (2013) and other psychologists like Taylor (2010) generally agreed that man is motivated by the desire to satisfy a number of needs. Some of which he is not consciously aware of differences of opinions exist as to the nature and relative importance of these needs. This is true because there is no doubt that teachers whose financial needs are not satisfied will be psychologically and socially demoralized in his working attitude and this is of immense effect to the performance of such teachers. But when teachers’ salaries and allowances are paid at the when due, this will reduce the number of teachers truancy which is rampant in the teaching and learning system of secondary schools. Many teachers come into the school only to put his or her name in the attendance register and moves out in pursuit of other business or jobs which will earn him/her a large amount of money to make both ends meet since the salary is small. This attitude makes the students to go home after a whole day with nothing done or either one or two subjects for a day. This lowers the morale of students towards learning. Hence, below comes Maslow’s theory of motivation.

Maslow (2013) came up with the theory of hierarchy of needs. This is based on clinical supervision and logic. In this theory of motivation, he stresses that individuals are motivated to satisfy several different kinds of needs, which are more proponent than others. Maslow’s theory states that if a number of features of a person’s needs are unsatisfied at any given time, satisfaction of the most proponent ones will be more pressing than that of other.

2.2.2 Herzberg Two Factor theory

Although Herzberg‟s theory is the most controversial, it has profound effect on the field of motivation (Hoy and Miskel, 2008). Herzberg developed the two-factor theory of motivation through “laboratory” experiments on human behavior. He classified category of factors that a worker would have in the workplace. The first category comprises of satisfying experience in terms of factors that were intrinsic to the content of the job itself. He called these factors motivators. Motivator factors are based on an individual‟s need for personal growth. When they exist, they actively created job satisfaction. If they are effective then they can motivate an individual to achieve above-average performance and effort. Motivator factors include: status, opportunity for advancement, gaining recognition, responsibility challenging/ stimulating work, sense of personal achievement and personal growth in a job.

The other categories of factors are called “hygiene factors”. These are based on the need for a business to avoid unpleasant condition at work. If employees consider these factors inadequate, then they become dissatisfied with work. Hygiene factors include: company policy and administration, wages, salaries and other financial remuneration, quality of supervision, quality of interpersonal relations, working conditions and feeling of job security. These emanate largely from non-job-related factors, they are extrinsic in nature and therefore to motivate employees „motivators‟ must be applied (Steers and Porter, 1991). The implications of this theory are the employee‟s motivation can be obtained through changing the nature of an employee‟s job, i.e. job enrichment.

Herzberg Two-Factor Theory expounded by Herzberg (1968), seems prominent

model for identifying satisfying (intrinsic) factors and dissatisfying (extrinsic) factors determining job performance. From their study they found that there are two sets of factors. The first set consists of achievement, recognition for achievement; work itself, responsibility and advancement seemed to be strong determining factors of job satisfaction. These were classified as intrinsic factors. All the factors are related to what a person does and not to the situation in which he or she does it.

From Herzberg‟s theory, it would be unrealistic to insist that the factors are excessively satisfiers and extrinsic factors are exclusively dissatisfies. A more realistic view is to regard both, intrinsic and extrinsic factors as capable of generating satisfaction as well as dissatisfaction. That is the presence of certain variables lead to satisfaction and absence leads to dissatisfaction. Intrinsic factors according to Herzberg (1968) are rewards of the job itself; these include such aspects as selfrespect, sense of accomplishment and personal growth. Intrinsic rewards are more satisfying and motivating.

2.3 Empirical Reviews

Brown (2009) conducted a research on teachers' motivation and productivity and its influence on academic performance of students (economics students inclusive) in secondary schools with particular reference to Akuku Toru Local Government Area of River State. He used interview and questionnaires to extract relevant information on the study. Findings from the research showed that motivation does necessarily affect the academic performance of students, meaning that teachers should be sufficiently motivated. This is necessary because when teachers are adequately motivated, they will be satisfied with their job and also provide their best efforts to the students.

However, in the school, he recommended the following for teachers' productivity and efficiency.

1. Regular payment of salaries and allowances to the teachers.

2. Provision of tangible salary to put to end the complaint of teacher about poor salaries.

3. Implementation of promotion to the Teachers in other to increase there Morale in carrying out there duty.

4. Environment where Teachers teach should be conducive for learning etc. in order to broaden the knowledge of the teachers.

Ude, Nwokoro, Uba & Onuigbo (2010) carried out a research which was aimed at investigating the perception of teachers on job satisfaction in relation to wages, academic qualification, sex and experience. It was observed that apart from the above factors, there are also factors that enhance job satisfaction; such are interest, fringe benefits, status and prestige of the profession, opportunity for advancement, working environment and general condition of service. The research questions were formulated and questionnaires distributed to those affected in order to gather relevant or meaningful data. Two hundred teachers were randomly selected from twenty secondary schools in Alike Toru local Government Area of Rivers State. The datum were presented in percentages and analyzed in tables. The findings indicated that.

1. Wages were to a large extent responsible for teachers' level of jobs satisfaction.

2. The sex of the teacher did not influence his or her level of job satisfaction. Consequently, Uzoma (2014) in his research aimed at finding out what motivational factors influence secondary school teachers into greater institutional goals. In study carried out in Rivers State specifically Alike Toru Local Government Area; the result of the research indicated that salary and fringe benefits accruable to teachers are not the only motivating factors that spur them into effectiveness. Also inclusive are the degree of integration and acceptance into the school system by the principal, students and the large society.

Aacha (2015) Teacher motivation has become an important issue given their responsibility to impart knowledge and skills to learners. Consequently, this study investigated the effects of motivation on the performance of primary school teachers in KimaanyaKyabakuza division, Masaka district. Specifically, the study sought to find out whether motivation of teachers had any effect on their morale to perform and; the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on the performance of teachers. A descriptive survey research design was adapted where a total sample of 135 respondents including teachers, head teachers, school management committee members (SMC) and the Masaka Municipal Education Officer (MEO) were consulted. The primary data was collected using structured questionnaires for teachers, as well as key informant interview guides for head teachers and MEO. A focus group discussion was also held with SMC members in the area. Consequently, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Research findings revealed that the performance of teachers was good despite the fact that their motivation was inadequate. Besides, the majority of the teachers performed their activities with high morale as evidenced from reporting early at school, regular testing and examination of pupils and high turn up of teachers in staff meetings and school occasions among others. A significant positive relationship between intrinsic motivation and performance of teachers was also found to exist in primary schools in Kimaanya-Kabakuza division, Masaka district. On the other hand, a positive relationship was also revealed between extrinsic motivation and performance of teachers, implying that extrinsic motivation affected the performance of teachers in Kimaanya-Kyabakuza division. In order to improve teacher motivation and performance at work, the study recommended increase in the salary of primary teachers to match the increased cost of living, provision of accommodation to teachers, strengthening of supervision as well as instituting awards for good performance, among others.