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Unsatisfed Need

 Tension or disequilibrium

Action, Movement & Behaviour

Goal Equilibrium

Feedback, ossible, modifcation o! unsatisfed

People differ by nature, not only in their ability to perform a specific task but also in their 

will to do so. There are people with less ability but because of their strong will and desire to

do something are able to perform better than their counterparts with superior ability and lack 

of will. The will to work hard in any sphere of life is very crucial as it is the only solution to

success. This belief was underscored by Albert Einstein when he said that “genius is 1

 percent inspiration and ! percent perspiration". This will is known as motivation #$iteles %

&orris 1!'().

&otivation is a dynamic force setting a person into motion or action. The word motivation is

derived from motive. &otive is defined as an active form of desire, craving or need that must

 be satisfied #*ikipedia, +1'). t is imperative to understand that all motives are directed

towards goals. As new needs and goals get into someone-s mind or life, the behaviour and

actions immediately change causing an individual to focus in the direction of achieving the

new needs and goals. or e/ample, if a pupil at careers- day realises that he or she would like

to become a medical doctor and that becoming a medical doctor re0uires someone to score

high grades in mathematics and science, such a pupil from that day onwards will work hard

in mathematics and sciences to achieve the goal of becoming a medical doctor. $iteles and

&orris #1!'() define motivation as a representation of an unsatisfied need which creates a

state of tension or dise0uilibrium, causing the individual to move in a goal directed pattern

towards restoring a state of e0uilibrium by satisfying the need.

&otivated people are in a constant state of tension. This tension is only relieved by drives

towards an activity and outcome that is meant to reduce or relieve such tension. The greater 

the tension, the more activity will be needed to bring about relief and hence higher the

motivation. The basic motivation process is depicted in the diagram below

The basic motivation process

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&otivation as seen in the diagram above has to do with a sense of need. This need creates a

sense of urgency in achieving something e/pected. According to $room-s e/pectancy model

of motivation, people e/pect to get results or rewards for their good performance. This model

is based upon the belief that motivation is determined by the nature of reward people e/pect

to get as a result of their ob performance. 2ooking at $room-s e/pectancy model, one can

deduce that the underlying assumption is that a person is a rational being and will only try to

ma/imi3e his perceived of such rewards. A person will choose an alternative that would give

the most benefit. Therefore, it is very important to understand that people are highly

motivated if they believe that certain type of behaviour will lead to a certain outcome and

their e/tent of personal preference for that outcome.

Education Implication of the expectancy theory

&ostly, people in our societies go to school with an aim of passing all the e/ams and finally

graduate and get a good ob. 4owever, using the e/pectancy theory other learners get

demotivated when they see people with very good results languishing in the compounds. 5ur 

societies are full of graduates who ended up in entrepreneurship after failing to get a ob.

5thers have spent years in school and ended up getting a low paying ob. *e always hear 

villagers condemning getting educated to a level of a teacher or nurse because there is no

much difference in income levels between the villagers in farming and teachers or nurses. As

such, some learners after analysing such results obtained after years of learning, have either 

abandoned school, or performed poorly in school due to having such thoughts after 

 perceiving a non6profitable result from others who went through the same route.

n addition to the first point, learners themselves get discouraged if they continuously keep

getting poor grades even after putting so much effort. Although this situation is rare in well

organised learning environments especially in developed countries where standardi3ede0uipment is engaged in the process of teaching, in our underdeveloped countries it is

common. An e/ample would be a pupil who develops hatred against computers because the

teacher who was teaching computers to that pupil lacked materials and subse0uently despite

 putting so much effort to get a good grade the pupil failed the e/am.

urthermore, teachers who are in the forefront of delivering information to learners perform

 poorly if their e/pectations in life are not met. *e have heard and read in papers concerning

some institutions such as our neighbour across the road. 7tudents at 2ivingstone nstitute of 

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8usiness and Engineering 7tudies #28E7) rioted after being told by discouraged lecturers

#who were not being paid their monthly wages) to abandon classes and riot. These lecturers

got demotivated because their e/pected monthly income was not coming forth and finally

resorted to a strike which caused serious panic among students. The 9niversity of :ambia

and ;opperbelt 9niversity had a similar incident though with these the case was to do with

the students not receiving their meal allowances and resorting to a riotous behaviour. n all

incidents, it is seen that a human being resorts to other forms of behaviour if their e/pected

results are not met as planned or e/pected.

How teachers should motivate learners using the expectancy theory

Teachers must encourage students to work hard for them to get good results. There is a slogan

that says “there is no sweet without sweat" implying that only by working hard can one

obtain good results. Teachers as pioneers should teach students easier ways of achieving their 

desired goals without any form of discouragement. Therefore teachers must be in the

forefront sharing the good side of education so that learners get motivated.

7econdly, the e/pectance theory is probabilistic in nature. This means that despite the egos

and beliefs that whenever you work hard you definitely achieve what you want< at times

things can get different. 2earners must be told that “=ome was not built in one day" meaning

should one fail to pass an e/am today despite putting so much effort, there is always another 

time. They must know that learning is a process and it re0uires continuous promotion all the

time.

Transparency is another important aspect that goes along with motivation. Teachers must not

show favouritism to various learners as this may discourage others. 2et there be no time when

hard working and well deserving learners be punished or substituted by failures in the name

of relationships or any form of favour. 7ome teachers in many institutions get into

relationships with students especially male to female relationships which causes hard

working students get discourage as they see themselves failing to get the e/pected good

grades due to biased teachers.

urthermore, it is the duty of teachers to display a good behaviour which can be emulated by

the pupils. Teachers play a very big role in nurturing young people as they are the ones given

the custodian to look after the children of their friends in society. >ust a simple mistakeconducted by a teacher in front of pupils can bring up a very big problem to the pupils. As

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role models therefore teachers should be encouraged and advised to dress modestly, talk 

wisely and behave normal all the time. 8ear drinking, 0uestionable relationships with pupils

and unruly behaviour towards workmates should not be e/hibited among teachers.

n conclusion, it is worth to state that a human being is always e/pectant in life. *e always

aim to achieve the best. Pupils enrol in schools with an e/pectation that one day they will

graduate and get a good ob. or that reason, teachers should be at the helm of promoting

 pupils- education so that they achieve their obectives. Teachers should be motivation

speakers to pupils and encourage them to work hard always.

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References

Pinder % ;raig, 1!?@. Work motivation. 1st ed. s.l.7cott oresman.

$iteles % 7, &., 1!'(. Motivation and Moral in the Industry. s.l.** Borton.

*ikipedea, +1'. Motivation process. C5nlineD

Available at www.wikipedea.org

CAccessed +' &arch +1'D.