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“Better Education Management: How

to motivate the further education

teachers in Bangladesh”

This term paper is submitted to BIM as a partial fulfillment for the Diploma in Personnel

Management

Supervisor: Salauddin Ahmed Author: Tahseen Zakaria

Deputy Director, BIM Course: PGDPM

Roll No: Seven (7)

Session: 2009

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Preface

Salauddin Ahmed; without his supervision and guidance carrying out this research would

not have been possible. Salma Siraj and Prof. Solaiman; their insights and valuable

lectures in the class have enabled me to do many things. Also my gratitude goes to my

wife, who made sure that my dissertation never gets hampered because of my

accommodation and cooking needs.

Special thanks to Prof. Hasina Zakaria, Ex-Principal of Ispahani Public School and

College; Prof. Amrato Lal Saha, the Ex-Principal of Chittagong Government College;

and Mrs. Dilruba Begum, the Ex-Principal of Radiant School and College for allowing

them to be interviewed. Also I would like to thank Sameer Zakaria, Senior Territory

Manager, Unilever-Bangladesh; Dr. Tahlil Azim; Asst. Professor, Independent University

Bangladesh and Dr. Quitum, Acting Dean, Dept. of Business Administration, East Delta

University for helping me in distributing and collecting the survey questionnaires.

Last but not least, my parents Capt. Md. Zakaria and Prof. Hasina Zakaria for supporting

me throughout the course and keeping my motivation alive during the research.

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Contents

Page No

Chapter-1: Introduction

1 Prologue 7

1.1 Scenario/Present Context 7

1.2 Rationale to the research 7

1.3 Relationship between education management and motivation 7

1.4 Feasibility of the research 9

1.5 Report Outline 9

Chapter-2: Literature Review

2 Conceptual framework of motivation 10

2.1 Maslow‘s Need Hierarchy 11

2.2 Herzberg‘s Two-factor model 11

2.3 Vroom/Lawler and Porter‘s Expectancy model 11

2.4 Equity theory 13

2.5 Goal theory 14

3 A realistic framework towards motivation: the context of

Bangladesh 14

3.1 Content theories and motivation 15

3.2 Process theories 25

4 Summarizing literature review 30

Chapter-3: Methodology

5 Research philosophy 35

6 Data collection & constraints 36

6.1 Quantitative data collection 36

6.2 Qualitative data collection 42

6.3 The credibility of research findings 44

Chapter-4: Investigation Results

7 Summary information 47

8 Findings 49

8.1 Findings for objective (a) 49

8.2 Findings for objective (b) 50

8.3 Findings for objective (c) 52

8.4 Findings for objective (d) 54

8.5 Findings for objective (e) 56

8.6 Findings for objective (f) 57

8.7 Findings for objective (g) 59

8.8 Findings for objective (h) 61

8.9 Findings for objective (i) 61

8.10 Finding for objective (j) 63

Chaapter-5: Investigation Analysis

9 Interpretation of quantitative data 66

10 Summary of quantitative findings 67

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11 Interpretation of qualitative data 68

12 Emerging themes from qualitative findings 69

12.1 Administration 69

12.2 Type of rewarding 69

12.3 Management Strategy and IPRP 70

12.4 Change initiatives 71

13 Comparison of quantitative and qualitative findings 72

14 Paradoxical research findings: Explanation and analysis 74

Chapter-6: Conclusion & Recommendations

15 Review and analysis of the research questions 76

16 Aligning motivational strategy 77

16.1 Payment 77

16.2 Promotion and advancement 78

16.3 Specialised training courses 79

16.4 Extra curricular activities 79

16.5 Building relationships 80

16 Strategy suggestions 80

17 Limitations of the research 81

18 Scopes for future research 82

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Abstract

Further education implies to College level education in terms of Bangladesh (equivalent

to A Levels or High School degrees in North America). Nowadays, teachers are

complaining about their low salary, straggling social life, lower medical allowances,

demolished ethical values, collisions with Government and uncertain pension schemes.

The objective of the report is to determine an appropriate motivational strategy as a part

of improved management policy for the teachers working in Bangladeshi further

education sector.

The objective of this report is to determine an appropriate motivational strategy as a part

of improved management policy for the teachers working in Bangladeshi further

education sector. In this regard a number or efforts (both qualitative & quantitative) have

been made to find out the exact reason for what motivates teachers to work even in this

hostile socio-economic environment. A number of associated research questions have

been developed in this regard and both survey & questionnaire were developed to find

out possible motivator factors.

Finally a number of motivators were identified and possible suggestions to

implement/improve present scenario in order to retain motivation among teachers were

proposed.

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Research Aim

To determine an appropriate motivational strategy as a part of improved management

policy for the teachers working in Bangladeshi further education sector.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

[This introductory chapter describes the context, objective and feasibility of the intended

research. The importance of aligning motivational strategy has been highlighted by

integrating motivation with the issues of management. This has prepared a solid ground

for undertaking this investigation as a managerial level research. The introductory section

also provides a short glimpse of chapter descriptions- useful to acquire an overall idea

regarding research procedure and/or reporting structure.]

1. Prologue

1.1 Scenario/Present Context

The education sector in Bangladesh today faces an imperative and tarnished dilemma,

which involves almost half of the nation‘s teaching staffs, teachers and students. As a

developing country Bangladesh has many things to deal with and education sector, apart

from having poor salary structure possesses political vengeance, anti-social attitude,

improper curriculum, no strategic planning and improper expenses.

1.2 Rationale to the research

As mentioned above, the situation has reached to its peak in the last two years. Teachers

are complaining about their low salary, straggling social life, lower medical allowances,

demolished ethical values, collisions with Government and uncertain pension schemes.

Despite of having an economy where unemployment rate is 6% and half of the population

lives under poverty, why Bangladeshi further education teachers are most likely to quit

their profession? (Chowdhury, 2002)

My research tries to find out a better management policy to improve the job satisfaction

level of teachers and teaching staffs in further education of the country. It tries to find out

the appropriate motivational factor in this particular social and geographical context. 2

years of trainee involvement and 3 years of direct management experience as a Director

of a local English medium school & college enables me to analyse and compare the

possible solutions which are very much related to education management, motivation, job

satisfaction, psychological contract and strategic decisions.

1.3 Relationship between education management and motivation

Common assumption regarding management and motivation suggests that there exists a

strong and visible relationship. But what does the management literature say in this

context? Are these two issues very closely related or they are only loosely knotted

paradigms? Is it possible to maintain a better management by only ensuring job

satisfaction level rather than implementing new parameters of motivation? (Point to be

noted that many critics have labeled job satisfaction and motivation as two entirely

different issues.) In other words, despite of having a superb job satisfaction (or even job

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dissatisfaction) is it really needed to motivate employees? What is the role of motivation

in the cases from day-to-day management to management of change? What is the role of

motivation in education management? However, before assessing the role of motivation

in verve of management, it would be helpful to know the proper definition of

management.

―Management has been defined by Mary Parker Follett as ‗the art of getting things done

through people‖ (Graham, 1998). ―The elements involved in the process of management

were identified by Henri Fayol as ‗to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to co-

ordinate and to control‖ (Gray 1988, cited in Rees and Porter, 2001). Rees and Porter

(2001) have taken the definition of management one step further by synthesizing Fayol‘s

view with later writers, and by developing a complete cycle of basic elements in

management.

Figure 1: The Managerial Cycle; Adopted from Rees and Porter (2001).

In figure 1, the sixth element in Rees and Porter‘s cycle has been described as motivation.

Motivation has become a part of any managerial activity e.g. management. In a fast

changing world, Rabey (2001) has described motivation as a tool to initiate and

implement new projects, which helps improving an organization‘s performance.

Management and motivation are interchangeably related (Kinman & Kinman, 2001). But,

what is the role of motivation in managing education sector? Fullan (1997) has stated that

successful innovation or improvements of schools and staff development are intimately

related. Successful implementation of innovation requires positive motivation towards the

intended change process (Reis and Peña, 2001). Freeman and Thomas (2005) have taken

this issue one step further when they argued and proved that the emergence of knowledge

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economy has caused education to be recognized as a commercial commodity. In any way,

the importance of motivation in education management in a sustained economy can never

be neglected (MacBeath and Mortimore, 2001).

1.4 Feasibility of the research

Managing education, like any other management field, contains issues such as job

satisfaction, motivation, leadership, salary, coordination, strategic planning, managing

people etc. Hopefully, much works have been done in these sectors. However, a very

little work has been produced in context to developing countries, especially in education

management. Konidari and Abernot (2006) align educational institutions with a service

organization model and examine the applicability of total service quality management to

education. Total quality management is an ongoing process, which requires to answer

what motivates teachers in educational institutions from time to time (Sirvanci, 2004). It

is important to know the motive because despite of having job satisfaction, teachers‘

performance vary. Similarly, despite of possessing a great deal of job dissatisfaction,

some teachers perform quite well than their other colleagues (Yariv & Coleman,

2005).This notion contradicts the common belief of people that job satisfaction is

positively associated with job performance. That is, workers who are more satisfied with

their jobs will perform at a higher level than those who are less satisfied. Although job

satisfaction and motivation are two entirely different issues, the notion highlights the

importance of knowing the appropriate motivator factor (i.e. motive) of teachers despite

of a staggering job dissatisfaction attitude (Chowdhury, 2002). The reason for such

differentiation in job performance can perhaps be explained with the help of

psychological contract at a later stage. Finding out the motive would eventually help to

decide an appropriate management strategy in context to Bangladesh. Identifying the

relevant motivational factors is part of any management process, through which a better

motivational and management policy can be theorized. Popular books on management

and the nature of organizational effectiveness appear to take a positive view of human

nature and support an approach which gives encouragement for people to work willingly,

i.e. motivation (Mullins, 1993).

1.5 Report Outline

The research/report is divided upon five main parts, each of which is equally important.

The first part of the research/report goes through an overall review of the existing

literature regarding motivation. In the later stage of this part, the overviewed motivational

theories are integrated with the context of Bangladeshi further education sector; what can

be done to improve teachers‘ motivational level; and what should be focused upon. The

second part of the research, the methodology section describes how these derived

research objectives can be fulfilled. The third part of this report (e.g. findings) only

describes the research i.e. first hand information obtained through the chosen methods.

The fourth part of the research is to analyze and interpret the information, and the fifth

part of the research is to draw conclusion and suggest the new strategies, which are most

likely to contribute in increasing Bangladeshi further education teachers‘ motivational

level.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review

[This chapter provides a detailed overview of existing literature regarding management

and motivation. However, the objective of this chapter is to link the intended research

with the existing management literature and having an insight of education management,

thus preparing for the ground for research in Bangladesh‘s context. End of this literature

review, a number of research questions would emerge from the synthesis and analysis of

topics. These research questions would then be expanded upon, linked and weighted in

order to set up a realistic strategy for undertaking the research.]

2. Conceptual framework of motivation

―Human psychological characteristics may be grouped into three major categories. First,

there are ability factors such as intelligence, and various aspects of skills and knowledge.

Secondly, temperamental factors such as disposition (e.g. extravert, introvert) play an

important role determining behaviour. Thirdly and in the context of this report, most

important are motivational factors‖. (Robertson and Smith, 1985) Many critics have

treated motivation as part of learning, or development, or personality, or animal drives.

According to McClelland and Steele (1973), human motivation is a subject eminently

worth study in its own right. Throughout the centuries many researchers have tried to

draw a clear distinction between management and motivation. And sometimes many have

tried to integrate theses two issues together. Thus the most widely studied issue in

management paradigm contains the debate of motivation versus job performance in the

name of better management seeking exploration. The debate exists because practical

examples show that some workers are motivated but are poor performers. In contrast,

there are employees who are not motivated but are excellent performers. Job satisfaction

and motivation is not strongly related to job performance because not many people

possess skill, problem solving capability, attention to details and willingness to learn

which are some of the most important characteristics for a good worker (Gibson et al

1997, and Varca 2004). Valsecchi (2003) describes such group of people as undermined

workforce. Most recently an independent consulting firm in the USA carried out a survey

of employees‘ attitudes. While most workers were generally satisfied with their pay and

benefits, less than half thought that their boss was not doing a good job of motivating

them (Celep and Cetin, 2005). This situation is very much frustrating from a manager‘s

perspective. From the managerial perspective, those who are good workers should be

motivated in order to ensure a steady and increased productivity (Valsecchi, 2003). Thus

Valsecchi suggests that although motivation and performance is not interchangeably

related, motivating workforce will at least build a chance for never running short of

skilled manpower.

The biggest criticism of Gibson et al (1997) and Varca‘s (2004) theory is: they are

applicable only for a perfect working world where workers are already expected and

assumed to be motivated. In a real world if a worker is not motivated, productivity is

most likely to suffer (Rao, 2006). Gibson et al (1997) have described it as a very weak

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positive relationship. That is, workers who are more satisfied with their jobs will perform

at a higher level than those who are less satisfied. Gibson (1997) concludes his research

by saying that in order for job satisfaction to influence behavior, the attitude must be

relevant to the behavior in question (i.e. job performance). Based on this last comment,

some of the researchers have even aligned motivation with a superb job condition. It is

frustrating if the employees fail to deliver the expected outcome despite of a superb job

condition. Lewin (1980, cited in Gibson et al 1997) is the most influential researcher

relating performance level and behavioral factors which result from job condition. Lewin

argues that employees‘ behavior lead to outcomes and employees‘ behavior is a function

of individual and environmental variables. These individual and environmental variables

can be wonderfully justified by several schools of motivational theories.

Motivation theories can be divided into three main categories namely-

instrumental/behaviorist, content theory and process/cognitive theory. The

instrumentality theory state that people are motivated by money. In other words, people

will be motivated to work if rewards and punishments are directly related to their

performance. The theory emerged from Taylor‘s (1911) research about two most

important human psychological behavior- reward factor and fear factor. Behavioral

psychologists such as Skinner (1974) later described external factors (such as money and

punishment) are the only way to influence employees‘ motivational level.

Content theory is concerned with the specific needs of people. Maslow‘s (1954) theory

and to some extent Herzberg‘s (1957) two factor theory are concerned with the contents

(i.e. specific needs) of the individual employee. Hence, these two theories are referred as

content theories.

Process or cognitive theory examines the psychological processes involved in motivation.

This alternative and contemporary approach deals with psychological ‗processes‘ such as

expectancy, goal and equity. Vroom‘s expectancy model (1964, later developed by Porter

and Lawler, 1968), Latham and Locke‘s (1979) goal theory and Adams (1965) equity

theory are the examples of process/cognitive theory. At this point it would be important

to learn about these conceptual theories, and later try to integrate the research with the

most suitable one(s).

2.1 Maslow’s Need Hierarchy

Abraham Maslow undertook the first comprehensive attempt to classify needs comparing

to behavioral factors in 1940s. Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs extensively deals with

motivation. It states of five specific needs possessed by any individual employee,

namely- survival, safety, socialization, prestige, and self actualization. According to him,

a person fulfilling the first need will eventually start looking to fulfill the next level in the

hierarchy (Reece & Brandt, 1996). For example, a person who is getting paid well-

enough and regularly (satisfying his survival and safety needs in the hierarchy) will soon

start looking for opportunities to socialize with others in the work place.

―The theory is perhaps most useful as a reminder of the full range of motivational forces

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in people. It may, for example have relevance in developing a workforce in developing

countries.‖ (Cook and Hunsaker, 2001)

2.2 Herzberg’s Two-factor model

―Herzberg and his colleagues (1957) developed the two factor model of motivation

following an investigation into the sources of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among

accountants and engineers. It is sometimes called the motivation-hygiene theory. The

basic research and various studies which replicated the method led to the conclusion that

the factors giving rise to job satisfaction (and motivation) are distinct from the factors

that lead to job dissatisfaction.‖(Armstrong, 2002) ―Herzberg blended these two premises

into a dual-factor explanation of motivation. Dual factor theory refers to two different

types of needs: (1) hygiene factors, which involve working conditions and can trigger

dissatisfaction if inadequate, and (2) motivator factors, which originate from the nature of

the job itself and can create job satisfaction.‖ (Cook and Hunsaker, 2001) ―Two groups of

factors affect job satisfaction: (1) those intrinsic to the job – the intrinsic motivators or

satisfiers- such as achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and growth;

(2) those extrinsic to the job- the extrinsic motivators or hygiene factors.‖ (Armstrong,

2002) For an example: increase of salary produces only short-term satisfaction while the

work itself can provide longer-time (intrinsic) motivation.

―Hygiene factors are those basic factors surrounding the job, namely- job security,

working conditions, quality of supervision, interpersonal relationships, and adequacy of

pay and fringe benefits. Lacking of these hygiene factors can cause dissatisfaction.

Hygiene factors do not produce job satisfaction. If adequate, they simply produce neutral

feelings with the realization that basic maintenance needs are taken care of.‖ (Cook and

Hunsaker, 2001)

According to Herzberg, motivator factors are namely- job challenge, responsibility,

opportunity for achievement or advancement, and recognition. These motivator factors

provide feeling of job satisfaction. These factors are associated with job content and are

intrinsic, or unique to each individual in his or her own way. The most mentionable part

of Herzberg‘s research is- it states that job satisfaction and job-dissatisfaction derive from

different sources ―and simply removing the sources of dissatisfaction will not cause a

person to be motivated to produce better results‖. (Cook and Hunsaker, 2001)

2.3 Vroom/Lawler and Porter’s Expectancy model

―The concept of expectancy was originally contained in the Valency-Instrumentality-

Expectancy (VIE) theory formulated by Vroom (1964).Valency stands for value,

instrumentality is the belief that if we do one thing it will lead to another and expectancy

is the probability that action or effort will lead to an outcome. The strengths of

expectations may be based on past experience, but individuals are frequently presented

with new situations- a change of job, payment system or working conditions imposed by

management- where past experience is an inadequate guide to the implications of the

change. In these circumstances, motivation may be reduced.‖ (Armstrong, 2002)

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―The expectancy model explains why extrinsic financial motivation- for example an

incentive or bonus scheme works only if the link between effort and reward is clear and

the value of the reward is worth the effort. It also explains why intrinsic motivation

arising from the work itself can be more powerful than extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic

motivation outcomes are more under the control of individuals, who can judge from past

experience the extent to which advantageous results are likely to be obtained by their

behavior.‖ (Armstrong, 2002)

―The theory was further developed by Porter and Lawler (1968) into a model which

follows Vroom‘s ideas by suggesting that there are two factors that determine the effort

people put into their job- a) the value of the reward to individuals in so far as it satisfies

their need for security, social esteem, autonomy and self actualization; b) the probability

that reward depends on effort, as perceived by individuals- in other words, their

expectations of the relationship between effort and reward. Thus the greater the value of a

set of rewards, and the higher the probability that receiving each of these rewards

depends upon effort, the greater the effort that will be made in a given situation.‖

(Armstrong, 2002)

2.4 Equity theory

Another process theory- equity theory as described by Adams (1965, cited in Armstrong

2002) states that people will be better motivated if they are treated equitably and de-

motivated if they are treated inequitably. ―It is concerned with people‘s perceptions of

how they are being treated in relation to others. To be dealt with equitably is to be treated

fairly in comparison with another group of people (a reference group) or a relevant other

person. Equity involves feelings and perceptions, and it is always a comparative process.

It is not synonymous with equality, which means treating everyone alike. That would be

inequitable if they deserved to be treated differently.‖ (Armstrong, 2002)

―Equity theory focuses on people‘s feeling of how fairly they have been treated in

comparison with the treatment received by others. It is based on exchange theory. Social

relationships involve an exchange process. For example, a person may expect promotion

as an outcome of a high level of contribution (input) in helping to achieve an important

organisational objective. People also compare their own position with that of others.

Feeling about the equity of exchange is affected by the treatment they receive when

compared with what happens to other people.‖ (Mullins, 1993)

―When there is an unequal comparison of ratios the person experiences a sense of

inequity. A feeling of inequity causes tension, which is an unpleasant experience. For

example, Adams (1965) suggests that workers prefer equitable pay to overpayment.

Workers on piece-rate incentive payment schemes who feel they are overpaid will reduce

their level of productivity in order to restore equity. The presence of inequity therefore

motivates the person to remove or to reduce the level of tension and the perceived

inequity. The level of tension created determines the strength of motivation.‖ (Mullins,

1993)

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2.5 Goal theory

―Goal theory is developed by Latham and Locke (1979) states that motivation and

performance are higher when individuals are set specific goals, when the goals are

difficult but accepted, and when there is feedback on performance. Participation in goal

setting is important as a means of securing agreement to the setting of higher goal.

Difficult goals must be agreed, and achieving them must be helped by guidance and

advice. Finally feedback is vital in maintaining motivation, particularly towards the

achievement of even higher goals.‖ (Armsrtong, 2002)

―The basic premise of goal theory is that people‘s goals or intensions play an important

part in determining behavior. Locke accepts the importance of perceived value, as

indicated in expectancy theories of motivation, and suggests that these values give rise to

the experience of emotions and desires. People strive to achieve goals in order to satisfy

their emotions and desires. Goals guide people‘s responses and actions. Goals direct work

behavior and performance, and lead to certain consequences of feedback.‖ (Mullins,

1993)

―Much of the theory of goal setting can be related to the system of Management by

Objectives (MBO). MBO is often viewed as an application of goal setting. Goal theory

has a number of practical implications for the managers:

Specific performance goal should systematically be identified and set in order

to direct behavior and maintain motivation.

Goals should be set at a challenging but realistic level. Difficult goal leads to

higher performance. However, if goals are set at too high a level, or are

regarded as impossible to achieve, performance will suffer, especially over a

longer period.

Complete, accurate and timely feedback and knowledge of results is usually

associated with high performance. Feedback provides a means of checking

progress on goal attainment and forms the basis for any revision of goals.

Goals can be determined either by a superior, or by individuals themselves.

Goals set by other people are more likely to be accepted when there is

participation. Employee participation in the settings of goals may lead to

higher performance.‖ (Mullins, 1993)

3. A realistic framework towards motivation: the context of

Bangladesh

Although all of the above mentioned theories are more than enough to provide a good

theoretical framework for motivation, many critics believe that knowledge of motivation

has not advanced beyond Herzberg and his generation. This topic tries to integrate

Maslow and Herzberg‘s theories with the real scenario of Bangladeshi further education

sector. However, as Guest and Conway (1997) have pointed out that Maslow‘s and

Herzberg‘s theories are not applicable in some specific contexts, a combination of both

old and new theories is needed to keep the research up-to-date. In this context the

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relatively newer process theories should be used. Process theories are easily applicable

with the assortments of psychological contract, which is one of the biggest concerns of

management dealing with teachers. Teachers are often described as emotional labourer

(Constanti and Gibbs, 2004), possessing a complex notion of psychological obligations.

Unlike Maslow‘s and Herzberg‘s theories (which were researched upon factory workers

and later one on medical staffs) process theories deal with expectations, equity and

objectives (e.g. goals), which will be very helpful in this research context.

3.1 Content theories and motivation

In context to education sector, Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs can be described as below

(Emerson and Goddard, 1993):

Survival

Safety

Socialization

Prestige

Self –actualization

E.g. financial security. A guaranteed minimum salary to satisfy

basic needs.

A safe environment. Free from dangers, discrimination and politics.

Opportunities for socialization. Employee and employer contracts.

Recognition of individual achievement. Appraisal.

Career development and promotions.

In order to determine a specific management strategy, it is important that we first find out

in what level of the hierarchy most of the Bangladeshi further education teachers fit-in in

the year 2006? The needs factor was assumed very low by Chowdhury (2002), who

demonstrated and proved in his research by showing that most of the teachers in

Bangladeshi education sector think that the working condition is no better than any

highly paid navvy‘s. According to Chowdhury, the needs factor certainly resided in the

level of survival. At this point we derive our first research question: “In what level of

Maslow’s hierarchy the Bangladeshi further education teachers fit-in?”

By exploring the above mentioned research question, we are likely to find out the specific

issues influencing teachers‘ motivational factor in respect to Bangladesh. The hierarchy

deals with specific issues regarding employees‘ (in our case teachers‘) needs namely:

a) The first level in Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs (i.e. the survival need) can be

described as payment/financial security.

b) The second level in the hierarchy of needs (e.g. safety) can be described as job

security.

c) The third level in the hierarchy (i.e. socialization) can be described as mutual

relationship between the employees (e.g. colleagues) or with the employer.

d) The fourth level of Maslow‘s hierarchy of needs (i.e. prestige) can be described as

recognition and appraisal.

e) The last level (i.e. self actualization) can be described as career development and

promotions.

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Herzberg‘s theory can be applied in our research using two different viewpoints. Firstly,

it will be helpful to know both the reasons for job satisfaction and dissatisfaction as they

are distinct and different from each other (Herzberg, 1957 cited in Cook and Hunsaker,

2001). ―Management deals with not only motivating employees, but also with their

satisfaction, expectation, continuity and stability‖ (Reis and Peña, 2001). Hence, knowing

the reasons for both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction of the Bangladeshi college

teachers will help us to identify and integrate a better education management policy in the

long run.

Similarly, some critics may argue that because the aim of our research is to identify and

recommend appropriate strategies for motivation, we should concentrate on the reasons

for job satisfaction rather than dissatisfaction. Point to be noted that many researchers

have labeled motivation and job satisfaction as two entirely different issues. Whereas

some people are satisfied with their present job, they probably are not that motivated to

improve or implement new job conditions. In contrast people, who are dissatisfied with

present job condition, can be motivated in a better way to improve existing job situation

(goal theory). Herzberg‘s reasons for job satisfaction are known as the motivator factors

(Armstrong, 2002); and simply removing the sources of dissatisfaction will not cause a

person to be motivated to produce better results (Cook and Hunsaker, 2001) In other

words, if we only find out the reason for job satisfaction, we are most likely to motivate

our employees more easily. Motivator factor needs to be satisfied in order to achieve

motivation objective to its fullest extent. Hence, by finding out which one is the most

influential motivating factor, we are most likely to fix-up a short-term strategy for

motivating Bangladeshi college teachers in an urgent basis.

At this point, we can clearly derive our second research question, adopting any one of the

two above mentioned viewpoints. In both the cases we are supposed to find out the

appropriate reason of motivation (e.g. motivator factor), which will help us in deciding an

effective motivational strategy. Hence, our second research question is: “According to

Herzberg’s Dual Factor theory, what is the most influential motivator factor for

Bangladeshi further education teachers?‖

Based on the above mentioned research questions, the followings are the research

topics/issues we need to address throughout our research:

3.1.1 Money/payment and motivation

Doubts have been cast on the effectiveness of money as a motivator by Herzberg

(1957) and his fellow researchers. They claimed that while the lack of it may

cause dissatisfaction, money does not result in lasting satisfaction. There is

something in this, especially for people on fixed salaries or rates of pay who do

not benefit directly from an incentive scheme. They may feel good when they get

an increase because apart from the extra money it is a highly effective way of

making people feel they are valued. But the feeling of euphoria can rapidly die

away. However, it must be reemphasised that different people have different

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needs, and Herzberg‘s two factor theory has not been validated. Some will be

much more motivated by money than others. What can not be assumed that

money motivates everyone in the same way and to the same extent.‖ (Armstrong,

2002)

Adequacy of pay and fringe benefits has been described as one of the hygiene

factors in Herzberg‘s two factor theory. According to Herzberg (1957), hygiene

factors cause job dissatisfaction and job dissatisfaction is not related with

motivator factors. On the contrary, job satisfaction is strongly related with

motivation (please note job satisfaction dose not mean having no dissatisfaction;

according to Herzberg job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are two different

features). Hence, many academics argue that since payment is a reason for

creating job satisfaction, it can not be used as a motivation tool. At this point it

would be interesting to know to what extent the Bangladeshi further education

teachers consider payment as a motivator factor.

The motivation for money is an extrinsic motivation. Although in our later

chapters we will try to analyse whether teachers prefer extrinsic or intrinsic

reward schemes, for the time being we are assuming payment is an important

motivator. People work for money and through that money they earn living

(Taylor, 1911). This very basic working notion of human psychology can turn out

to be positively true in the cases of third world countries- like Bangladesh

(Chowdhury, 2002). Many teachers in Bangladesh (especially the secondary and

further education teachers) complain that the payment they receive from

government is very inadequate and a big turn-off (The Observer, 29.5.2005).

Teachers from the private schools complain about the fewer benefits they receive

comparing to their public school counterparts. Even in the private schools,

teachers complain about their salary and do not feel motivated to receive

additional duties. In this context many critics have argued that raising the salary to

a satisfactory level is the only way to motivate teachers. To support their point,

these critics refer the mass private tuition culture which exists in Bangladesh.

Most Bangladeshi teachers (regardless of public or private school) provide

informal tuition hours to selective students in exchange of extra money. Despite

of paying school fees, the parents are ‗forced‘ to pay private tuition fees to

respective subject teachers in order to ensure ‗quality‘ education for their

children. As a result, teachers pay more attention to their private students at home;

and the quality of the class room education suffers the most. Although the

government has condemned teachers to a great extent, a little has been done to

improve the salary structure (The Observer, 29.5.2005).

Hence, it is important to know whether the need level of the Bangladeshi further

education teacher relies in the first level of Maslow‘s hierarchy (e.g. payment and

financial security). If so, the strategy to motivate teachers should be designed

accordingly. Eliminating the causes of dissatisfaction will be a vital step in our

process of making a subsequent motivational strategy later on.

18

3.1.2 Job security

Job security in this regard contains the issue of employee and employer contracts.

―Contracts in employment are of two kinds: formal, written economic contract

and the equally important, informal and unwritten psychological contract- how

people think they should be treated. Both involve rights, obligations and

expectations on the part of the employer and the employee, and a breach in one

can have important effects on the other. For example how people feel they are

being treated by the organization can affect their perception of their levels of

pay‖. (Makin et al, 1996)

Our discussion in this regard first goes towards formal contract. An agreement

between the management and the employee must exist in which the designated

salary and the type of payment should be clearly listed (Smithson and Lewis,

2000). However, as teaching profession consists of intellectual provisos and lot of

other psychological or social norms, the impact of salary is very complicated here.

Dickinson (2006) investigates whether the perceptions of fair pay are generally

characterized by social norms? His research found the answer positive and he

determined the three most popular norms- responsibility, qualifications and

performance. Further researches are needed to justify this notion in Bangladesh‘s

context. Taylor used to believe that for some people, money is the only

motivation for doing things right (famously known as the Taylor‘s theory of

motivation). So at this point we should try to find out to what extent salary

motivates further education teachers in Bangladesh.

Psychological contract, on the other hand is a complex notion. ―A psychological

contract is a system of beliefs which encompasses the actions employees believe

are expected of them and what response they expect in return from their

employer‖. It is concerned with assumptions, exceptions, promises and mutual

obligations. It creates attitudes and emotions which form and given behaviour. A

psychological contract is implicit. It is also dynamic- it develops over time as

experience accumulates, employment conditions change and employees re-

evaluate their expectations‖. (Armstrong, 2002) ―The psychological contract may

provide some indication of the answers to the two fundamental employment

relationship questions which individuals pose: what can I reasonably expect from

the organisation? And what should I be reasonably expected to contribute in

return? But it is difficult, often impossible, to ensure that the psychological

contract and therefore the employment relationship will be fully understood by

either party.‖ (Guest and Conway, 1997)

Teaching profession in Bangladesh suffers from severe job insecurity- not only in

terms of formal contracts, but also in terms of psychological obligations. In

government colleges, teachers are often transferred from one county to another

one. City areas are the most desirable posting places and many teaching staffs try

to convince the posting authority by unfair means (The Observer, 29.5.2005).

This notion threatens the job stability of other honest and legitimate teaching

19

staffs. In addition to this, private institutions lay off jobs whenever the institution

suffers from low student admissions. Although in government colleges‘

redundancy is not a big issue, the surplus redundant teachers from private sector

imply a surplus number of job applications in government colleges. 43% of the

total further education institutions are semi-government or private (Bangladesh

Statistical Bureau Handbook, 1998), cumulating almost up to twelve thousand

further education teachers.

As Armstrong (2002) has pointed out, the content of psychological contract is

dynamic; it tends to be more flexible in the cases of private sector colleges.

Teachers of government colleges perform specific duties and generally are not

expected to do extra hours or out-of-the-contract services for the welfare of the

school. In contrary, authorities in the private sector schools expect teachers to get

more ‗involved‘ and ‗engaged‘ into day-to-day activities. In many private schools,

class teachers are bound to prepare the daily book-keeping of expenses, whereas

in government colleges staffs from the accounting department perform such

duties. These frequent changes in formal (and informal) job contract create

problems in the management and teachers relationship, thus making the job more

insecure for the teachers.

―Employees may except to be treated fairly as human beings, to be provided with

work which uses their abilities, to be rewarded equitably in accordance with their

contribution, to be able to display competence, to have opportunities for further

growth, to know what is expected of them, and to be given feedback (preferably

positive) on how they are doing. Employers may expect employees to do their

best on behalf of the organisation- to put themselves out for the company- to be

fully committed to its values, to be compliant and loyal, and to enhance the image

of the organisation with its customers and suppliers. Sometimes these

expectations are fulfilled, often they are not. Mutual misunderstanding can cause

friction and stress and lead to recriminations and poor performance, or to a

termination of the employment relationship.‖ (Armstrong, 2002)

In this context, we intend to find out which segment of the Bangladeshi further

education teachers contains highest job insecurity point (i.e. private sector

teachers or government employed teachers)? What is the probable cause for this

job insecurity (i.e. informal reason or formal reason) and how it de-motivates (or

motivates) teachers?

3.1.3 Mutual relationship between the employees (e.g. colleagues) or with the

employer

Recently the most mentionable work on psychological contract has been

performed by Pate et al (2003). In their research paper the writers have argued

that employees‘ behavior and attitude are deeply influenced by the fact that

psychological contracts are often breached in recent years. The research has

highlighted two contextual issues- perceptions of job insecurity and a sense of

20

collegiality. Collegiality has been defined as the relationship between colleagues.

Collegiality is important because it helps employees to face difficult situation

(Pate et al, 2003). Even in difficult times, the authority can undoubtedly support

its employees in order to maintain the sense of collegiality. Many teachers in the

further education sector in Bangladesh complain that they are not properly ‗taken

care‘ of when difficult situation arises. However, many principals feel that they

can do whatever possible for them without breaching any part of the law; even if

it means treating the accused teacher neutrally. Although this type of notion

breaks psychological contract between the management and the employees; in

time of crisis this is perceived as the best way to handle situations. (Saunders and

Thornhill, 2003) However, this policy is a big turn-off for many motivated

teachers as it leads to a feeling of job in security. In this context we should try to

know whether the colleagues and the authority support the teacher(s) in difficult

situations.

One of the most important factors for a positive collegiality can be described as

‗asking‘. ―Asking involves seeking information about the job from those who are

doing well. Perhaps the simplest technique involves asking the job incumbents,

either individually or in groups, about the characteristics of the job. Other possible

sources are the supervisor and the trainer (both of whom may well have done the

job in the past). The sources of this information need not only be oral. Written

material such as training manuals, previous job descriptions and operations and

service manuals may also provide useful information.‖ (Makin et al, 1996)

Successful assessment of staff-needs is a partial functionality of such effective

communication process and can be carried-out through various means, either in

person or with the help of technology (Vokala and Bouradas, 2005). Apart from

ensuring the scopes for asking, the communication process requires the authority

to ‗listen‘. ―Listening is a more aristocratic management paradigm than trying to

influence people through dictation‖ (Glynn et al, 2003). Like many other

developing countries, Bangladesh virtually possesses lack of understanding

between the management and the staff in every service sector organization (Belal,

2001). The country‘s teaching sector is not out of this phenomenon as well.

Hence, from the above discussion we can clearly find out the single most

important obligation of psychological contract- communication.

Papalexandris and Chalikias (2002) demonstrate that in recent years organizations

have experienced more development in training and performance management but

less in employee communication. As Biggs and Swailes (2006) argue, an effective

employer-staff communication significantly improves the organizational

commitment from both sides. Such communication process can even improve the

concept of psychological contract in an organization (Thomson, 2002) .Tzafrir et

al (2004) also agree with this concept and further defines good relationship as a

motivational factor. Hence, we need to understand to what extent the relationship

between the employee and the management is a motivational factor for teachers

working in Bangladesh.

21

In further explaining our above mentioned query, we can seek help from the last E

factor of Handy‘s motivational calculus (Handy 1985, cited in Harrison, 2000).

The E factors discusses how far do individuals see it as worthwhile to expand

effort, energy, excitement and expertise in the task, given the results that are

required, the rewards it appears to offer them, and the workloads they already

carry? This point again highlights the importance of building strategic decisions

with relations to teachers‘ motivational factors. Kettunen (2005) relates the

articulation, implementation and measurement of strategy with educational sector

and shows it as a matter of bridge building between the perceived present

situation and the desired future situation. Dinham and Scott (2000) argue that

teachers, schools and others, with an interest in education, need to forge

partnerships and actively participate in educational discourse with member of

other outer domains. As a developing country Bangladesh has many things to deal

with and education sector, apart from having poor salary structure possesses

political vengeance, anti-social attitude, improper curriculum, no strategic

planning and improper expenses. Often developing countries suffer from arbitrary

leadership, particularly in education sector (Winston and Quinn, 2005).

Bangladesh is not out of this dilemma too. Should we turn the decision making

capability towards the public sector, or should government be the sole decider of

our education policy? Therefore the above mentioned research question should

also try to explore to what extent teachers‘ engagement in the decision making

process influences their motivation and job satisfaction?

3.1.4 Recognition and appraisal

One of the four factors of Handy‘s motivational calculus (Handy 1985, cited in

Harrison, 2000) is reward. The reward factor questions whether the task or job

offers valued reward to the individual or not? Therefore, the reward factor is very

much related to the issues of recognition and evaluation. Performance appraisal

and teacher evaluation systems in schools have been subject to criticism in many

countries because they have not met perceived requirements of educators and/or

the state (Timperley, 1998). Some incompetent teachers remain unidentified

whereas in some cases competent teachers do not receive the appraisals they

deserve. In many schools the performance evaluation and appraisal standards are

set by the respective principals, mostly based on two evaluation criteria- class

room performance assessed by colleagues and parents, and statistical depiction of

failure rate or pass success (Simmons, 2002). But to what extent the recognition

or the performance appraisal influences teachers‘ motivational level? According

to Koskinen (2003), rewards and recognition are essential to an individual to the

promotion of as his or her commitment. In order to understand this, we first need

to understand the two aspects of rewarding from Vroom‘s expectancy model-

intrinsic rewards and extrinsic rewards. ―The intrinsic rewards contain

psychological issues such as self-respect, sense of achievement, self-actualization.

Extrinsic rewards contain issues like pay, benefits, promotion, praise and

friendship.‖ Koskinen (2003) In order to align a specific motivational strategy, we

need to know whether Bangladeshi further education teachers are seeking for

22

intrinsic reward or extrinsic reward. Through our intended survey, we hope to

fulfill this objective.

The demonstration of recognition and appraisal (e.g. reward) can be performed by

various means. Apart from increasing the salary, holidays and formal reward

ceremonies can also be arranged as motivational boost-ups. ‗Employee of the

year‘ e.g. ‗teacher of the year‘ schemes can be introduced in rural schools where

government funding is less adequate. However, the type of appraisal system can

only be selected at the point when we know what kind of reward schemes

Bangladeshi teachers are soughing for- intrinsic or extrinsic. According to

Zembylas and Papanastasiou (2004), teachers‘ motivation is clearly related to

levels of intrinsic empowerment. If this notion is true for Bangladesh, then

increasing the salary sounds to be a good motivator factor. But on what basis the

salary should rise? Should it follow the schemes of Instant Performance Related

Pay (IPRP)? Or, should the increase of salary be synchronal depending on the

length of service years and experience? Both these two salary schemes possess

certain advantages and disadvantages. The synchronal salary increase is a not a

god motivation because it does not emphasize on performance or merit. Instead, it

relies on experience and time, which can be achieved normally. Brown (2000)

emphasizes on IPRP based payment system and argues that it can significantly

increase an organization‘s effectiveness. Conversely Prucell (2000) believes that

IPRP plays no significant role in improving an organization‘s effectiveness at all.

Instead, it creates an unhealthy practice among colleagues and seriously damages

mutual trust. This second notion seems much more factual in Bangladesh‘s

context as teachers generally consider other factors such as social status, political

position, recognition and respect as part of the job satisfaction process. In this

context, we intend to know to what extent the pattern of recognition or the

performance appraisal system influences teachers‘ motivational level in

Bangladesh.

3.1.5 Career development and promotion

Osei (1996) expresses the needs for effective staff development in educational

institutions and libraries as this increases performance and job effectiveness, and

the climate of interpersonal relations in an organization. However, in the present

context, we are not only speaking of support staffs, but also the teachers, lecturers

and any other post related to direct classroom interaction. The notion is

undoubtedly true for any organizational staff as well as school teachers, regardless

of psychological, economical or geographical context. As Andaleeb (1998) states,

one of the critical issues that needs to be addressed in Bangladesh is establishing

teacher quality benchmarks and ensuring a quality assurance program, through

which hopefully the nation will be able to achieve proficient teachers in near

future. However, the research also expresses the fact that many teachers believe

there is no need of personnel training programs, but agree that the syllabuses

should be modified especially in Bengali and Arabic medium level. Hence we

need to know to what level and extent a need for staff development training

23

influences teachers‘ motivational factor in Bangladesh?

3.1.6 Hygiene factors

Being a part of the content theory category, the Herzberg‘s hygiene factors (i.e.

reasons for job dissatisfaction) are almost similar to the notions of Maslow‘s

hierarchy of needs. Herzberg‘s dissatisfaction issues, namely adequacy of pay &

benefits, job security, interpersonal relations, quality of supervision; and working

conditions have been adequately explained and discussed in context to

Bangladesh under the titles Money/payment and motivation (topic no 3.1.1), Job

security (topic no 3.1.2), Mutual relationship between the employees and with the

employer (topic no 3.1.3), Recognition and appraisal (topic no 3.1.4), and Career

development and promotion (topic no 3.1.5).

3.1.7 Motivator factors

Herzberg‘s motivator factors include issues such as job challenge, responsibility,

opportunity for achievement or advancement, and recognition. We have already

discussed the reward factor in topic 3.1.4. The rest three issues we are going to

analyse in context to Bangladesh.

Job challenge consist two significant issues in today‘s fast changing world- a)

interference from external and(or) internal forces, and b) dealing with new

changes. Interference is directly related with intrinsic factors of motivation.

―Intrinsic Motivation Principle of Creativity states that people will be most

creative when they feel motivated primarily by the interest, satisfaction, and

challenge of the work itself- and not by external pressures‖. (Cook and Hunsaker,

2001) This notion is very unrealistic in context to Bangladesh as interference

happens from both in and outside the organisation. Employees are affected by

such interference as well. Chowdhury (2002) has described political vengeance as

one of the most influential features in Bangladeshi education sector. Further

education teachers in Government colleges are often targeted by the student

associations which are openly linked with political parties. Theses political parties

target further education colleges as a ground for member recruitment. Teachers in

this case are often asked to help in recruiting young students. Some refuses, some

do not. Teachers who refuse to aid particular political parties later face trouble

created by the student leaders (The Daily Prothom-alo, 16.02.2004). According to

Chowdhury (2002), refusal to help student unions not only result in slower

promotion, frequent transfers, and uncooperative attitude from the authority, but

also psychical assaults in some cases.

The uncooperative attitude from the authority can be described as violation of

psychological contract from the management‘s side. The organizational

obligations such as discretion, consultancy and recognition, which teachers expect

to receive from the management, are often violated or neglected. Herriot et al

24

(1997) have performed detailed research in this context, which we have discussed

in topic 3.2.1.

Another significant feature of job challenge can be described as management of

change. A better education management requires constructive, e.g. positive

handling of change situations, which motivates employees to cope up with future

change processes. In today‘s increasingly uncertain, competitive and fast moving

world, organizations must rely more and more on individuals to come up with

new ideas, to develop creative responses and push for changes before

opportunities disappear (Kanter, 1992). However, like many other organizations,

some school teachers can also find it very difficult to adopt changes. These

changes include the changes in ethics, the changes in management policy and the

changes in student-teacher relationship. As Schuler (2001) argues, the extent to

which individuals are likely to be resistant, indifferent or supportive towards

change depends on the degree to which they perceive the change will affect them

personally and their way of working. Since such changes concern teachers‘ job

performance, we should try to determine to what extent the changes in education

sector influence teachers‘ job performance in Bangladesh.

Responsibility in Herzberg‘s theorem has been defined as ‗job enrichment‘ by

Cook and Hunsaker (2001). In early 70‘s, the floor workers in Ford‘s one of the

biggest production plant in Kentucky were given the power to organise, distribute

and allocate the resources by their own initiatives instead of relying on factory

managers. A similar notion has been observed in recent years in the name of

Strategy 2000 which Ford undertook as a process to decentralize the decision

making capability. Although the process of developing strategy on most cases is

centralized, the Ford‘s ‗Strategy 2000‘ prompted all senior managers and later all

employees to contribute in decision making. (Hales, 2001) Both the researches

showed an improved level of job satisfaction and increase in productivity by the

workers. Although enriching the duties of the workers increased the level of

responsibility, it had also increased their level of motivator factor. Johnson and

Scollay (2001) state that psychologists and teachers usually possess a greater level

of expert and reference power need. However, getting involved in policy making

process often results being a victim of unhealthy political and social situation in

Bangladesh. The core activity of a teacher often gets hampered because he/she

needs to deal with office politics, budgeting, benefits and other extra activities

which are not directly related to teacher‘s job definition (Oshagbemi, 1997).

Hence, at this point it would be interesting to know what positive (or negative)

impact the management is most likely to incur if teachers are given much wider

authority and controlling over the policy making decisions in schools.

The opportunity for achievement and advancement is relatively low for female

teachers in Bangladeshi further education sector who account 12% of the total

teaching staff population. (Bangladesh Statistical Bureau Handbook, 1998)

Recent statistics show that gender issue plays a vital role in recruitment or

selection process in developing nations (Tanova and Nadiri, 2005) and

25

Bangladesh is not out of this influence too. In addition to this, men are usually

believed to bear the responsibility of the whole family and many women in

Bangladesh rely on men even for their basic needs such as food, shelter and

education. Siddique (1998) points out the fact that even in private sectors,

Bangladeshi women are receiving lower salary than men due to the socio-

economic and religious beliefs. Even in some cases, female teachers do not get

assistance from their male colleagues and (or) are neglected from daily activities.

Hence, it is easily questionable whether the male and female teachers are equally

motivated in Bangladeshi further education sector or not. The government,

however, tries to ensure equal rights and opportunities for everyone regardless of

gender by enforcing laws. But it is not difficult to assume that in reality the

practice is different (Siddique, 1998). The increase of salary is subjected to

promotion and often promotions are not offered to female teachers in secondary

education as most of school authorities in rural area believe men are much

stronger and are able to offer greater service (Hossain and Tisdell, 2005). Hence,

it is important to measure the extent of gender issue influencing the motivational

level of teachers working in Bangladesh.

3.2 Process theories

Process or cognitive theory examines the psychological processes involved in motivation.

This alternative and contemporary approach deals with psychological ‗processes‘ such as

expectancy, goal and equity. Vroom‘s expectancy model (1964, later developed by Porter

and Lawler, 1968), Latham and Locke‘s (1979) goal theory and Adams (1965) equity

theory are the examples of process/cognitive theory. Before integrating expectancy, goal

and equity in Bangladeshi further education sector, it will be worthwhile considering the

definition of psychological contract and its impact on Bangladeshi further education

teachers.

3.2.1 Psychological Contract in Bangladeshi further education sector

Process theories are very important in context to teaching because teachers are

often considered as a specimen of emotional labourer, e.g. employees who use

intellectual means to ensure their living (Constanti and Gibbs, 2004). At this point

we can recall the issues of psychological contract. Cook and Hunsaker (2001)

have established a clear relationship between motivation and psychological

contract. According to Constanti and Gibbs (2004), the employee‘s behavior

requires ―emotional labor‖ where the front-line employee (in this case, teachers)

has to either conceal or manage actual feelings for the benefit of a successful

service delivery. The implication is not necessarily of equality or mutual benefit,

but of satisfaction for the customer (student) and profit for the management.

According to Herriot et al (1997), psychological contract refers to the perceptions

of mutual obligations to each other held by the two parties in the employment

relationship, the organization and the employee. According to Armstrong (2002),

a psychological contract is a system of beliefs which encompasses the actions

26

employees believe are expected of them and what response they expect in return

from their employer. As described by Guest et al (1996, cited in Armstrong,

2002), it is concerned with assumptions, expectations, promises and mutual

obligations. ―It creates attitudes and emotions which form and govern behavior. A

psychological contract is implicit. It is also dynamic- it develops over time as

experience accumulates, employment conditions change and employees re-

evaluate their expectations.‖ (Armstrong, 2002)

The best way to understand psychological contract in Bangladesh‘s context can be

described as performing ‗extra‘ levels of duties for the welfare of the students.

These extra duties may include giving more time to the students, trying to assess

their personal needs and perform administrative duties up to a certain extent.

According to Takala and Pallab (2000), these extra duties can be defined as

responsibilities. ―When analyzing the issue of responsibility within organizational

life, one should consider several issues. First, it is not sufficient to simply

consider an individual‘s (and also an organization‘s) awareness and observance of

the formal laws laid down by social and legal institutions of the society. It is also

important to focus on the informal moral principles operative in social life. Moral

principles such as ensuring the welfare of other people even when there are

possibilities of economic losses to oneself, guide the conscience of individuals

and act as constraints on the rational actions which seek to maximize material

satisfaction, profitability and efficiency for themselves.‖ (Takala & Pallab, 2000)

Needless to say, all these contractual obligations are beyond the norms of most

Bangladeshi teachers‘ perception regarding payment. The possibility of doing any

unpaid job, despite of the fact that it may bring welfare and benefits to the

students (and the teachers‘ career as well in the long run) is unquestionably turned

down by most of the Bangladeshi further education teachers. As mentioned

before, most of the teachers prefer to give extra tuition hours to their private

students at home rather than spending extra time in the class rooms (see topic

3.1.1).

Unlike developed countries, the psychological obligations between the employee

and the employer should exist significantly in the context of Bangladeshi

education sector. In fact, the obligation may become even stronger because of the

poor working conditions. This has increased the expectation level from both the

parties to each other to a great extent.

Like most other organizational employees, Bangladeshi further education teachers

possess obligations to their employers identified by Herriot et al (1997). In recent

years, the most mentionable work regarding the contents of psychological

contract has been performed by Herriot et al (1997). The perceived obligations of

the two parties to the employment relationship, the employee and the

organisation, were explored using the critical incident technique. According to

Herriot et al (1997), the following are the most common organisational

obligations (i.e. employees expect to receive from the organisation/employer):

27

Training: Providing adequate induction and training.

Fairness: Ensuring fairness of selection, appraisal, promotion and redundancy

procedures.

Needs: Allowing time off to meet personal or family needs.

Consult: Consulting and communicating with employees on matters which

affect them.

Discretion: Minimal interference with employees in terms of how they do

their job.

Humanity: To act in personally and socially responsible and supportive way

towards employees.

Recognition: Recognition of or reward for special contribution or long

service.

Provision of a safe and congenial work environment.

Justice: Fairness and consistency in the application of rules and disciplinary

procedures.

Pay: Equitable with respect to market values and consistently awarded across

the organization.

Benefits: Fairness and consistency in the administration of the benefit

systems.

Security: Organisations trying hard to provide what job security they can.

According to King and Bu (2005) the most important organisational obligations

perceived by the employees (e.g. teachers) can be described as the most

influential employee motivator factors. Therefore, knowing what are the two most

important employee motivator factors in a sense would represent what are the two

most important employer obligations. The survey method will be used in this

purpose. Similarly, a different quasi-descriptive tool should be used (namely

structured or in-depth interview) to collect information about the employee

obligations. According to Herriot et al (1997), the following are the most common

employee obligations (i.e. organisations/employers expect to receive from their

employees):

Hours: To work the hours the employee is contracted to work.

Work: To do a good job in terms of quality and quantity.

Honesty: To deal honestly with clients and with the organisation.

Loyalty: Staying with the organisation, guarding it reputation and putting its

interests first.

Property: Treating the organisation‘s property in a careful way.

Self-presentation: Dressing and behaving correctly with customers and

colleagues.

Flexibility: Being willing to go beyond one‘s own job description, especially

in emergency.

Psychological contract consists of a mutual agreement generated by both participating

parties. But because the contract consist two parties, we should to listen to the other party

28

as well. However, the total aim of our research is to motivate the further education

teachers rather than their employees. According to King and Bu (2005) the most

important organisational obligations perceived by the employees (e.g. teachers) could be

described as the most influential employee motivator factors. Therefore, it would be

enough only to point out the two most important motivational factors for Bangladeshi

further education teachers. (i.e. through which in a sense would be focusing on the two

most important organisational obligations expected by employees). Hence, at this point

we can derive our third research question: “What is the extent of difference regarding the

awareness of two most important employee motivator factors perceived by both the

individual parties (i.e. employee and the employer) in Bangladeshi further education

sector?” If the level of understanding is pretty positive, we are most likely to find a

positive apt level (i.e. what employers think of the most important employer obligation is

equally perceived by the employee group. In other words, what employees think of the

most important employer obligation is similarly perceived by the employer group). If the

level of understanding is pretty low, then we will find a lower apt level (i.e. what

employees think of the most important employer obligation is not perceived equally by

the employer group.)

3.2.2 Integration of process theories and psychological contract

How do psychological contract affect work motivation? In order to find out this

answer, we first need to know how expectations affect work motivation. Why?

According to Marks (2001), psychological contract is a list of unwritten

‗expectations‘ from both the employee and the management. Both these parties

are mutually obligated and expect some sorts of informal duties from each other.

Process theories, similarly, deal with psychological expectations. ―In contrast to

identifying the content of need based theories of motivation, process theories

focuses on the mental processes used to evaluate cause → effect relationships.‖

(Cook and Hunsaker, 2001) ―Process theories of motivation explain how and why

workers select behaviours and how they determine whether their choices were

successful‖. (Steers et al, 1996, cited in Cook and Hunsaker, 2001) Motivation

based on expectations focuses on a person‘s beliefs about the relationships among

effort, performance, and reward for doing a job. Vroom‘s (1964) model of

Expectancy is the first process theory that deals with the universal psychological

conception of human- ‗expectation‘.

Expectancy theory: Expectancy theory formulated by Vroom (1964) possesses a

unique notion by stating that individual needs are different and depends on

people‘s individual perception. The value that employees put on the outcome

which they are expecting from particular behavior (i.e. valance) differs from

person to person. Similarly, the effort-performance expectancy (i.e. expectancy)

differs from person to person as it depends a lot on experience and maturity. This

theory is absolutely relevant to our research‘s context because it relates

expectation with experience and valence- both of which are very important in

dealing with Bangladeshi school teachers‘ mentality, job perception and outcry.

29

Teachers‘ perception about valances can be integrated with psychological contract

because in most cases employee obligations are structured based on their

experience (and on expected effort level). Some teachers feel comfortable to

perform ‗extra‘ responsibilities whereas others do not show any interest in doing

so. As an example, a number of teachers value recognition from the parents as a

good motivator factor whereas for some teachers extrinsic values (such as money

and holidays) are pivotal. However, the objective of our research is to find out the

majority‘s perception regarding expectancy-valence theory, i.e. what most of the

teachers think the motivator factor is.

Equity theory: Another process theory, Equity theory by Adams (1965) similarly

possesses an analogous view of job responsibility in comparison to psychological

contract. For an example: fairness. Fairness is a very important employee

expectation which can be justified by the use of Equity theory. Some people

possess high attention need, which makes their perception to equitably entirely

different. To them being treated a bit extra is justified by the ground that they

deserve it. This notion has been described by Jaques (1961, cited in Armstrong

2002) as the ‗felt-fair‘ principle. According to him pay systems will be fair if they

are felt to be fair. Jaques (1961) points out an important fact that there is no

standard definition of the term ‗fair‘ and it varies from person to person.

However, people should not receive less pay than they deserve by comparison

with their fellow workers.

Psychological contract articulates the reason and necessity of unpaid (or un-

recognised) extra duty. The implication of psychological contract is not

necessarily of equality or mutual benefit, but of satisfaction for the customer and

profit for the management. Similarly, equity theory states that people should be

treated equitably. ―It is concerned with people‘s perceptions of how they are

being treated in relation to others. To be dealt with equitably is to be treated fairly

in comparison with another group of people (a reference group) or a relevant

other person. Equity involves feelings and perceptions, and it is always a

comparative process.‖ (Armstrong, 2002) The management can demand the same

level of employee obligations in which the organizational obligations are

persisting.

In this regard, we need the test the following hypothesis in context to Bangladesh:

are the teachers offering their best service to the school authorities (i.e.

employers) and whether the school authorities are treating all their teachers

(employees) equitably? We are assuming the answer is most likely to be negative-

because from our experience we have seen negligence from the further education

authorities, which have forced us to undertake this research today. It should be

noted that equitability is not the synonym of equality, which means treating

everyone alike. Some employees deserve to be treated differently and it would be

inequitable if they are measured in a common scale (Armstrong, 2002).

Goal theory: The third process theory, Goal theory, states that motivation and

30

performance are higher when individuals are set specific goals, when the goals are

difficult but accepted, and when there is feedback on performance. According to

Mullins (1993), the basic premise of goal theory is that people‘s goals or

intensions play an important part in determining behavior. This is the exact point

where psychological contract and goal theory interact. For some teachers, the goal

in their teaching career is perceived as long term success. Through employee

obligations, they tend to get more and more successful day by day, contributing

ultimately in career development and the education sector over all. Because of

these specific goals, they tend to get involved in psychological contract.

―Similarly, most of the managers enter in the contract of psychological

obligations with their employees only to achieve a specific objective- successful

management‖. (Pate et al, 2003) Although goal theory specifically deals with

employee resolutions, there is no formal disparagement that it can not be used for

management‘s (i.e. employer‘s) improvement. Setting objective for the

management and selecting target sales (in our case contributing in more student

passes) can be seen as the implementation of goal theory from management‘s

context (Dinesh and Palmer, 1998).

4. Summarizing literature review

According to Saunders et al (2003) research questions are derived and initiated from the

discussions of literature review. This provides a broader scope of narrowing research

focus, thus preparing a ground for understanding research objectives. The following

project management figure illustrates the process of finding and interpreting research

questions throughout the research.

Figure 2: Deriving and interpreting research questions

From the literature review, the following research questions have emerged:

Research question- 1: “In what level of Maslow’s hierarchy the Bangladeshi further

education teachers fit-in?”

31

Finding out the answer of this research question is important because it circuitously deals

with the type of motivator factors which would improve the motivational level of further

education teachers. If the teachers reside in the very basic level of Maslow‘s hierarchy

(e.g. survival needs), materialistic motivations rather than the intrinsic ones would be the

most probable motivator factors used in improving teachers motivational level. The

following are the objectives need to be addressed in analyzing (and answering) the above

mentioned research question.

Research Question- 2: “According to Herzberg’s Dual Factor theory, what is the most

influential motivator factor for Bangladeshi further education teachers?”

Herzberg‘s theorem mentions several factors of job motivation and de-motivation based

on employee perception. These motivator factors are very much applicable in the case of

Bangladeshi further education sector. Finding out the most important motivator factor

would not only help in deciding appropriate management strategy, but would also help to

justify the finding of research objectives-b described earlier. Therefore, the most

important motivator factor should also help in deciding the type of rewarding

Bangladeshi further education teachers seek for, thus verifying the present motivational

level from research question 1. The followings are the objectives associated with research

question 2.

(a.) Like many other service based commodities of modern world, education has

now been divided into two separate segments. (Smithson and Lewis, 2000) one is

underpaid and compulsory state education (i.e. government colleges) and the other

is far more privileged and expensive private education (i.e. private colleges).

Although the objective and activity of all these colleges are same, private sector

teachers seem to possess greater motivational level than their government

counterpart. From the discussions of topic 3.1.2, it would be important to find out

which segment of the Bangladeshi further education teachers possess lower level of

job motivation- the private sector teachers or the government school teachers.

(b.) From the discussions of topics 3.1.4 and 3.1.7 the issue of rewarding has come

up. In order to determine a proper education strategy, it would be important to find

out whether Bangladeshi higher education teachers seek for intrinsic reward (such as

achievement, recognition, responsibility etc) or extrinsic reward (such as money,

holidays, interpersonal relations etc) schemes. This objective is important because it

would be directly linked with another intended research questions- research question

no-2.

32

(d.) Managing change has always been a burning management issue. In recent years,

the issue has become a very important topic in the case of Bangladeshi further

education sector. In terms of education, changes refer changing in syllabus, changes

in teaching techniques, changing of job conditions, changing in educational policies,

textbook up-gradations etc. Schuler (2001) says that the extent to which individuals

are likely to be resistant, indifferent or supportive towards change depends on the

degree to which they perceive the change will affect them personally and their way

of working. Hence, from the discussions of topic 3.1.7, it would be important to find

out to what extent the change efforts in education sector influence teachers‘ job

performance in Bangladesh.

(e.) Recent statistics show that gender issue plays a vital role in recruitment or

selection process in developing nations (Tanova and Nadiri, 2005), and Bangladesh

is not out of this influence too. Siddique (1998) points out the fact that even in

private sectors, Bangladeshi women are receiving lower salary than men due to the

socio-economic and religious beliefs. As female teachers account almost 12% of the

total teaching staffs in further education, from topic 3.1.7, it would be important to

find out to what extent being treated equally regardless of gender affects the

motivational level of a teacher(s) working in Bangladesh.

(f.) From the discussions of topic no 2 the issue of Herzberg‘s dual factor theory has

come up. It is commonly believed that motivator factors (which originate from the

nature of the job itself and can create job satisfaction) differ from person to person

based on age. The same motivator factor is not applicable for different age groups.

Younger teachers may recognize the opportunity for achievement or advancement

as the main motivator factor, whereas older teachers may believe that providing

wider range of responsibility is the only way to motivate themselves. This concern

over age issue has been recognized by Sarker et al (2003) who argue that Herzberg‘s

motivator factors vary from one age group to another although the employees may

work with the same nature of job. Hence, it would be important to know whether the

age issue plays any significant role in deciding the appropriate motivator factor. If it

does; the findings should be divided and analyzed accordingly.

(c.) Brown (2000) believes that Performance Related Pay (IPRP) helps to increase the

performance level of employees whereas Prucell (2000) believes that, it creates an

unhealthy competition among colleagues. Then again, increment of payment on basis

of experience and service years have also been criticized because it does not consider

individual‘s merit. The discussions of topics 3.1.4 and 3.2.1 suggest that it would be

important to know to what extent the pattern of recognition or the performance

appraisal system influences teachers‘ motivational level.

33

Research Question- 3: “What is the extent of difference regarding the awareness of two

most important employee motivator factors perceived by both the individual parties (i.e.

employee and the employer) in Bangladeshi further education sector?”

This research question is partially associated with research question-2. Similar to the

previous one, this research question would intend to find out the two most important

employee motivator factors. However, according to King and Bu (2005) the most

important employee motivator factors are in a sense what employees expect the

management to fulfil (e.g. the most important employer obligations perceived by the

employees). In order to measure the extent of communication gap, it would be necessary

to know whether the Principals agree with the emerged findings of the investigation

regarding the two most important employee motivator factors. The associated objectives

are thereby detailed below:

34

(g.) Osei (1996) expresses the need for effective staff development in educational

institutions because this increases performance and job effectiveness, and the

climate of interpersonal relations in an organization. According to Andaleeb (1998),

a critical issue that needs to be addressed in Bangladesh is establishing teacher

quality benchmarks and ensuring a quality assurance program, through which

hopefully the nation would be able to achieve capable teachers in near future.

Analyzing topics 3.1.5 and 3.2.1, it would be important to find out whether

specialised training (career) programs play any significant role in influencing

Bangladeshi teachers‘ motivation.

(h.) Ford‘s Strategy 2000 has proved that when employees are given greater

responsibilities, their performance level increases. However, for ‗emotional

laborers‘, putting additional duties may distract them from performing their core job

responsibility (i.e. teaching). Analyzing topics 3.1.3, 3.1.7 and 3.2.1, it would be

necessary to find out to what extent teachers‘ engagement in the decision making

process influences their motivational level.

(i.) Treating some problem cases neutrally (like teachers who have been accused of

being too strict, beating, molestation, lower class attendance and poor performance)

in difficult situations may breach the psychological contract between the employer

and the employee. Many critics argue that this type of notion leads to a feeling of

job insecurity and de-motivates other employees. From topics 3.1.3, 3.1.7 and 3.2.1

the issue of environment and interference has emerged. It would be important to

know to what extent the relationship with other employees (e.g. colleagues) and (or)

with the management influences the motivational level of teachers working in

Bangladesh. This research objective could be further extended upon to understand

the role of sex (i.e. gender) in seeking positive relationship with the colleagues.

(j.) Psychological contract has been defined as an informal contract between the

employer and the employee in which both the parties expect certain extra duties

from each other. According to Herriot et al (1997), employees expect 12 counts of

obligations to be performed by the organisation. As discussed in topic 3.2.1, in other

words employer obligations can be described as employee motivator factors.

However, it would be interesting to know in real life what these two parties (e.g.

teachers and Principals) think of employer obligations. Which ones would be the

most important issues for them according to their priority and how they would be

perceived by others? Hence, analysing topics 3.2.1 and 3.2.2, it would be important

to find out the two most important employer obligations according to the respective

parties, so that the level of understanding between these two parties (i.e. employee

and employer) could be compared. In other words, the two most important

motivator factors (according to the employees) would have to be determined first.

And then it would have to be tested whether the same motivator factors are equally

perceived by the employers in Bangladeshi further education sector.

35

Chapter 3: Methodology

[The Methodology chapter provides a detailed view of how research would be undertaken

in a specific context. Research approach and strategy would be decided based upon

research objectives obtained though extensive literary search (chapter 2). Data sources

would be verified and justifications for undertaking specific methods would be presented.

At the end of the discussions, sample methodical tools used to collect primary

information would be presented. The overall research method would have to be justified

as well in terms of reliability, validity and generalisability.]

5. Research philosophy

Because of the nature of our research objectives described in the previous chapter, the

intended investigation will be a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative research.

This will ensure triangulation to take place in the research. According to Saunders et al

(2003), triangulation refers to the use of different data collection methods within one

study. ―Not only it is perfectly possible to combine approaches within the same piece of

research, but it is often advantageous to do so‖ (Saunders et al, 2003). Most of the data in

this intended research will be primary data due to the fact that first hand information will

be gathered through qualitative and quantitative means for an empirical analysis. Data

will be collected directly form sources/targets using appropriate methods. In order to do

so both the concerned sides involved in this research i.e. the teachers and the Principals

are needed to be addressed, which would facilitate to identify and recommend

appropriate management strategies for motivating further education teachers.

In this regard the first step should be to listen the employees e.g. teachers working in

further education institutes/colleges. As part of the quantitative data collection a survey

among 15 further education institutions in the district of Chittagong would be conducted.

This particular geographical context has been selected because a wider range of control

over the sample institutions, easy access to information, availability of logistics and

communication advantages are available. Data obtained from these institutions are surely

to be representative, generalized, and valid for the subject matter. The second step would

be to collect primary data using semi-structured interview from the Principals of the

respective institutions, which would enable to obtain a concept from the managerial view

point. Semi-structured interviews would be used in qualitative research in order to

conduct discussions not only to reveal and understand the ‗what‘ and the ‗how‘ but also

to place more emphasis on exploring the ‗why‘. (Saunders et al, 2003)

This implies that the research will be a mixture of both deductive and inductive approach.

At this point it would be beneficial to explain the paradigms of deductive approach.

Presence of the intended survey has made up the research approach deductive. According

to Saunders et al (2003), survey method is usually associated with the deductive

approach. Deductive approach is mostly related to testing theories and associated with

positivism. This implies the research is actually empirical to explanatory approach and

36

the type of the outcome should be predictive. Most of the explanatory researches are

quantitative, establishing casual relationships between sampled variables (Robson, 2002).

The research adopts an inductive approach as well due to the fact that it will collect and

analyze qualitative information as a second activity. According to Saunders et al (2003),

the study based on the principle of developing theory after the data have been collected is

called inductive approach. This notion would undoubtedly imply to this research because

the negatively tested research questions from the first part would be developed into new

theories. In order to do so viewpoints from the respective Principals through semi-

structured interviews and obtained comments from the teachers through the survey

questionnaire will be used. Principals will be interviewed through a semi-structured

questionnaire whereas teachers will be encouraged to fill-up a comments section in the

survey questionnaire exceeding no more than 50 words.

6. Data collection and constraints

6.1 Quantitative data collection

The first part of the research- collecting teachers‘ (e.g. employees‘) viewpoint, will be

implemented using survey method. The survey method consists of two different

methodologies- ‗samples‘ and ‗population‘. The sample indicates a subset of the entire

group, normally chosen in such a way to try to ensure that it is representative of the entire

group. On the other hand, population is the entire group under consideration; may be

people, organizations or things (Daniel, 1990). Based on existing circumstances, it would

be wiser to go for a sampling technique because it is not possible to collect data from the

entire population due to financial and time constraints.

However, sampling can be further divided into two categories- probabilistic and non-

probabilistic (Saunders et al, 2003). The probabilistic sampling identifies a suitable

sampling frame or size and is suitable for small population (i.e. a census). On the other

hand, non-probabilistic sampling allows selecting cases which are best able to answer

ones research questions and objectives. Non-probabilistic sampling is not pure random

sampling. Instead, it is either purposive or based on self selection (Bryman & Bell, 2003).

Daniel (1990) as well has referred non-probabilistic sampling as purposive sampling. As

probabilistic sampling identifies suitable sampling frame and enables the researcher to

check representativiness of sample to population (Bryman & Bell, 2003), it would be

wiser to go for a probabilistic sampling technique.

Saunders et al (2003) have mentioned five further categories of probabilistic sampling:

simple random, systematic, stratified, cluster and multistage. At this point the argument

in this regard goes for stratified sampling. Stratified sampling is divisible to relevant

strata which significantly lowers the cost and time of the research. Besides, the entire

sample frame of further education institutions can be stratified based on some common

parameters such as performance, student number, teacher number and location, which are

well known to the researcher. This indicates that the sample frame contains periodic

patterns, thus insisting to go for a Stratified Random Sampling method.

37

―Stratified random sampling is a modification of random sampling in which we divide

the population into two or more relevant and significant strata based on one or more

number of attributes. Dividing the population into a more series of relevant strata means

that the sample is more likely to be representative, if we can ensure that each of the strata

is represented proportionally within the sample. However, it is only possible to do this if

we are aware of, and can easily distinguish significant strata in our sampling frame.‖

(Saunders et al, 2003)

At this point it can be questioned that why cluster sampling has not been chosen as the

intended research method? Although cluster sampling is almost similar to stratified

sampling, there are some possible drawbacks. According to Saunders et al (2003), both

the methods of selecting clusters randomly and/or restricting clusters based on certain

criteria possesses the chance of reducing validity of the sample. Stratified sampling on

the other hand emphasizes on representativeness rather than clustering, thus broadening

the chance of being more accurate.

6.1.1 Sample size

The margin of error that can be tolerated in this research is 5% (adopted from

Saunders et al, 2003). It has been decided that the survey should be randomly

(stratified) conducted among 3 further education institutions in Chittagong due to

easy access and increased representativeness of information. To stratify the

population, the city of Chittagong has been selected. The common attributes based on

which the institutions are going to be approached are:

1. Geography: All of the intended institutions belong in the same socio-

geographical and economic region. The district of Chittagong covers almost

4% of the total land population in Bangladesh.

2. Authority: All the chosen institutions belong under the same education

authority. The district of Chittagong is supervised by the Chittagong

Education Board, a subcommittee of the National Curriculum and Textbook

Board of Bangladesh (NCTB). National policies and other educational

committees (including NCTB) are governed and supervised by Ministry of

Education.

3. Budget and payment: The budget differs based on the size and location of the

schools. However, the salary is uniform for the staffs and teachers working in

different institutions, which is fixed and determined by the National Wages

Board‘s pay scale.

4. Ethnicity: The local culture and socio-expectations in the area are similar for

all of our chosen schools. People associated with the institutions, students,

employees, teachers and guardians all are part of the same local custom and

ethnicity.

On an average each institution possesses 45 teachers, making the population size a

figure of 3 X 45 = 135. Based on the assumption that the response rate would be 70

38

percent or higher (Saunders et al, 2003), the actual sample size should be:

135 X 100

70

= 192 (approx)

Hence the survey needs at least 192 respondents, hopefully which will be achievable

from the 3 randomly selected further education institutions.

6.2.2 Administering the survey

The biggest advantage with survey method is- if prepared properly, it requires a very

little supervision (Saunders et al, 2003). However, it is important that the

questionnaire reaches to the targeted group properly. The questionnaire should be

distributed randomly among teachers. A week has been proposed for this activity. The

completed questioners will be sent back to the researcher in form of original paper

based documents. Another week has been proposed for completing this activity. The

process is cost effective and resembles accurate information although it possesses a

very little direct supervision.

6.2.3 Survey questionnaire

The questions for the survey have been designed in order to gather relevant

information necessary for the research. There exist five main unmarked sections in

the questionnaire. One by one they have been discussed as below:

[We appreciate you spending your precious time in filling-up this form for a good cause.

We would be delighted if you make possible efforts to answer as accurately as possible.

Thank you.]

1 (A): At your present job, how satisfied you are about the communication process

between you and the management?

Not satisfied at all

Low satisfied

OK

Highly satisfied

Superb

1 (B): How much communication gap you think your institution should have between the

management and the employees?

Management should be fascist.

Management should pretend to hear us but do what it likes.

39

Management should try to negotiate things with us to its highest ability.

Management should value our thoughts and actively seek improvements.

put itself into trouble with superior authority to implement

our suggestions.

2 (A): Please point out the extent of satisfaction you already have with your salary at

your present job?

Not satisfied at all

Low satisfied

OK

Highly satisfied

Superb

2 (B): Please point out the extent of satisfaction that you wish you had with your salary

I am getting extra paid.

A less salary but a bit extra facilities.

Need no change.

Should get a more extra.

Dramatic increase (Double or more)

3. Please rank the issues below in accordance to your most desired importance. 1

indicates the least important issue (according to you) and a 5 indicates the most important

issue. No number can be repeated twice and the given numbers should sum up to 15.

Issue Explanation Proposed Rank

(Put a number

between 1 to 5)

Survival Financial security: A guaranteed minimum

salary to satisfy basic needs.

Safety A safe environment: Free from dangers,

discrimination and office politics.

Socialisation Opportunities for socialisation: A friendly and

welcoming environment.

Prestige Recognition of individual achievement: Prestige

towards students, parents and colleagues.

Self actualisation Career development and promotions

Total: 15

4. Your Sex: Female Male

40

5. You belong to the age group of: 20 to 30 31 to 41

42 to 52 52 and above

6. Number of years in teaching service: 1-5 years 6-10 years

11-15 years years

7. Your institution is: -government one

8. Do you think a salary increase should be given to those teachers who will receive a

positive feedback from the students end of each academic year (i.e. Do you think

performance related pay should be introduced)?

9 (A): How much co-worker influence do you currently have at your job?

None Lower Average Higher Highest

9 (B): How much co-worker influence do you think your job should have?

None Lower Average Higher Highest

10. Any personal comment? (less than 500 words. Either Bengali or in English)

41

Personal information section: This section collects the factual information from the

respondent. Question no 1,2 and 3 formulate this entire section; designed to help in

finding the results for objective-a, objective-b, objective-e, objective-f, objective-g,

objective-h, and objective-i, comprising the issues of topic no 2, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.1.4,

3.1.5, 3.1.7, and 3.2.1. The three questions are designed to retrieve personal

information, which are absolutely relevant to the research‘s context. The very first

question of the questionnaire enquires whether the respondent is a public sector

teacher or a private sector teacher. The second question asks about the respondent‘s

age and the third question enquires about his/her sexuality.

Motivator determiner section: This particular section consist of question nos 4, 5 and

6. The section explores how the respondent feels or believes about something, thus

collecting opinion based information. This section is perhaps, the most influential

questionnaire section in the entire research. Based on Herzberg‘s theorem, question

no 5 and question no 6 possess a list of motivator (and de-motivator) factors, which

would be needed to get prioritized by the respondents. A four option based

importance scale would be used in this context. In the importance scale prioritizing

implies four level of importance—1. not important, 2. mildly important, 3. important,

and 4. very-important. The issues which would receive at least 45% of the

respondents‘ most important poll (i.e. column 4 in the survey questionnaire) should

be considered as a significantly important motivator factor. Similarly, if more than

45% of the sample population think any particular issue is a significant cause for de-

motivation, then that issue should be considered as a de-motivator factor. However,

the objective of this research is to find out the most important motivator factor(s).

Hence, in most cases opinion poll from the de-motivation section need not be

included. Cases, in which inconsistency between responses for a particular respondent

would be observed, should be analysed and assumed humanly using question no 5.

Motivational Level determination: Based on Maslow‘s hierarchy, this section would

collect respondent‘s attitude information. The section would enquire in which level of

Maslow‘s hierarchy the respondent is living in. The respondent would be asked to

prioritize the five issues residing in different levels of Maslow‘s hierarchy, based on a

point 5 based importance scale. The most important issue should be marked 5 and the

least important issue should be marked 1. This section comprises question no 7 in the

questionnaire, which would help in finding the result for objective-a, which is

associated with research question-1.

Remarks/Comments section: This particular section collects information regarding

the respondent‘s behavioural pattern. The question openly asks the respondent to

provide an insight regarding the causes for motivation and de-motivation in his/her

present job. Due to space constraint and effective analysis, the respondents have been

requested to write no more than 50 words. Information obtained through this section

would be used in necessary quantitative and qualitative analysis as well. Besides, the

consistency of answers can be checked by comparing this section with the findings of

motivator determiner section. A number of new issues might emerge from this

section, particularly which have been overlooked in the literature review.

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6.2 Qualitative data collection

The second part of the research- collecting the authorities‘ (e.g. employers) viewpoint can

be achieved by conducting qualitative interviews of the Principals. Qualitative interviews

can be conducted on a one to one basis or on a one to many basis (Saunders et al, 2003).

Because of the nature of the research it will be useful taking note of the respective

Principals‘ opinions individually. In this regard it will be appropriate to conduct one to

one interviews through telephone.

But what type of structure the interviews should follow? Saunders et al (2003) have

mentioned three different interview typologies based on their level of formality and

structure namely structured interviews, semi-structured interviews and unstructured

interviews. Structured interviews use questionnaires based on a predetermined and

standardised or identical set of questions. By comparison, semi-structured and

unstructured interviews are non-standardised. In semi-structured interviews the

researcher will have a list of themes and questions to be covered, although these may

very from interview to interview. Thus, semi-structured interviews can be used as a

powerful data collecting tool in the cases of inductive approach. Due to the fact that it

may be needed to reorder the questions while interviewing each of the Principals

individually, it will be useful for us to go for a semi-structured interview.

However, the selected inductive approach requires analysing data from the questionnaire

completed by the participant teachers as well. In order to collect qualitative information

from the teachers, a section of the survey paper will be left empty for open comments or

remarks. Teachers will be encouraged to fill-in this section with words exceeding no

more than 50. This restriction will enable to get hold of the most important qualitative

information from the employees (i.e. teachers), which will be used to fulfil the inductive

research approach.

6.2.1 Targeted group

Principals from three typical further education institutions from the district of

Chittagong have been selected and approached for the interviewing. The intended

institutions are:

1. Ispahani Public School and College (IPSC)

2. Radiant School and College

3. Chittagong Government College

The following factors have been considered while selecting institutions of which

the Principals will be interviewed:

Typicality- The institutions represent majority of the further education institutions

in the country in terms of student-teacher ratio, student-teacher number, size,

structure, governorship, administration and funding.

43

Ingenuousness- The institutions are open and willing to share their information in

order to help researching a better education management policy.

Reliability- The institutions are reliable in terms of presenting information and the

respective Principals are generally known as honest, experienced and sincere

persons.

Apart from interviewing the Principals, the qualitative target group also include

the participant teachers who are supposed to write down comments/remarks on

the survey questionnaire. Assuming the margin of error for the previously

mentioned survey participants, hopefully 80 respondents will fill-up the

comments/remarks section (each exceeding no more than 50 words).

6.2.2 Administering the interview

The telephone interview with the Principals will be conducted and administered

by the researcher himself. Face to face interview can not be done due to time and

financial reasons. Telephone interview, however, ensures instant response and

data collection. Suitable appointment dates would have to be arranged first in

discussion with the Principals. Hopefully, the whole interview process should not

take more than 7 days. For accurate analysis, the conversation would be audio

taped with the interviewee‘s prior concession.

Qualitative data collection from the survey questionnaire does not require any

particular supervision. Scope for writing down own comments at the end of the

survey questionnaire would provide the chances for the teachers to express their

views regarding motivation and de-motivation in their present job. The

appropriate comments would be used in the qualitative data analysis part.

6.3.3 Sample questions for the interview

Semi-structured interview provides limited scope for detailed discussion.

However, additional questions can be asked or redesigned within the given

structure to clarify certain points (Saunders et al, 2003). The following are the

basic questions, which would be used in the interview sessions with the

Principals. It should be noted that the interview questionnaire has been prepared

right after the completion of the survey of the teachers. This ensures a more

specific and in-depth scope of interviewing of the Principals.

1. Can you please describe an ideal administration for any school or college?

What kind of relationship you think a Principal should have with his teachers?

2. Does your present situation match with your perceived ideal situation? If not, to

what extent and why?

44

3. How important do you consider recognition, socialization and respect as

possible means to motivate further education teachers? Similarly how important

do you consider extra payment, holiday packages and promotion in motivating

your teachers?

4. Do you consider your teachers to be more materialistic or, more devoted to

their work? What are the implications it has in deciding or setting your

management/administrative approach?

5. How effective you think implementing Performance Related Pay (IPRP) will be

in terms of improving teachers‘ performance? How you think it will motivate the

teachers who seek intrinsic rewards from their job instead of materialistic i.e.

extrinsic outcome.

6. How do you describe your independence in implementing change processes? Is

there any factor that in most cases resists change efforts?

7. Do you think these intended change efforts play any role in influencing

teachers‘ job performance?

8. Does this surprise you that our survey has found Payment and Opportunities for

promotion and advancement are the two most important motivational factors for

Bangladeshi further education teachers.

9. Do you think opportunities for specialised trainings...such as BEd, MEd,

PGCE, ITT etc…will help to improve teachers‘ motivational level in Bangladesh?

6.3 The credibility of research findings

Credibility of any research finding can be questioned if suspicion arises regarding the

information‘s reliability and validity. Saunders et al (2003) have mentioned the issue of

generalisability as well, which is sometimes referred to as external validity. ―It is

important that the findings are equally applicable to other similar research settings and

deliver exactly what we were intending to doing‖ (Smith et al 2002, cited in Saunders et

al 2003). At this point it would be appropriate to justify the reliability, validity and

generalisability of the information used in this research.

6.3.1 Reliability

Robson (2002, cited in Saunders et al 2003) asserts that there may be four threats to

reliability namely- participant error, participant bias, observer error and observer bias.

Hopefully, the chosen methods for obtaining both qualitative and quantitative

information would guarantee the reliability of the research findings in every way. There

exists a very little possibility of occurring participant error because the survey and the

interview questionnaires would be designed using a common understandable language-

English. A careful selection for using appropriate words would be considered, which

45

would ensure the questionnaire does not get too complicated to understand. A pilot

survey would be conducted with the same questionnaires in which a small group of

friends and class-mates would be encouraged to participate. A large sample population

for the survey ensures a biased view from any individual respondent would not question

the reliability of information. Similarly, due to the quantitative approach there exists

absolutely no allegation about the observer getting biased. Information would be

analyzed using SPSS or Microsoft Excel software (a specimen of which would be

provided in the appendix section). As a result there exists no chance of occurring

observer error as well.

The interview questionnaire possesses far more chances of achieving absolute reliability

because it would be directly administered by the researcher. Explanation could be

provided if by any chance the interviewees come across any difficult issue. The semi

structured approach ensures understanding particular context/conversation; thus enabling

the researcher to understand the level of preconception from the interviewee. Observer

error is impossible as well because the intended interviews would be recorded and type

written. A careful selection of the institutions would ensure no incident of participant

and/or observer bias could be experienced. Adopting semi-structured interview would

ensure that none of the Principals get treated differently. Although in semi-structured

interview the order of questions can be revised based on situation, this should in fact

strengthen the technique for collecting qualitative information. Hence, the intended

qualitative analysis is most likely to be inductive, unbiased and reliable.

6.3.2 Validity

―Validity is concerned whether the findings are really about what they appear to be

about‖ (Saunders et al, 2003). Hence, it can be assumed that validity can only be ensured

if appropriate issues could be identified from the relevant literature and the procedure for

collecting information could be made accurate. Robson (2002, cited in Saunders et al

2003) has mentioned six different threats to validity namely history, testing,

instrumentation, mortality, maturation and ambiguity about casual direction. Assurance

of validity could be ensured if these mentioned issues are addressed properly. An

appropriate justification of history, testing and instrumentation could be found in the

relevant chapters of literature review, research objectives and methodology. The issue of

mortality could be satisfied because there exists no chance of respondents dropping out

from the intended survey. Both the number of efforts for conducting the survey and the

number of respondent would be unique. The last two threats to validity (e.g. maturation

and ambiguity about casual direction) are both associated with time, in which the findings

and the analyses need to stay up-to-date during and after the research. Relevant literature

and up-to-date references would be used in this context.

6.3.3 Generalisability

―Generalisability (e.g. external validity) is a concern in the design of research as the

extent to which the research results are generalisable i.e. the findings may be equally

applicable to other research settings, such as other organizations‖ (Saunders et al, 2003).

46

The issue of generalisability has already been affirmed due to the nature of this research.

According to Saunders et al (2003) generalisability is a particular worry if the intended

research approach is a case study. In order to guarantee the generalisability of the

research findings, this intended research would be using survey method to collect primary

quantitative data.

The quantitative survey is going to be conducted within 15 different colleges with an

actual sample size of 343. This sample population would represent other institutions in

the country, thus maintaining generalisability of the findings. Similarly the selection of

three Principals for the purpose of interviewing would be done in such a way that the

information gathered would be accurate, reliable and generalisable. Referring to topic no

6.4, the institutions from which the Principals have been chosen share same geographical,

sociological, administrative, and infrastructure environment. In this way the analysis of

qualitative data would also be generalized and would represent the findings for other

institutions as well.

47

Chapter 4: Investigation- Results

[Due to the nature of this research (e.g. both quantitative and qualitative approach), this

chapter simply describes all the findings according to the research objectives. The chapter

explains how data were weighted and measured obtained from the sources. These

findings would then be expanded upon, analysed, and linked with theory in the next

chapter in order to prepare the ground for aligning the appropriate motivational

strategies.]

7. Summary of information

The intended research would consist both qualitative and quantitative information. For

the quantitative part, the number of responses comparing to what was predicted is pretty

low. Instead of having 192 responses, the total number of respondent was 90. This rate is

unexpected, although could be justified due to the ground of having an inferior quality of

supervision. As Saunders et al (2003) have pointed out that the biggest advantage with

survey method is- if prepared properly it requires a very little supervision, they

emphasized a little on collection and returning of the feedbacks. In contrast Bell (2005)

has addressed this issue properly. During the survey, explanations of questionnaires and

supervision of teachers may not be required. However, this notion would not guarantee

any higher level of response even after the questionnaire had reached to the hands of the

targeted group properly. Jankowicz (2000) has mentioned the importance of doing field

work and has coined the term ‗background setting‘, in which the respondents would be

explained the importance and objective of the survey. By mistake this issue of

background setting was not addressed properly. Although the survey questionnaire

contains a heading which summarizes the objective and importance of the research,

clearly it has failed to appeal the people.

In the survey, coincidently equal number of male and female teachers took part, thus

making the male to female ratio 1:1. The highest number of respondents belongs to the

age group of 38-46, counting 27 out of total 90 respondents. 23 of the respondents belong

to the age group of 24-29. 22 respondents belong to the age group of 30-37, and only 18

belong to the age group of 47 and over.

48

20%

30%

24%26%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

24-29 30-37 38-46 47 and above

Age group

Figure 3: Number of respondents based on their age group

Private sector has responded ardently than their public sector counterpart. Out of 90, 67

of the respondents belong to private institutions, whereas the rest 27 belong to the public

sector. Thus private sector

25.5%6

74.44%

Private sector

Public sector

Figure 4: Percentage of respondents from different sectors.

The qualitative information, however, does not possess any of such response issues. All

the selected Principals could be reached and interviewed due to the fact that the

conversations were booked prior to the research. Three out of three chosen Principals

helped in every possible way to carry out the discussions from which a number of themes

have emerged. These emerged themes have been described, extended upon and analysed

in the section of interpretation (topic no 8.2) right after this topic.

49

8. Findings

The followings are the findings based on both quantitative and qualitative data collected

through the survey and the interviews. The obtained figures from the survey have been

slightly rounded in order to decrease confusion. Exact quotations from the interview have

also been used to represent specific finding(s). A brief outline of these findings will now

be presented, with verbatim extracts from the transcripts used to define and illustrate the

figures. This will then be expanded upon, drawing on relevant literature and linking to the

findings in the analysis section in the next chapter.

8.1 Findings for objective (a)

Analysing topic 3.1.2, the first objective of the research would be to find out which

segment of the Bangladeshi further education teachers possess lower level of job

motivation- the private sector teachers or the government sector teachers. Level of

motivation could be calculated using the ‗motivational level determination‘ section of the

questionnaire. The section comprises a single question (question no 7) based on the

classic motivational model- Maslow‘s hierarchy. Question no 7 in the questionnaire asks

the respondent to put a number from 1 to 5 for a particular Maslow‘s level based on

priority. The issue that is most important to the respondent should get the highest number

5. The issue (or level) that is least important to the respondent should get only 1. Using

SPSS or Microsoft Excel, it is possible to count how many respondents have put 5 for the

survival need. The Maslow‘s hierarchy consist five different levels of motivational needs.

If a person possesses higher survival need, it can be said that he/she is residing in the

lower level of the motivational hierarchy. Similarly, if a person possesses lower survival

need, he/she is most likely to reside in a higher motivational level. In both cases, the

objective is to determine the level of existence of survival need in the respondents‘

minds.

To determine how many of these respondents belong to the private (or public) sector,

information from question no 1 would be used. Data obtained through question no 1

would be factual information, which enquires in what sector (public or private) the

respondent is working in? According to the survey, 41% among the overall private sector

teachers possess a high level of survival need in Maslow‘s hierarchy. This implies that

this group of people still have not crossed the first level in Maslow‘s hierarchy. They are

still residing ‗inside‘ the first level of Maslow‘s hierarchy. Similarly, about 44% of the

overall public sector teachers think they possess a high level of survival need. Possessing

a very high level of survival need indicates the level of motivation (in Maslow‘s

hierarchy) is at the very basic stage. Reversibly, 59% of the private sector teachers

possess higher level of motivational needs than survival (such as payment), which is 3%

more comparing to 56% of the public sector teachers. This implies that public sector

teachers are less motivated and need greater attention than their private sector

counterpart. However, strategies should be implemented in order to improve both sides‘

poor motivational level.

50

41%

44%

20

25

30

35

40

45

Percentage of

teachers

possessing

lower level of

motivation

Private sector teachers Public sector teachers

Figure 5: Percentage of teachers who have not still crossed the very first level of

Maslow’s hierarchy.

8.2 Findings for objective (b)

Analyzing topics 3.1.4 and 3.1.7, the second research objective would be to find out

whether Bangladeshi further education teachers seek for intrinsic reward (such as

achievement, recognition, responsibility etc.) or materialistic reward (such as money,

holidays, interpersonal relations etc.) schemes. Both qualitative and quantitative

information would be used in this context. Information collected through survey question

no 6, is the primary source of data for quantitative analysis. In response to question 6, 50

out of the 90 participants responded that they would like to receive more opportunities for

recognition, responsibility and achievement from their next job. 40 said better pay,

improved holidays and social status would be more important to them in their next job.

This implies that almost 56% of the teachers seek for intrinsic reward whereas 44% seek

for materialistic i.e. extrinsic reward.

56%44%

Seeking intrinsic rewarding(s)

Seeking materialistic

rewarding(s)

Figure 6: Percentage of teachers seeking different rewarding(s)

51

In order to determine the ratio of private and public sector teachers‘ opinion, factual

information obtained through question no 1 would be used. A larger number of private

sector teachers seek for intrinsic rewarding- 57%; 6% more comparing to public sector

teachers (from which 51% seek intrinsic rewarding). This notion, however, highlights one

important fact- from both public and private sector education, majority of the teachers

seek for intrinsic rewarding(s) such as more opportunities for recognition, responsibility

and achievement.

57%

51%

20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

Private sector teachers Public sector teachers

Figure 7: Percentage of teachers seeking intrinsic rewarding(s)

Two out of three Principals believe the teachers are materialistic (i.e. seeking extrinsic

rewarding), which is a complete contrast to the findings from quantitative survey.

According to the Principal of Chittagong Government College:

“It may sound rude but I think my colleagues are absolutely

materialistic. Most of tem, despite of having provident fund,

goes for private tuitions and caching classes. As I have

mentioned before, money obviously is the biggest motivation. That’s why we have asked for salary increase from the government

although we know the problem is not going to be solved that

easily. Government has its own limitations and teachers keep

demanding more. For an example: despite of ensuring their

pensions and provident fund last year…which took me a great deal

to do…they are still asking for increment festive bonuses and overtime.”

The Principal of Ispahani Public School and College more or less perceive a similar

opinion. According to her:

“I think teachers have already made it almost a duty for us

(Principals) to work day and night in order to arrange them extra

money. Every month directly or indirectly I’ve been pushed to go

to the Board office so that I’d be able to arrange extra working

hours for them during National Exams. Not only that, some

52

teachers seek for long paid holidays despite of realizing the

shortage of class teachers.”

In contrast, the Principal of Radiant School and College said:

“If you provide proper monetary benefits and other advantages, I

see no reason why teachers shouldn’t be devoted to their work. In our institution I have made sure that my teachers can concentrate

to their fullest extent on the students and the class. The

environment has been made up in such a way that teachers feel

embarrassed to their colleagues if a particular class performs

badly. You can say that I have created a competitive environment

where being the very best counts. This implies that my teachers look for respect, social status and recognition from their

society rather than money, holiday or something like this…They

are devoted to their work and were recruited due to this

attitude. Therefore, if the institution considers rewarding

someone, the best way is to make the teacher a group mentor or

class teacher…i.e. giving him/her more responsibility.”

8.3 Findings for objective (c)

By analysing topics 3.1.4 and 3.2.1, research objective-c has emerged. According to the

objective, it would be important to know to what extent the pattern of recognition or the

performance appraisal system influences teachers‘ motivational level. Both qualitative

and quantitative type of data would be used in analysing this particular objective.

For the quantitative interpretation, a four level based importance scale would be used. In

the questionnaire, prioritizing implies four level of importance—not important (NI),

mildly important (MI), important (I), and very-important (VI). Information obtained

through survey question nos 4 and 5 would be used in this context. The issues which

would receive at least 45% of the respondents‘ most important poll should be considered

as a significantly important motivator factor. For an example, if 50 out of 90 respondents

think performance appraisal is very important in motivating themselves (i.e. almost 56%

of the sample population) then performance appraisal should be considered as one of the

most important motivator factors. Similarly, if more than 45% of the sample population

think absence of performance appraisal is a significant cause for de-motivation, then

performance appraisal should also be considered as a de-motivator factor.

The data obtained through survey question 5 shows 51% of the teachers (50 out of 90

respondents) believe Promotion and advancement is a ‗very important‘ motivational

factor in their present job. 49% of the respondents believe the pattern of recognition or

the performance appraisal system plays an ‗important‘ role in influencing teachers‘

motivational level. Conversely, 48% believe recognition and performance appraisal is a

very important de-motivator factor. On the other hand, the survey shows that although

promotion and advancement motivates the teachers, lack of this factor does not

necessarily de-motivate them. Only 30% of the total further education teachers (27 out of

90 respondents) believe that lack of promotion and advancement opportunity is a de-

motivator factor. 19% of the respondents believe Promotion and advancement is not a

53

significant issue at all. Then again only 3% of the total respondents believe Recognition

and performance appraisal is not an important factor at all. Therefore, it could be clearly

said that the desired reward by the teachers would be to get Promotions and

Opportunities for career development (such as transfers in metropolitan cities and

institutions) rather than simply being recognised and appraised for good work by

colleagues and guardians.

51%

49%

19%3%

30%

48%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Motivator factor Neither motivator

nor de-motivator

De-motivator

factor

Promotion and advancement Recognition and performance appraisal

Figure 8: Influence of Promotion-advancement and recognition-appraisal in

motivating teachers.

In the qualitative part information, majority of the interviewed Principals agreed that

Instant Performance Related Payment (IPRP) can be considered as one of the most

suitable performance appraisal system. The Principals believe the pattern of recognition

including regular promotion and IPRP influences teachers‘ motivational level to a great

extent. According to the Principal of Ispahani Public School and College:

“Being recognised and appraised for right performance certainly

increases the motivation, especially when we are talking about my

teachers. In previous years we had a steady but slow promotion system in which teachers used to get promotions based on their

service hour and experience. But many teachers complained about

the delays in promotion and used to believe that they deserve

faster but worthy recognition. I introduced bonus schemes to

change the situation in which teachers are rewarded bonus

payments if their performance is beyond the satisfactory level.

Teachers who seek intrinsic motivation, as you have mentioned before, instead of monetary rewards…are promoted to Class

Teachers for a particular period. Many of my school’s teachers,

54

these days, consider being the Class Teacher a far more

prestigious recognition than receiving short-time bonuses. ‖

The Principal of Chittagong Government College emphasised more on deciding the

process for performance appraisal system rather than directly implementing IPRP.

According to him:

“It is important that the government should have a clear strategy

for implementing a fixed process about whom and how to give promotions or salary increment. I do not think only appraisal the

teacher would boost their motivational level. They need

promotions as a reward. Although, the government gazette

describes the means for using performance related promotion, the

criteria listed there is too out of focus and inconsistent with

real life. For example: the gazette focuses on number of journal

publications. This requirement is more academic and practically contributes in no way for the students to get improved teaching

techniques. The more a teacher gets attached with this kind of so

called academic activities, the more the class and the students

start feeling neglected by the teacher. This is a real problem

now and I have proposed the ministry to go for true assessment of

performance by respective colleagues and teachers. In some cases students could have been added to cast their opinions about a

particular teacher but until we are going to eliminate the issue

of student politics from the campuses, this notion can not work.

Thus by changing the style and pattern of performance appraisal

and recognition system, teachers level of motivation or

performance level can be improved…or worsen to a great extent.”

The Principal of Radiant School and College commented:

“I believe chances for promotion and advancement are important

motivations. My teachers are not materialistic. Hence, it is

important in what way we design our performance appraisal system.

In my personal opinion, although many teachers have argued that

performance relate pay (e.g. IPRP) is not actually a better

motivation comparing to getting regular payment, I believe

bonuses and IPRP could at least be used to achieve motivational goals for short-times. I don’t know how much of implication this

short strategy will have in designing your five years based

projection, but I think it is at least worth giving a try. We

need to remember that as a private institution, are resources are

pretty limited. So despite of providing chances for promotions

and career advancement, we also need to implement a successful IPRP scheme in the schools.”

8.4 Findings for objective (d)

Managing change has always been a burning management issue, which has been

discussed extensively in terms of education sector management in topic 3.1.7. It would be

necessary to know to what extent the change efforts in education sector influence

teachers‘ job performance in Bangladesh. Another interesting finding from this section

would be to know the cause which majority of the Principals think causing reluctance.

55

These are important to know because future management strategies need to be aligned

based on what would be the most efficient way to initiate change process. This research

objective would be addressed and analyzed using the qualitative information obtained

through interviews. The following statement has been quoted from the interview of the

Principal of the Chittagong Government College:

“It is impossible in my college to ban student politics, which

many private institutions have already done. You will have to

realize this is a government college. Until and unless there is a change in government policy or in national level…my authority

simply can not ban student politics inside the campus. Yes…we

have failed in many cases to implement positive change processes

because of the student politics. For example, last year we tried

to change the Biology practical syllabus but were forced to

abandon the project because of the resistance from student

unions. Similarly, increment of salary in the last pay-scale was cancelled because student unions did not agree to support

increasing student tuition fees. Incidents like these basically

make my teachers de-motivated.”

The Principal of Radiant School and College commented:

“As I have said before, all these intended change proposals are

independently tested by me and the board of directors. If they

weren’t viable, the committee wouldn’t approve them. Because we believe these changes will bring significant improvement in

students’ and teachers’ performance, we initiated these change

processes. Last year we have introduced A level mathematics in

English and we expected our teachers to cope up with the change

process. Not surprisingly, all the teachers started trying to

speak in English inside the class room as they viewed it as a great opportunity to improve their skill (and career as well). I

think introducing English as the medium of communication inside

mathematics class has significantly increased the motivational

level of our students, and teachers as well.”

The remark from the Principal of Ispahani Public School and College was:

“I believe its student politics which would cause the biggest

problem in implementing any change process. That is why I have

always tried to keep student politics away from my institution. Even when students and some outside accomplices demanded student

union in the campus, we rejected it. Students can directly

complain to me or any teacher or can get help from other

officials if the face any trouble from the teachers. So, what’s

the point making a student union and giving power to some self-

interested pupils who claim to look after the students. Because we do not have student politics in our institution, I virtually

feel nor trouble implementing change processes. The only

resistance in this case now could come from the school trustees

or the guardians/parents. But the second one is a very minor

issue and we know how to deal with them…”\

56

From the above discussions it has emerged that Principals think student politics would be

the main reason for reluctance in implementation change processes. Although the issue of

interference from superior authority has been mentioned in some context, two out of the

three Principals have clearly identified student politics as the most significant cause for

initiative failures.

8.5 Findings for objective (e)

After the discussions of topic 3.1.7, it would be interesting to know to what extent gender

issue affects the motivational level of a teacher(s) working in Bangladesh. The motivator

determiner section in the survey questionnaire would also be used to know the extent of

influence that gender issue plays in motivating further education teachers in Bangladesh.

Both questions 5 and 6 include the issue of being treated equally regardless of sex, and

ask the respondent to prioritize this particular issue. In the survey questionnaire,

prioritizing implies four level of importance scale—not important, mildly important,

important, and very-important. If majority of the respondents feel gender issue does not

play a significant role in motivating themselves, they would prioritize this particular issue

in the ‗not important‘ or ‗mildly important‘ section. If majority of the respondents list it

in the ‗important‘ or ‗very important‘ column, then it can be said that gender issue plays a

significant role in present job context. Information obtained through question no 3 would

also be used for further analysis because it directly enquires about respondent‘s gender.

Such as, knowing how many of the male teachers believe gender equality is an important

issue comparing to their female counterpart would certainly help us to align an

appropriate management strategy.

From the survey it has been observed that gender issue does not affect the motivational

level of teachers in Bangladesh. Only 33% of the sample population think that being

treated equally regardless of sex is an important motivational factor. This 33% has placed

gender issue in the most important column of the importance scale. Similarly only 25%

believe that not being treated equally due to sexuality will cause them any sort of de-

motivation. A similar importance scale has also been used to retrieve such information

from q uestion-5. The numbers are considerably low comparing to other motivator and

de-motivator factors. However, the most interesting finding in this case is: those who

believe equal treatment is a very important motivational factor, among them more male

(almost 64%) than female (almost 36%) believes being treated equally regardless of

gender is a great motivational factor. The graph below illustrates the situation:

57

Figure 9: Perception about gender equality as a great motivational factor.

8.6 Findings for objective (f)

It would be important that we try to understand whether age issue plays any significant

role in deciding the appropriate motivator factor. If it does; we should divide and analyze

our findings accordingly. In order to do so, quantitative information obtained through

survey question nos 2 and 6 would be used. Survey question 2 asks about the

respondent‘s age. And survey question 6 enquires what type of rewarding the respondent

would be seeking from his/her next job. Would that rewarding be materialistic (such as

better pay, improved holidays and social status) or would it be intrinsic (such as more

opportunities for recognition, responsibility and achievement). The information obtained

through question 6 then can be used to calculate how many people of a certain age group

are looking for a particular type of rewarding. For example: while considering intrinsic

motivation, 7 out of the 18 teachers who belong in the age of 47 and over have said they

are seeking for intrinsic rewardings. Hence, percentage of teachers from this particular

age group seeking intrinsic motivation would be:

7 X 100

18

= 39% (approx)

Similarly, 59% of the teachers belonging in the age group of 38-46 have said they seek

intrinsic rewarding rather than materialistic. 55% from the age group of 30-37 and 61%

from the age group of 24-29 have responded the same. Now if the age groups are plotted

along the X-axis and the value for the percentage of the teachers seeking intrinsic

motivation are plotted along the Y-axis, the following graph would be achieved:

58

61%

55%59%

39%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

24-29 30-37 38-46 47 and above

Age group

Perc

en

tag

e o

f te

ach

ers

seek

ing

in

trin

sic

mo

tiv

ato

r

Figure 10: Seeking intrinsic motivation- graph showing the trend by teachers

belonging in different age groups.

The trend line for intrinsic motivation is slightly downward, forming a zigzag trend in

which younger teachers possesses the highest tendency for seeking intrinsic motivation.

The graph above then shows the first half of the middle-age group seeking slightly less

intrinsic motivations. The late half of the middle-age group exhibits a slight increase in

seeking intrinsic motivation again. In the final phase of their career (age 47 an over),

teachers greatly seek for materialistic motivators. It seems that the older teachers get

during their career, the more they start looking for materialistic (i.e. less intrinsic)

rewarding in context to Bangladesh. However, the study excludes the retirement age (age

group 65-67) during which it is commonly believed that teachers look for intrinsic

motivations.

A similar method would be followed to find-out the percentage of teachers belonging in

different age groups seeking materialistic type motivations. In fact, the second graph

would be a totally reversed in order to the first one. The below is the graph for teachers

seeking materialistic motivations from their expected job. As stated before, instead of

looking for intrinsic reward, the rest of the 24-29 age group look for materialistic

rewards. 45% of the teachers belonging in the age group of 30-37 look for materialistic

reward. 41% from the 38-46 and 61% from the age group of 47 and above seek for

materialistic motivation from their expected job.

59

39%

45%41%

61%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

24-29 30-37 38-46 47 and above

Age group

Per

cen

tag

e o

f te

ach

ers

seek

ing

mat

eria

list

ic

mo

tiv

atio

n

Figure 11: Seeking materialistic motivation- graph showing the trend by teachers

belonging in different age groups.

The survey, therefore, shows teachers‘ motivational need changes from time to time, in

which age plays a significantly important role.

8.7 Findings for objective (g)

From the discussions of topics 3.1.5 and 3.2.1, it would be important to find out whether

specialised training (career) programs play any significant role in influencing

Bangladeshi teachers‘ motivation. Both quantitative and qualitative data would be used in

finding this answer. For the quantitative part information, the motivator determiner

section (e.g. survey question 4 and 5) from the intended survey would be used. The

motivator determiner section uses 4 level based importance scale in which a respondent

can choose option from any one of the followings: very important, important, mildly

important and not important. In question no 4, the respondents would be asked to

prioritise the issue of specialised training courses(s) as a motivator factor. Question no 5

would not be used in this context because so far lack f specialised training courses has not

been identified as a cause for de-motivation.

42% of the total teachers (i.e. 37 out of 90 respondents) believe specialised training

courses play a ‗very important‘ role in improving motivational level. 43% believe (i.e. 38

out of 90 respondents) specialised training courses play an ‗important‘ role in improving

motivational level. Only 4 out of 90 respondents (i.e. 4.44%) teachers believe

opportunities for specialised training courses is not a motivator factor at all. However, as

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26% (23 out of 90 respondents) of the further education teachers believe poor

performance by co-workers is a de-motivational factor rather than a motivational factor

and poor performance depends a lot on what specialised skills co-workers possess, the

importance of giving opportunities for specialised training courses can not be neglected.

Hence it could be said that specialised training (career) programs play a significant role

in influencing Bangladeshi teachers’ motivation.

The qualitative part information would consist viewpoints of the Principals in further

education institutions. From the qualitative findings it could be said that there exists a

mixed opinion between the Principals regarding the effectiveness of specialised training

courses. The Principal of Chittagong Government College said:

“In government institutions, the recruitment process of teachers

is relatively tougher comparing to private sectors. All of our teachers possess necessary teaching degrees such as BEd along

with their subject degree. Besides, higher level teachers come

from BCS-Education Cadre scheme and there exists a very little

chance of recruiting contemptible teachers. If the government

want to update the syllabus, our government teachers are the one

to whom the Education Ministry ask for suggestions and new syllabus. They prepare, up-to-date and make new curriculum.

Hence, these teachers are already capable of dealing and

delivering new techniques. For this, the teachers stay up-to-date

with modern knowledge by their own initiatives, like reading

journal papers or foreign books. The teaching skills improve with

experience and as day passes, the teachers get wiser to their

surrounding. So, even if there appears an opportunity for specialised training course, teachers feel compelled instead of

enthusiasm. These opportunities practically do not improve the

motivational level unless monetary benefits are included.”

Some alternative suggestions have been proposed by some of the Principals during their

interviews. According to the Principal of IPSC:

“I’d like to say that there are two viewpoints, which I think

will help to motivate teachers if they are given such

opportunities. Assuming the courses are free and may sometimes include visits to abroad, I think teachers will try to work more

sincerely for that. However, if the teachers are kept too busy

with regular class works, or if they are too engaged with private

tuitions and incoming money, the possibility is- fewer teachers

would like to go for specialised training. They will simply

consider it as a waste of time…. I am saying that opportunities

for specialised training should be used as a reward; not as a general mean for enhancing everyone’s performance.”

In contrast, the Principal of Radiant School and College commented:

“The importance of improving skills and learning new techniques

can never be neglected. I always try to learn from other

institutions. Knowledge sharing and a willingness to change

improve the overall performance of the teachers, students and the

institution collectively. The teachers are devoted to their job

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and would consider anything that earns social status and

students’ or parents’ respect. Hence, giving them the opportunity

will certainly increase their motivational level, I believe.

Every institution needs to create such an environment in which teachers would be morally and administratively supported by the

Principal to carry on their specialised courses. We needs to

remember a college is not a business institution and giving extra

days off to the teachers who is working hard to gain additional

career skills will eventually benefit the institution.”

8.8 Findings for objective (h)

Education sector needs to change constantly with the new and upcoming trends of

science, teaching technique, number of students and/or even assessment criteria. In this

context, taking part in the policy making decision has emerged 1 as an important

motivational issue from the discussions of topics 3.1.3, 3.1.7 and 3.2. It would be

important to know to what extent teachers‘ engagement in the decision making process

influences their motivational level in Bangladesh. The motivator determiner section in the

survey questionnaire (i.e. survey questions 4 and 5) would ask the respondent to prioritize

this particular issue in the 4 level based importance scale. In response to question no 4 a

respondent would mark the issue either as a very important motivator factor, or as a

mildly important motivator factor, or as an important motivator factor, or not important at

all. Similarly in response to question 5 a respondent would mark how important this

particular issue is as a de-motivation factor. Thus, the number of teachers considering this

issue as a very important motivator or de-motivator factor could be counted easily.

According to the survey, taking part in the policy making decisions is neither a motivator

nor a de-motivator factor. Only 26% of the sample population (e.g. 23 out of 90 teachers)

believe that taking part in the policy making decisions would actually motivate them for

future projects. This percentage is significantly low comparing to other motivator factors

considered in the same motivator determiner section. On the other hand, only 23% (21

out of 90 respondents) think that not being able to participate in policy making decisions

can de-motivate them. This number is well below the importance level comparing to

other de-motivator factors as well. Clearly the further education teachers in Bangladesh

believe that policy making is not and should not be a part of their job contract.

8.9 Findings for objective (i)

Discussions from topics 3.1.3, 3.1.7 and 3.2.1 have introduced the issue of environment

and interference. It would be important to know to what extent the relationship with other

employees (e.g. colleagues) and (or) with the management influences the motivational

level of teachers working in Bangladesh. This research objective could be further

extended upon to understand the role of sex (i.e. gender) in seeking positive relationship

with the colleagues. Knowing how many of the male teachers believe gender equality is

an important issue comparing to their female counterpart would certainly help to align an

appropriate management strategy. Quantitative information would be used throughout

this whole research objective.

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The ‗motivator determiner section‘ in the survey questionnaire (comprising survey

question 4 and 5) would be used to find out this impact of workplace relationship in

motivation. Again the 4 level based importance scale would be used in which the

respondent would label a specific issue either as an important or as a non-important

motivator (and de-motivator) factor. The survey has showed the relationship issue with

colleagues and/or management is a motivator factor more than a de-motivator factor.

45% of the teachers (41 out of 90 respondents) believe positive relationship with the

colleagues is a ‗very important‘ motivator factor. Similarly, almost 42% (39 out of 90

respondents) believe that positive relationship with the management is also a very

important motivator factor. Hence, it can be said that relationship with other colleagues

and relationship with the management influences the motivational level of Bangladeshi

teachers to a great extent.

In order to understand the impact of gender issue in seeking workplace relationship,

information from question no 3 along with questions 4 and 5 would be used. Question no

3 is part of the ‗personal information‘ section in the survey questionnaire and enquires

about respondent‘s relevant sex (i.e. gender). Surprisingly, more number of male teachers

(52%) seek for positive relationship with colleagues than their female counterparts

(48%). However, equal percentages of male and female teachers (50%) seek for a

positive relationship with the management.

45%

42%

20

25

30

35

40

45

Percentage of

teachers

Relationship with colleagues

Relationship with management

Figure 12: Importance of having positive relationship with colleagues Vs positive

relationship with management.

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Figure 13: Male female ratio in seeking workplace relationships

8.10 Finding for objective (j)

From the discussions of topics 3.2.1 and 3.2.2, it would be important to find out two most

important employer obligations according to the respective parties, so that it would be

possible to compare the level of understanding between these two opposite sides (i.e.

teachers and Principals). In order to do so, firstly it is needed to find out which two are

the most important motivator factors according to the employees. According to King and

Bu (2005) the most important employer obligations perceived by the employees (e.g.

teachers) can be described as the most influential employee motivator factors. After

finding the two most important motivator factors, it would have to be tested and

compared with the viewpoints of the Principals to understand the difference of perception

(i.e. how effective the Principals think these two motivator factors are in motivating

teachers?).

Both quantitative and qualitative data would have to be used in this context. The

motivator determiner section (e.g. survey question 4 and 5) from the intended survey

would be used. The motivator determiner section uses 4 level based importance scale in

which a respondent can choose option from any one of the followings: very important,

important, mildly important and not important. Due to the smaller number of responses,

the factors exceeding more than 50% of the overall teachers‘ opinion poll as ‗very

important‘ motivators would be considered as most important employer obligations

perceived by employees. To measure this, the total number of positive cardinality (i.e. 1)

in the ‗very important‘ column for the respective factors would be calculated. In a sense,

the factors which would achieve the highest numbers of 1s (e.g. positive responses),

would be considered as the two most important motivator factors/employer obligations.

According to the survey, the two most important employer obligations (in other words,

the factors that motivate the employees to a great extent) are- Payment, and opportunities

for Promotion & advancement. The first one is a materialistic motivation and the second

one is an intrinsic motivation (such as responsibility). 55% of the teachers (50 out of the

90 respondents) have labelled ‗Payment‘ as one of the ‗very important‘ motivator factors.

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Then again 51% of the teachers (46 out of 90 respondents) seek for ‗promotion and

advancement‘ as the biggest motivation to their work. 49% of the overall teachers believe

the pattern for ‗recognition and performance appraisal‘ is a very important motivator

factor. A ‗positive relationship with the colleagues‘ is the fourth most important

motivator factor counting almost 45% of the total poll. ‗Positive relationships with the

management‘ and ‗specialised training courses‘ are considered most important motivator

factors by 42% of the teachers (e.g. 38 out of 90 respondents).

Figure 14: The two most important motivator factors

Interviews with the Principals include the question whether it is surprising that the survey

has found Payment and Opportunities for promotion and advancement are the two most

important motivational factors for Bangladeshi further education teachers. According to

the Principal of Radiant School and College-

“I won’t say payment is a big motivational factor in our school. All the teachers are reasonably paid-off. I believe socialization

and opportunities to build up a secure social status will be seen

as the important motivator factor by our teachers. Plus as I have

mentioned before, teachers in this institution can take part in

the policy making decisions in much greater extents comparing to

other colleges. I think being able to work independently is

another reason why our teachers are doing well. So I am a bit surprised that the survey did not pick up this right fact.”

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The Principal of Ispahani Public School and College said-

“I think management is sufficiently aware of the fact what

motivates our teacher the best. So the finding does surprise me

in a sense that teachers did not evaluate a positive relationship

with the management as a great motivator. Based on my experience, teachers seek for a good relationship with their management,

which I believe motivate them to go for future projects. For an

example, last year one of my senior teachers refused to be a

Class Teacher because she thought being a class teacher will

subsequently take her away from her colleagues. She thought she

had a very good relationship with her colleagues, so it will be impossible for her to maintain a close relationship with the

management. Although I assured her that being close to her

colleagues does not mean that she can’t have a positive

relationship with the management, she declined. All this happened

only because she considered herself incapable because of the

reason that having a positive relationship with the management...is not possible by her.”

In contrast, the Principal of Chittagong Government College commented-

“Payment is obviously the most appropriate motivational factor

here. Not only being a government college, I believe all other

institution has faced the similar problem like us...the payment

is too low. This year we have applied for a gratuity fund from

the Ministry. If it becomes successful, I believe we will be able

to motivate the teachers in a much wider sense. Increase of payment will bring them more opportunities for socialization as

well. So I think that is also an important motivator factor. In

addition to these, I totally agree with the concept that

opportunities for promotion and advancement increase motivational

level. We have seen this before and we have proved before that

promoting teachers improve their motivational level. Because of a slow promotion system...which is governed and administered by the

Government...most of our teachers feel de-motivated to accept

extra duties.”

Hence, it could be concluded that according to employees (e.g. teachers) the two most

important employer obligations would be ensuring Payment and opportunities for

Promotion (e.g. career advancement). Unfortunately they were not similarly perceived by

the employer side, which considers other factors as most important employer obligations.

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Chapter 5: Investigation- Analysis

[The purpose of this chapter would be to help in deciding the appropriate motivational

strategy for the further education teachers working in Bangladesh. Findings from the

previous chapter would be interpreted, compared and analysed in order to obtain specific

conclusive notions. The chapter prepares grounds for specific strategic suggestions

intended to be presented in the Recommendation part of the next chapter. The reasons for

having contradictory paradigms would be discussed; and the means for aligning

motivational strategy accordingly would be emphasised.]

9. Interpretation of quantitative data

According to Bell (2005), interpreting refers to look for similarities, groupings, clusters,

categories and items of particular significance. Remenyi et al (1998) referred

interpretation as another form of processing the evidence, which ensures using of the

findings would be unbiased and accurate. Because of the nature of this research,

interpretations from both quantitative and qualitative perspective would be necessary.

To know the extent of influence which different motivational factors play in motivating

(or de-motivating) teachers, the ‗motivator determiner‘ section (which comprises of

survey questions 4, 5 and 6) would be used. This section is based on Herzberg‘s Dual

Factor theory and relevant other analyses. Motivational level can be interpreted from the

‗motivational level determination‘ section (comprising question no 7 in the survey

questionnaire), which is designed based on the classic Need Hierarchy of Abraham

Maslow. The ‗personal information‘ section (comprising survey questions 1,2 and 3)

would be used to obtain information for analyzing specific cross

An abnormality in answering the survey questions by the respondents could be observed,

which is practically beyond any theoretical explanation. For example: in response to

question 4 and 5, some teachers are labelling ‗payment‘ as one of the most important

motivator factor (and de-motivator factor as well). The same group of teachers are then

demanding intrinsic outcomes/rewards as motivation instead of materialistic rewards in

response to question 6. This notion is an interesting finding and worth of having an in-

depth qualitative analysis. 16 out of 90 respondents have been identified responding in

this manner. Similarly, 9 out of the 90 respondents claiming self-actualization as the most

desirable level in Maslow‘s hierarchy (in response to question 6) are labelling payment as

a very important motivator factor.

An example of a respondent‘s remark in response to survey question 8 is presented

below. This same respondent has prioritized payment as the biggest motivator and de-

motivator factor.

“I feel to motivate me best to appreciate my good works and

criticism of my negative sides. And for this recognition of my

contribution if I am rewarded by getting promotion or by

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recognizing me. If I get slowly promoted on my relationship

between colleagues and management don’t go well I feel very de-

motivated.”

This type of problematic data has been corrected and verified using survey question 8

(e.g. the open comments/remarks section). Teachers‘ own comments in the questionnaire

have reflected the type of desired motivation(s) they seek for- thus justifying either the

answers from motivator determiner section (survey questions 4 and 5), or from

motivational level determination section (e.g. survey question 7).

However, despite of saying ‗Payment‘ is the biggest motivator factor, Bangladeshi

college teachers seek intrinsic types of motivations more than materialistic motivations

(supported information obtained through survey question 6). To support this notion, the

next two biggest motivator factors have been identified as – ‗Recognition and

performance appraisal‘, and ‗Promotion and advancement‘; both belonging to the

intrinsic reward/motivation scheme discussed in topics 3.1.4 and 3.1.7. Demands for

materialistic motivations such as positive relationship with the management and

opportunities for specialised training courses are pretty low, which is a very interesting

finding in context to Bangladesh.

Before submitting data for the SPSS work sheet, all the information would be weighted

using numeric type numbers and the (basic) cardinal of 1. Any positive response would

be weighted as 1 although negative responses would be deducted, thus eliminating the

possibility of using cardinal 0. The survey questionnaire has been designed in such a way

that it contains necessary numeric representations (i.e. Question Nos). Therefore

forecasting the overall cardinality (i.e. positive answer or negative answer) of a specific

question would be systematic and easier.

10. Summary of quantitative findings

The following are the summaries of findings obtained through quantitative information

described earlier. These findings would be necessary to remember before analyzing and

setting-up an appropriate motivational strategy for the teachers working in Bangladeshi

higher education sector.

(a) In Bangladesh the public sector further education teachers (e.g. government teachers)

are less motivated, and need greater attention than their private sector counterpart.

(b) Bangladeshi further education teachers seek for both intrinsic and extrinsic

motivations. However, majority of Bangladeshi further education teachers seek more

intrinsic motivations than materialistic motivations.

(c) The pattern of recognition or performance appraisal system plays a significant role in

influencing teachers‘ motivational level. In this regard teachers believe having

materialistic rewards such as Promotion and opportunities for career development is a

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better motivator factor comparing to simply getting recognized and/or being appraised for

good work.

(d) Gender issue does not affect the motivational level of further education teachers

working in Bangladesh.

(e) Teachers‘ age play a significantly important role in deciding the appropriate

motivational need.

(f) Opportunities for sspecialised training (career) programs play a significant role in

influencing Bangladeshi teachers‘ motivation.

(g) Taking part in the policy making decisions is neither a motivator nor a de-motivator

factor for Bangladeshi further education teachers.

(h) A higher number of male teachers seek for positive relationship with colleagues than

their female counterparts. However, equal percentages of male and female teachers seek

for a positive relationship with the management.

(i) The two most important employee motivator factors are Payment, and Opportunities

for promotion & advancement. The first one is extrinsic motivation and the second one is

intrinsic motivation (such as responsibility).

11. Interpretation of qualitative data

Callis and Hussey (2003) have discussed the possibility of using Grounded theory as a

method of analyzing qualitative data. Although grounded theory is generally used in

deciding overall methodology, the same pattern can be followed in analyzing and

interpreting particular information(s). According to them the initial stage of grounded

theory is coding, which enable the qualitative data to be separated, compiled and

organized. At a basic level they are simple and topical, at more complex levels the codes

are more general and conceptually abstract to aid theory development.

The second stage of grounded theory is linking and developing by means of the

paradigm. ―At this stage, the researcher will construct mini-theories about the

relationships that might exist within the data and which need to be verified. Although the

overall theoretical framework will not be discovered in this stage, the mini-theories can

be incorporated into and form part of the overall paradigm model that is being developed

alongside the research‖ (Callis and Hussey, 2003).

The last stage of the analysis is: further development of categories and sub-categories in

terms of properties and dimensions. This develops the ideas already generated within the

identification of the phenomenon. It builds on the relationships discovered and

purposefully tracks down other relationships, some of which will fall outside the

paradigm model.

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The themes emerged from the coding have been discussed in the next topic. These

themes would then be compared, analyzed and used to align the perfect management

strategy for the further education sector.

12. Emerging themes from qualitative findings

Throughout the interviews a number of research themes have emerged. These themes

would be focused, assessed and evaluated upon in the Analysis chapter along with

relevant theories and findings obtained through the Results/Findings section, which

would play a significant role in aligning a new management strategy.

12.1 Administration

This part of the conversation has focused on the relationship between management and

the colleagues. The research objectives-g and i tend to analyse the effects of having more

opportunities in the policy making decisions and interference from the management on

the motivational level of Bangladeshi further education teachers. It is necessary to

compare the perception regarding an ideal administration of both the parties (i.e.

employer and the employee) if these two motivator factors are needed to be aligned

properly with the management strategy. Therefore, the issue needs to be addressed and

the Principals must be interviewed regarding their present administrative environment.

The interviews were successful in this context and all the Principals provided an insight

of what they think the definition of ideal administration should be, and how they tend to

integrate the definition with their present situation. Although all of the Principals could

define a clear definition of ideal administration and believe that their authority is ideal in

many extents, a clear contrast could be observed when they confessed that there are many

issues left to be addressed. Supposedly this notion expresses an inflexible (or stubborn)

attitude from the management‘s side. In most of the cases the authority is at the same

time practising both flexible and bureaucratic approach.

According to one of the teachers who participated in the previous quantitative survey-

“The authority pretends to listen, but we never see any actions taken based on our recommendations. Ultimately every decision

relies on the Principal. So what is the point encouraging us to

participate in the policy making decisions. Instead it causes me

a great deal of de-motivation.”

12.2 Type of rewarding

From the interviews another important issue has emerged, which itself was a burning

topic in the quantitative survey as well. The survey among the teachers has provided the

necessary insight, which clearly shows that teachers mostly seek for intrinsic rewards.

However, as part of deciding any management strategy (where both the employer and

employees would be affected) it is necessary to know the perception from both the (i.e.

management and employees) side. Therefore, in the interview discussion the Principals

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where asked, in a sense, to provide their opinions regarding what should better motivate

the further education teachers. Interestingly a new paradigm has emerged in which most

of the Principals have proposed a combination. A clear effort to link all the theoretical

positive motivator factors with management strategy has also been demonstrated by one

of the Principals. According to the Principal of Ispahani Public School and College-

“Being recognised and appraised for right performance certainly

increases the motivation, especially when we are talking about my

teachers. In previous years we had a steady but slow promotion system in which teachers used to get promotions based on their

service hour and experience. But many teachers complained about

the delays in promotion and used to believe that they deserve

faster but worthy recognition. I introduced bonus schemes to

change the situation in which teachers are rewarded bonus

payments if their performance is beyond the satisfactory level.

Teachers who seek intrinsic motivation, as you have mentioned before, instead of monetary rewards…are promoted to Class

Teachers for a particular period.”

The combination of rewarding has been recognised by ordinary teachers as well. The

following is an interesting comment obtained from one of the survey papers:

“People are greedy. The moment you give them money, the next

moment they want more. So, if you can limit the amount by giving

them other rewards which would be equally perceived as money, it

would be easier to stay in control. I’d certainly appreciate if my institution sends me to conferences as a senior teacher or

short holidays in other parts of the country on its expenses.”

12.3 Management Strategy and IPRP

As part of the previous theme, the issue of IPRP has also been addressed by both the

interviewer and the interviewee. Before aligning any strategic decision, it is important to

remember that resources are scarce. Hence, improving the payment structure does not

necessarily mean that the government needs to increase the salary of the teachers.

Instead, monetary motivation can be proposed in the form of Instant Performance Related

Pay (IPRP). Although majority of the further education teachers have said that they do

not see bonus as a great motivational factor, Principals seem to disagree with this view.

However, gratuity fund has been recognised as a great motivational factor by both the

parties. As one of the teachers has mentioned out:

“Motivation depends on many other factors, which I believe you

know better than me. Plus, in my opinion, a better administration

can guarantee job satisfaction at best, not motivation. To

motivate the teachers for new projects, you need to increase their payment; or ensure them early gratuity etc. Otherwise the

performance level will always remain the same, fulfilling the

bare necessity.”

A public sector teacher from the quantitative survey questionnaire commented:

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“What me and my children are going to do after my retirement

makes me crazy! I need a proper source of income even after

retirement, regardless of how much money I make now. This is the

reason why despite of having the opportunity, I did not leave the government institution. Although private institutions pay more,

they do not provide any gratuity or provident fund.”

Only on of the Principals emphasised more on deciding the criteria for performance

appraisal system rather than directly implementing IPRP. According to him, before

deciding any performance related rewarding, the way to evaluate this performance should

be decided first. This is a very important managerial issue and should reflect on the

proposed strategic recommendations.

12.4 Change initiatives

Initiating change processes is an important management phenomenon, which needs to be

addressed while discussing with the Principals. The objective would be to find out in

which way or by whom most of the cases resistance to change occurs. This is important

to know because future management strategies need to be aligned based on what would

be the most efficient way to initiate change process. During the interviews, all the

Principals said that student politics would be the main reason for reluctance in

implementation change processes. The Principals openly condemned student politics and

had expressed their views against it.

However, not everyone thinks student politics is the only resistance to initiate change

process. Some Principals have mentioned about in-house politics too. Principals have

blamed the superior authority for falling in implementing change initiatives. It should be

noted that the Principals did not blame the teachers for failing in to implement any

change program. There are two possible explanations for this. One option could be that

the management simply does not count teachers to take part in any policy making

decisions. The second explanation could be Principals are in constant power struggle with

the superior authority. According to the principal of Radiant School and College-

“In our institution, we try to implement everything in a

democratic way. Teachers have much say in the policy making decisions of the institution. Any change process that we intend

to implement is thoroughly discussed with the board of directors

at the very last stage. Before doing so I discuss the intended

change plans with my teachers. If they think the change will

bring significant improvement in present situation, I take the

proposal to the board. I need to convince myself about the

viability and the possibility of the change process as well. However, board of directors are the supreme authority and if they

feel the intended change proposal is not worth enough, we are

bound to obey their decisions.”

Although taking part in the policy making decision as a motivator factor has already been

discussed before, power struggle has not yet been identified as an issue. Hence from the

discussions of change initiative this new theme has emerged, which is very much related

to administration.

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13. Comparison of quantitative and qualitative findings

Some of the quantitative research findings would be tested and compared with the

associated qualitative findings in order to measure the level of understanding in

perceptions perceived by the two opposing employee and employer sides. Measuring this

difference in perception would not only help in knowing what the second party (e.g.

employer) think of the first party (employee), but would also help in aligning and

recommending an effective management strategy.

In this regard the first intended objective would be to test whether the Principals think the

pattern of recognition or performance appraisal system plays a significant role in

influencing teachers‘ motivational level. The quantitative finding of this inquiry has

returned the answer positive. The survey has confirmed that teachers believe having

materialistic rewards such as Promotion and opportunities for career development is a

better motivator factor comparing to simply getting recognized and/or being appraised for

good work.

Fortunately, feedbacks obtained through the interviews confirm that majority of the

Principals think in the similar way and consider materialistic reward such as IPRP a

better motivator than simply appraising or verbally recognising good performance

(referring to topic no 8.3). Therefore, the intended management strategy at end of this

research should emphasise on two most important materialistic rewarding: Promotions

and Instant Performance Related Payment (IPRP). However, one Principal highlighted a

very important issue in this regard- how to evaluate the performance of teachers from the

viewpoint of teaching capability. According to him, if the conventional journal based

publication is considered as the effective way of assessing a teacher‘s potential for

Promotion or IPRP, the whole pattern of recognition would be ineffective and would face

serious criticism. In that case the proposed strategy should be to evaluate teaching skills

of teachers by an independent board comprising the members of management, Principal

and other fellow colleagues. This board, upon request, would evaluate the suitability of

the candidate for a Promotion and/or Performance Related Payment (IPRP). Feedback

from students would also be collected so that there exists a better chance of assessing

teaching skills rather than academic and/or age superiority.

The second objective of the comparison would be to find out the difference in perception

regarding the effectiveness of specialized training courses (such as BEd, Med, PGCE or

ITT) as a motivator factor for teachers. The survey has showed that opportunities for

specialised training (career) programs play a significant role in influencing Bangladeshi

teachers‘ motivation. Some respondents have even commented that they feel de-

motivated because they do not receive any encouragement or opportunity to improve the

inner-personal skills, which they believe would have brought them much closer to the

students. What do the Principals think in this context? Unfortunately not every Principal

thinks specialised training programs would enhance teachers‘ motivational level. In fact,

the negative perception is much superior to a positive viewpoint. One Principal has even

suggested not to consider specialised training courses as a mean to improve skills but to

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use the opportunity in such a way that it looks like a materialistic reward. For example:

the Principal has suggested that teachers should be told about career opportunities and

payment increases instead of having an improved teaching capability if they accomplish

such courses. Although the effectiveness and justification of such notion is very much

arguable, the Principal believes the existing appraisal system and social recognition in a

sense, prefers materialistic rewards rather than intrinsic rewards (such as opportunities to

improve inner personal skills). Clearly this notion is a complete contradiction of the

finding obtained through research objective-b in topic 8.2.

At this point another important comparison would have to be conducted. The quantitative

survey has showed teachers prefer intrinsic motivations rather than extrinsic motivations.

However, from the qualitative interviews it could be interpreted that two out of three

Principals believe the teachers are materialistic (i.e. seeking extrinsic rewarding), which

is a complete contrast to the findings from quantitative survey. There exist two possible

explanations in this context. Firstly, the average communication between teachers and

Principals is so ineffective that the management has clearly failed to realize teachers‘

motivational needs. The alternative possibility is, because ‗Payment‘ and ‗Opportunities

for promotion and advancement‘ has been identified as the two most important motivator

factors (the first factor was coined as extrinsic and the second was coined as intrinsic

motivator), they are not necessarily a group (or groups) of either extrinsic motivators or

intrinsic motivators. This second possibility is the most contradictory paradigm obtained

throughout the research and has been explained elaborately in topic 13.2.1. It would also

be important to compare whether the two most important employee motivator factors are

equally considered as the two most important employer obligations perceived by the

Principals. Unfortunately the qualitative analysis showed that the quantitatively emerged

two perceived employer obligations by the employees are not similarly perceived by the

employer side, which considers other factors as most important employer obligations.

The following table shows the comparison of the above mentioned quantitative and

qualitative findings in a concise order:

Quantitative findings Qualitative findings

1.

Teachers believe opportunities for

Promotion and career development is

a better motivator factor comparing to

simply getting recognised, or being

verbally appraised for good work.

1.

Principals believe teachers get far more

motivated if chances for promotion and

opportunities for career development

are offered rather than officially or

verbally recognizing the effort.

2.

Teachers believe Instant Performance

Related Payment (IPRP) is not a great

motivational factor.

2.

Principals believe IPRP could be used

as a great motivational factor for

teachers.

74

3.

Teachers believe an opportunity for

specialised training courses is a very

important motivation.

3.

Principals believe opportunities for

specialised training courses would not

motivate teachers in their present job

context.

4.

Teachers seek for both intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation. However, more

teachers seek for intrinsic motivations

than extrinsic ones.

4. Principals believe teachers only seek

for extrinsic motivations.

5.

Teachers believe ensuring payment

and regular promotion should be the

two most important employer

obligations.

5.

Principals believe other factors such as

ensuring positive relationship with the

management and providing

opportunities to take part in the policy

making decisions are the most

important employer obligations.

Table 1: Comparison between quantitative and qualitative findings

14. Paradoxical research findings: Explanation and analysis

At this stage, it is very likely to experience the demolition of hypothesis and getting

outcomes contrary to the initial beliefs (Saunders et al, 2003). The findings for research

question-1 and 3 in particular address such an issue. Two of the most contradictory

research findings regarding research questions 1 and 3 are: 1) teachers seek for intrinsic

motivations from their jobs (finding from research objective-b). 2) On the other hand they

are saying that Payment is one of the biggest motivator factors, which should be

considered as the biggest employer obligation (finding from objective-j). Therefore, the

question arises: how come a materialistic reward such as Payment could be the part of

teachers‘ intrinsic expectations?

The phenomenon can be explained with the help of rational reasoning and hypothetical

analysis. Teachers not only seek for intrinsic motivation, but they actually seek for both a

combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivator factors. ―It can be argued that money

motivates because it is linked directly or indirectly with the satisfaction of many needs. It

satisfies the basic needs for survival and security, if income is regular. It can also satisfy

the need for self-esteem and status. Money satisfies the less desirable but nevertheless

prevalent drives of acquisitiveness and cupidity. So money may in itself have no intrinsic

meaning, but it acquires significant motivating power because it comes to symbolise so

many intangible goals. Pay is often a dominant factor in the choice of employer, and pay

75

is an important consideration when people are deciding whether or not to stay with an

organisation.‖ (Armstrong, 2002)

According to Armstrong (2002), people need money and therefore want money.

However, it can motivate but it is not the only motivator. It has been suggested by

Wallace and Szilagyi (1982, cited in Armstrong 2002) that money can serve the

following reward functions:

It can act as a goal that people generally strive for, although to different

degrees.

It can act as an instrument which provides valued outcomes.

It can be a symbol which indicates the recipient‘s value to the organisation.

It can work as a general reinforcer because it is associated with valued

rewards so often that it takes on reward value itself.

Researchers have described payment as the ‗basic‘ motivation instead of coining the term

intrinsic or extrinsic. According to him payment is the basic requirement to distinguish

any activity as a ‗job‘, without which people are not likely to work. Hence instead of

discussing payment as a materialistic motivator, it would be appropriate to consider it as

a psychological and physiological need (i.e. a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation). This notion justifies the finding of this research namely: teachers seek for

both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from their job. In this regard, remark from a

respondent during the survey questionnaire can be mentioned:

“When I get an extra amount of salary increase, then I feel

motivated to finish the assigned project. This happens at the

very first week of the job. But eventually when I find out that

working hard even with the increased salary is not worth enough

comparing to other jobs or posts, I feel de-motivated. So payment

is the biggest issue in motivating or de-motivating me although

as a conservative family member, I expect respect and social status from my job. Money can improve these two demands as well.

If I get a good salary, not only my psychical needs are

satisfied, but my mental needs have a better chance of getting

satisfied too.”

Therefore, it can be argued that our finding of Payment as one of the most important

employee motivator factor (despite of majority of the teachers seeking for intrinsic

motivations) is rationale and justified. This finding is authentic and credible, which needs

to be used appropriately while aligning a particular motivational strategy for teachers.

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Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations

[This part of the report delivers the final objective of the research by

proposing/suggesting several management strategies, which will help in improving

teachers‘ motivation. The recommendations are derived from the research findings and

analysis conducted in the earlier stages of this report. In addition to proposing the

motivational strategies, the chapter also discusses the limitations of this research, its

implications and scopes for explorations by future researchers.]

15. Review and analysis of the research questions

A review of findings of the three previously described research questions should be

discussed at this stage before aligning a new motivational strategy. The most

contradictory finding and inconclusive answer of a specific research question would be

research question no-1. Comprising of research objectives a and b, the statement of the

question described – ―In what level of Maslow‘s hierarchy the Bangladeshi further

education teachers fit-in‖? Finding out the answer of this research question is important

because it circuitously deals with the type of motivator factors which would improve the

motivational level of further education teachers. If the teachers reside in the lowest level

of Maslow‘s hierarchy (e.g. have not overcome their survival need yet), materialistic

motivations rather than the intrinsic ones would be the most probable motivator factors

used in improving teachers motivational level. This hypothesis can be tested and verified

if in response to objective-b, the survey response affirms most of the further education

teachers seek for materialistic motivations.

Ironically, the finding from objective-b shows that most of the teachers seek for intrinsic

motivations even though finding from objective-a suggests majority of the further

education teachers reside in the very basic level of Maslow‘s hierarchy (e.g. possess very

high survival need). A similar notion has been discussed in topic no 14 of the ‗Analysis‘

chapter. The only explainable reason would be, the information collected through

quantitative method was not utterly untainted due to the fact that some papers were

accidentally sent to some higher education institutions (instead of further education

institution) such as universities. This noted paradigm must be taken into account while

designing recommendations/ suggestions for the further education sector management in

Bangladesh.

Hence, the answer for research question-1 is inconclusive although statistically it could

be said that the overall level of motivation is pretty low based on the scale of Maslow‘s

hierarchy. A vast majority of teachers from both private and public sector resides in the

first need level of Maslow‘s hierarchy. Public sector seems less motivated than their

private sector counterpart and although in theory teachers are supposed to seek for

extrinsic rewards, in reality the situation is quite opposite. Despite of residing inside the

very basic level of Maslow‘s hierarchy, teachers seek for both intrinsic and extrinsic

rewards.

77

Research question 2 on contrary, possesses absolutely conclusive findings. The second

research question could be described as – ―According to Herzberg‘s Dual Factor theory,

what is the most influential motivator factor for Bangladeshi further education teachers?‖

In response to this query, Payment has been identified as the most influential motivator

factor for Bangladeshi further education teachers. As the research question intends to find

out employees‘ (e.g. teachers‘) motivational factor rather than the Principals (e.g.

employers), result from quantitative survey would only be used in this context. According

to the survey 55% of the total teachers (50 out of 90 respondents) believe the issue of

Payment is the most influential motivator factor.

The third research question could be described as- ―What is the extent of difference

regarding the awareness of two most important employee motivator factors perceived by

both the individual parties (i.e. employee and the employer) in Bangladeshi further

education sector?‖ The finding is conclusive as well in this case. In response to this

question, it could be said that the difference in perception between both the participating

parties is significantly varied. What employees perceive as the two most important

motivators is not perceived similarly by the employers. According to the survey, the most

important motivator factors perceived by the employees would be Payment and

Promotion & career advancement. In contrast, two out of three Principals believe

Payment is not the biggest motivator factor. Positive relationship with the management

had even been considered by one of the interviewed Principals.

16. Aligning motivational strategy

Because the further education teachers in Bangladesh generally seek for intrinsic (and up

to some extent extrinsic as well) motivations from their present job condition, a

combination of both intrinsic and materialistic motivational factors should be used in

aligning next course of actions. Herzberg‘s theory seems to be the most appropriate

motivational strategy in this context. Proper measures should be taken to ensure the

motivator factors described in Herzberg‘s theory, which are the reasons for motivation in

people‘s job.

16.1 Payment

At present some colleges use IPRP (Instant Performance Related Payment) as a mean to

motivate teachers in higher education sector. Principals tend to use this power as a mean

to motivate teachers but the survey has showed IPRP does not play any significant role in

improving teachers‘ motivational level. Instead many believe it creates an unhealthy

competition among employees (Prucell, 2000). However, teachers have said Salary and

Performance Appraisal are the two most important motivator factors. Hence, in this case

instead of concentrating on IPRP, we should consider a solution regarding permanent

payment.

78

Before proposing any suggestion regarding payment, it should again be noted that

resources are scarce, and unlike any developed nation Bangladesh needs to rearrange its

salary from the existing resources available. Therefore, in this case increase of salary is

not possible although it is desirable. Students‘ tuition fees in government colleges can not

be increased due to political disinclination. At this point the most appropriate solution

that exists can be described as rewarding potent teachers by means of not money, but by

extra working hours. In order to do so, a significant number of ineffectual teachers need

to be removed first. This notion can be executed under the terms of ‗golden hand-shake‘

policy. As a result, the existing teachers will have to work harder and will be eligible to

get over-time payments for extra working hours. Despite of working hard, teachers are

likely to have increased dedication because in context to Bangladesh teachers are

motivated by money (e.g. payment), and achieving extra working-hours comparing to

other colleagues would be seen as a recognition from the management by other respective

teachers (Equity theory).

But how the teachers should be selected for having extra working hours? In the present

IPRP system, salary in a month gets increased up to a certain extent if the teacher

performs ‗satisfactorily‘. However, the term satisfactorily can not be defined

appropriately and question arises how teachers are evaluated in this case? The research

has showed that Principals (not even the governing body) mainly decides who and how

much salary increase should a teacher have. In that case the proposed strategy should be

to evaluate teaching skills of teachers by an independent board comprising the members

of management, Principal and other fellow colleagues. This board, upon request, would

evaluate the suitability of the candidate for extra working hour (i.e. over-time) chances.

Feedback from students should also be collected so that there exists a better chance of

assessing teaching skills rather than academic and/or technical superiority.

16.2 Promotion and advancement

In addition to payment, teachers think Opportunities for Promotion and advancement is

the second biggest motivator factor. Promotion is very important and a through review of

the existing promotion system is necessary. Promotion includes the achieving the posts

such as Class Teacher, Senior Lecturer, Asst. Professor, Professor etc. Similar to extra

working-hour paradigm, question arises about how teachers should be nominated for a

promotion? The answer, in fact is relatively simple. The teachers, who would be

receiving extra-working hours, should also get the Promotion. This can be justified due to

the fact that teacher‘s over-time are allocated based on their performance, similar to

having a promotion. Therefore, a teacher who is achieving a promotion will automatically

get a salary increase by the means of over-time payment. Hence, there exists no chance of

bringing in the allegation that incompetent teachers get more payment and over-times

than their competent counterpart.

However, this notion patches up one significant course of action: regular promotion

scheme based on age will have to go. Instead, performance related promotion will have to

be introduced. Similar to the process of selecting teachers for over-time work, teachers

will be evaluated by an independent board comprising the members of management,

79

Principal and other fellow Colleagues. This board, upon request, would evaluate the

suitability of the candidate for a Promotion and/or extra working hour allocation.

Feedback from students should also be collected so that there lives a better chance of

assessing teaching skills rather than academic and/or age superiority.

16.3 Specialised training courses

As part of aligning intrinsic motivational strategy, emphasis should be given on

specialised training courses. The quantitative research has proved that having

opportunities for specialised training courses such as BEd, Med, PGCE and ITT increase

higher education teachers‘ motivation level. According to one of the participant teachers,

these courses prepare themselves to undertake critical tasks such as teaching on a new

curriculum, upgraded teaching techniques and dealing with students in complex

situations. However, question arises whether this opportunity should be offered to all the

teachers or it should be restricted among very few. In answering this question, it should

be considered that resources are limited and a poor economy like Bangladesh can not

effort sending every teacher to specialised training courses on state expenses. Some

teachers (and Principals) even have suggested that if promising teachers should be sent to

other countries for training (and holiday together) purposes. Clearly this notion is purely

unaffordable by the Government and other private colleges. In this regard, the only

immediate solution can be to assessing teachers for one or two years‘ basis before he/she

is selected for a training course. The strategy should include the notion that not all the

teachers but the very few who would be selected by the college governing committee

should receive a funding (not a loan) from the government. Government colleges need

particular attention in this context because teachers‘ performances there are especially

awful. By doing so, being selected for this kind of training courses would be seen as a

prestigious intrinsic reward, thus improving teachers‘ self-confidence and technical skills

in one go.

16.4 Extra curricular activities

Part of the research has showed young teachers seek for more intrinsic motivations

comparing to their older counterpart. The older Bangladeshi teachers go by, the more

they start looking for materialistic rewards such as payment and holidays. In this regard,

instead of providing the chances for socialization to older teachers, younger ones should

be sent to seminars, Scout activities, exhibitions and sports competitions. At present

many older teachers want to be the troop leader and/or the sports coordinator by virtue of

their position because they consider these kinds of activities as a way of making over-

time incomes. Once the management will start allocating over-time hours not based on

age but based on enthusiasm (i.e. performance), situations are most likely to change.

Those teachers genuinely interested in taking part in the sports activities, supervision or

seminars will more likely benefit the institution comparing to the money motivated older

counterpart.

80

16.5 Building relationships

There exists a huge gap in perceptions perceived by both the management and the

teachers regarding what these two parties expect from each other. The survey has showed

equal number of male and female percentages seek for a positive relationship with the

management. However, teachers do not wish to take part in the policy making decisions.

Hence, the Principal and other members of the board should try to listen to what teachers

expect from their jobs instead of asking teachers‘ view regarding student or teaching

policy. Much emphasis has already been given to so-called ‗integration‘ by asking

teachers how to improve student‘s performance in the class, which however has seriously

neglected the expectation and demand of teachers in their personal and social life.

Without satisfying teachers‘ needs it is not possible to improve the education quality.

The same research has showed that more male than female teachers seek positive

relationship with their colleagues. Therefore, instead of having separate common rooms

(what many public colleges still have) for male and female teachers, a common meeting

place should be used. This will effectively increase the chance for teachers to build a

positive relationship with their colleagues, thus increasing the performance level as well.

16. Strategy suggestions

Findings from this research could be used in context to Bangladeshi further education

colleges (intermediate/A levels), which at present demonstrate a poor teaching

performance. Teachers often do not feel motivated to improve the situation and stay

happy by merely fulfilling their class duties. As a result each year majority of the new

initiatives intended by the government (such as to introduce overall English medium

curriculum, decentralization of administration and change in examination processes) do

not succeed in the long run. In this situation, suggestions derived from this through

research could at least be implemented in the respective colleges/institutions in order to

improve teachers‘ motivational level.

1. Instead of Performance related Payment (IPRP), performance related over-time

should be introduced. Teachers with ‗satisfactory‘ performance will receive a

promotion and will automatically achieve the chance to work for extra teaching-

hours (e.g. over-times). To make the chances for extra working hours, institutions

(especially public ones) need to get rid of some of their incompetent and

unnecessary workforces. By doing this, competent teachers would be able to

make more salary in exchange of their labour, thus benefiting both themselves

and the institution to a great extent. The Promotion and performance appraisal

system will have to be very flawless in this context. Teachers will be evaluated by

an independent board comprising the members of management, Principal and

other fellow Colleagues. This board, upon request, would evaluate the suitability

of the candidate for a Promotion and/or extra working hour allocation. Feedback

from students should also be collected so that there exists a better chance of

assessing teaching skills rather than academic and/or age superiority.

81

2. Young teachers should be given more responsibilities in supervising or

participating in extra curricular activities such as Scouting, sports competitions,

debating, seminars and workshops in home or abroad. At present older teachers

get these opportunities by virtue of their seniority. As a result, supervision of

these kinds of activities has become a mere way of making money because older

teachers seek for more materialistic rewards than their younger counterpart.

Sending younger teachers to trainings and seminars are going to benefit the

intuitions in the long run.

3. Similar to the previous suggestion, teachers should be given more opportunities

for specialised training programs such as PGCE, BEd, Med, ITT etc. In this

regard performance should be the only parameter in selecting the suitable

candidates. The state should offer scholarships (not loans) and/or tuition fee

waivers to the selected candidates regardless of in which sector the teacher is

working in (i.e. public or private sector).

4. Public sector teachers should get more attention than their private sector

counterpart in getting opportunities for specialised training courses, performance

related over-times, and building positive relationship between the teachers and the

Principals.

5. Students Politics must be banned from all further education institutions because it

has been identified as the most appropriate reason that causes change resistance.

17. Limitations of the research

Although a number of strategic suggestions have been proposed based on the research

findings, the feasibility and economic perspective has been omitted. For example:

proposal has been made regarding specialised training courses but a feasibility study has

been totally ignored. Similarly, discharging incompetent teachers need to be done before

implementing performance related over-time, but how incompetent teachers will be

selected has not been thought about. I addition to these, banning student politics is not as

easy as it sounds in theory although this is the most influential reason causing resistance

in change processes. Therefore, the practicality for implementing all the above mentioned

suggestions has been ignored and the research tends to produce a suggestion for a perfect

working world.

The methodology for the survey questionnaire could have been improved by adopting

random sampling or structured sampling instead of stratified random sampling. Although

appropriate reasons have been shown to justify the choice for adopting stratified random

sampling (such as lack of time, and unavailability of money and resources) a random

sampling could have had improved the research credibility to a much wider extent and a

low rate of response would not have occurred.

82

And finally, the structure of this report as well as the research could have made more

systematic and user-friendly comparing to its existing expression. Despite of having all

the necessary information and research findings, the derivations of research objectives

from the literature review has made the entire analysis and interpretation part quite a

lengthy progression. However, all these issues and findings were necessary in order to

deliver an appropriate motivational strategy for the nation, which despite of all these

leaves plenty of scopes for future research.

18. Scopes for future research

Some interesting findings have emerged from the research, which can be expanded and

looked upon for further researches. For example, researches can be done in order to

understand the concept for demanding both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations by the

teachers in context to Bangladesh. Secondly, the real obstacles in implementing the above

mentioned strategy suggestions can further be assessed and analysed with a particular

focus on economical feasibility and organizational behaviour. Systematization of

workforce should also be considered through which teachers could be made more

motivated and/or dedicated to their present job. Apart from all these, all three mentioned

research questions in this research in fact, individually possesses the scopes and

possibility to be further expanded upon, theorised and could be used in improving

organisational performance (e.g. performance of the educational institutions).

83

~0~

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