Analyzing
Extrinsic Motivation Factors in English Teachers before and During
the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Lic. Jorge Esteban Méndez Garita
Facultad de Educación
Universidad Hispanoamericana
ABSTRACT
Considering
how trending is the topic, it was selected to be a start point for other people
who would like to dive deep into the topic. This research is expected to be
considered for investigators who want to expand the quantity of people analyzed
in order to provide a positive impact for teacher’s motivation and consequently
the quality of their performance.
The
purpose of this investigation is to examine teachers’ extrinsic motivation
factors and how it could increase their satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the
job environment, considering the pandemic that affected Costa Rica since the
beginning of 2020 and still nowadays during 2021.
There
are multiple factors promoting / decreasing teacher’s motivation, bringing out:
§ class,
curriculum,
§ teacher behavior and
personality,
§ teaching methods,
§ parental habits and
involvement,
§ family issues and
instability,
§ peer relationships,
§ learning environment
and
§ assessment.
The role of teachers is essential
everywhere, most of time students idealize teachers and try to copy them. The
motivation of teacher is, therefore, significant as it directly affects the
students.
Keywords: Trending, Extrinsic
motivation, Satisfaction, Performance.
Análisis de factores de motivación extrínseca en
profesores de inglés antes y durante la pandemia Covid-19
RESUMEN
Teniendo
en cuenta la tendencia del tema, fue seleccionado para ser un punto de partida
para otras personas que quieran profundizar en el tema. Se espera que esta
investigación sea considerada por los investigadores que quieran ampliar la
cantidad de personas analizadas con el fin de proporcionar un impacto positivo
para la motivación de los profesores y, en consecuencia, la calidad de su
rendimiento.
El
propósito de esta investigación es examinar los factores de motivación
extrínseca de los docentes y cómo podría aumentar su satisfacción o
insatisfacción en el ámbito laboral, considerando la pandemia que afectó a Costa
Rica desde inicios del 2020 y aún en la actualidad durante el 2021.
Existen
múltiples factores que promueven/disminuyen la motivación de los docentes,
destacando:
§ la clase,
el currículo,
§ el
comportamiento y la personalidad del profesor,
§ los
métodos de enseñanza,
§ los
hábitos y la participación de los padres,
§ los
problemas familiares y la inestabilidad,
§ las
relaciones con los compañeros,
§ entorno de
aprendizaje y
§ la
evaluación.
El papel
de los profesores es esencial en todas partes, la mayoría de las veces los
alumnos idealizan a los profesores e intentan copiarlos. Por lo tanto, la
motivación del profesor es importante, ya que afecta directamente a los
alumnos.
Palabras claves: Tendencia, Motivación extrínseca,
Satisfacción, Rendimiento.
Artículo
recibido: 10. Junio. 2021
Aceptado
para publicación: 16. Julio. 2021
Correspondencia:
jmendez1810@gmail.com
Conflictos de Interés: Ninguna que declarar
INTRODUCTION
Motivation
and motivational extrinsic factors are generally believed to affect teacher’s
performance in their job and personal life. This investigation is focused on
how factors in teachers from Liceo Experimental Bilingue La Trinidad de Moravia changed previous pandemic
Covid 19 and during the virus.
Specifically,
the study sought to identify factors of motivation that lead to teacher’s job
satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the investigated public institution. The
study employed a descriptive survey research design. Research techniques
employed were interview and questionnaire.
The sample
consisted of twelve teachers from Liceo Experimental Bilingue La Trinidad de Moravia from the English subject,
two of them randomly selected to perform a more personalized interview and the
other ten teachers given a survey to be completed through Windows forms.
Considering
how trending is the topic, it was selected to be a start point for other people
who would like to dive deep into the topic. This research is expected to be
considered for investigators who want to expand the quantity of people analyzed
in order to provide a positive impact for teacher’s motivation and consequently
the quality of their performance.
BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM
According to Organización Mundial de la Salud
(2018), the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission (Hubei Province, China) reports a
cluster of pneumonia cases in the city. Later it is determined that they are
caused by a new coronavirus.
On January 12, 2020, China published the genetic
sequence of the virus causing COVID-19. Based on Ministerio
de Salud of Costa Rica (2020), they reported that the first confirmed case
imported by COVID-19 in Costa Rica was registered after the results obtained by
Inciensa (Costa Rican Institute for Research and
Education on Nutrition and Health). A 49-year-old American woman, who was
isolated, along with her husband in a San José lodging.
Teaching has moved online, with virtual
classes on a scale never seen before, but that has highlighted concerns that
digital poverty is marginalizing some children: even in developed economies,
like the UK, there is a significant minority who do not have access immediately
to a device of their own that they can use for their homework. (Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2020).
Public Ministry of Education (M.E.P.), in its
effort to ensure the comprehensive safety of students and educational
communities, of the officials of the institution and users of their facilities,
made effective the suspension of classes in Liceo
Nocturno de Desamparados due to the first Covid 19 case on March 10, 2020, in
this specific moment Costa Rica had to start developing a plan to respond in a
fast and accurate way to the pandemic.
In Mid-March of 2020, the Public Ministry of
Education (M.E.P.) made the decision to postpone the educational process in the
face-to-face mode and begins the strategy for pedagogical mediation using
virtual sessions.
JUSTIFICATION OF THE TOPIC
The purpose of this investigation is to
examine teachers’ extrinsic motivation factors and how it could increase their
satisfaction or dissatisfaction in the job environment, considering the
pandemic that affected Costa Rica since the beginning of 2020 and still
nowadays during 2021.
The research is expected to be worth
investigated since provides a broader perception of the current situation in
Costa Rica, working also as a basis for further investigations in this field
since pandemic came to change everything over the world.
General objective
§
To analyze extrinsic motivation factors that influenced English teachers
in Liceo Experimental Bilingue
La Trinidad de Moravia throughout the year 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Specific objectives
§ To identify extrinsic factors of motivation
that led teachers’ personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction in Liceo Experimental Bilingue La
Trinidad de Moravia in the English subject before and during the Covid-19.
§ To determine if extrinsic factors like wage,
school environment, assistance or educational progress are the main aspects
that motivate a teacher in their job.
§ To differentiate the extrinsic motivation
factors in teacher before the pandemic of Covid 19 and the ones during the
virus.
According to a publication made by Robertson
C. (2016), motivation is derived from Latin words “movere” which means, “to move”. Motivation is the result of
processes, internal or external to the individual, that arouse enthusiasm and
persistence to pursue a certain course of action.
Figure Nº 1
Maslow (1943) in his book A Theory of Human
Motivation related to the theory Hierarchy of Needs, stated
that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take
precedence over others. The most basic need is for physical survival, and this
will be the first thing that motivates behaviors. Once that level is fulfilled,
the next level up is what motivates, and so on.
Cole and Harris (2017) mentioned that
motivation is a term used to describe those processes, both initiative and
rational by which people seek to satisfy the basic drives, perceived needs and
personal goals, which trigger off human behavior. Motivate is a transitive
verb, which means to give somebody an incentive, to give somebody a reason or
incentive to do something. The exceptional leader realizes it is his/her
responsibility to provide a highly motivating environment for employees.
Up to this point, it can be said that there
are multiple factors promoting / decreasing teacher’s motivation; bringing out:
§ class, curriculum,
§
teacher behavior and
personality,
§
teaching methods,
§
parental habits and involvement,
§
family issues and
instability,
§
peer relationships,
§
learning environment and
§
assessment.
The role
of teachers is very important everywhere, most of time students idealize
teachers and try to copy them. The motivation of teacher is, therefore, very
important as it directly affects the students. The importance of motivation in
imparting education has raised many questions as:
ü
“What is actually motivation?
ü
“What are the factors which promote motivation in students?”
ü
“Why teachers’ motivation is important?
ü
” The motivation of teachers is affected by many factors.
Recognizing the
critical role of teachers to ensure successful education reforms, the need for the
teaching profession to adapt to, and be more relevant for Costa Rica. Teachers
will feel more valuated once their voice is heard but mainly used as basis for
changes within the society; it promotes engagement and innovation at classroom
level and identifies solutions proposed to the major pedagogic and professional
development issues affecting the teaching environment.
Giving value to
teachers’ expertise and giving them power to adapt education contents and
contextualize teaching practices in view of students’ progress and classroom
contexts, while keeping national standards and curriculum coverage in the
country.
METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
For the analysis in process, the temporary
dimension is transversal which according to Hernández, Fernández and Batista
(2014) and, “is suitable for analyzing the relationship between a set of
variables at a specific time, clearly defined by the pandemic in other words,
this research takes place in the current time, defined by all the changes that
pandemic came to generate.
This research is based on a hybrid approach,
a mixture between quantitative and qualitative, as Hernández, Fernández and
Batista (2014) mentions “It is considered that every individual, group or
social system has a unique way of seeing the world and understanding situations
and events, which is built from their experience and through research, we must
try to understand it in context”.
This investigation contains first-hand
sources to collect the information. The members of this project provided
important facts and data for the investigator to support his thesis.
Moreover, English professors from Liceo Experimental Bilingue La
Trinidad, facilitated details that contributed with the research. This
information about what is considered should appear in an entry profile of an
English professor, characteristics, qualities, abilities, and interpersonal
skills that promote a better teaching-learning process.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
It is shown the analysis and results of the
data gathered through the survey and interview. The goal of this chapter is to
look into the facts that have been gathered and turn them into useful
information that will lead to an answer and/or resolution to the problem
question.
Furthermore, the analysis of the used
instruments is meant to serve as a gate for the research's goals. To provide an
accurate and easy-to-follow representation, the investigation results are
exemplified by written analysis and graphics. After that, each graph is
examined. Their significance to the study is explained, giving a more complete
picture of the results.
Figure Nº
2
It can be
appreciated that five teachers sometimes have time for their daily activities,
fours teachers frequently distribute their time to perform all the activities,
while only one teacher never have a change to complete the daily activities.
Something interesting in this graphic is that
any of the teachers believe that the working hours allow them to perform all
the duties, reflecting how demanding the English teaching position is.
Figure Nº
3
Facilitators answered that they frequently
feel their job stressful, 20 % of the interviewed teachers feel always
overwhelmed by stress in their job, three teachers determine that sometimes
their find stress and any of them believe that their position lacks of this
condition, showing that in higher or reduced quantity, stress will be always
present while teaching.
Figure Nº
4
As the main aspect during this research,
motivation is being analyzed in this graphic to determine if Covid changed
enthusiasm within teachers.
Seven teachers represented in blue agree that
motivation changed and just three of them kept the same one they used to have
before pandemic.
Figure Nº 5
As the main aspect during this research,
motivation is being analyzed in this graphic to determine if Covid changed
enthusiasm within teachers.
Seven teachers represented in blue agree that
motivation changed and just three of them kept the same one they used to have
before pandemic.
Figure Nº 6
In this graphic, the motivational factors
that teachers believed were the most valuable related to their profession
previous the pandemic Covid 19 were analyzed.
Job stability was rated as the most important
aspect previous pandemic and extrinsic motivational factor as the schedule was
the less selected within teachers.
Figure Nº 7
In this graphic, the
motivational factors that teachers believed are the most valuable related to
their profession during the pandemic Covid 19 were analyzed.
Job stability was rated
again as the most important aspect during pandemic and extrinsic motivational
factor like the social environment was the less selected within teachers since
most of lessons during 2020 were developed virtually, starting March, 2021 the
is a mixture between virtual and physical lessons.
Besides previous analysis,
it can be made some connections between graphics 13 and 14; for example, it is
showed that Job stability is the most important extrinsic factor within the
teachers from the institution.
Another conjecture is that
before pandemic Covid 19 teachers placed “Having wage” in place number three
but during this virus, teachers selected this factor as the second most
important, showing that the sense of having stability and being reimbursed are
motivational aspects that teaches require to feel motivated in their job.
CONCLUSIONS
People will be motivated by
a range of factors and these are different for every person, besides this it
has to be considered that personality and the environment both need to be
considered when motivating teachers. As represented in graphics, pandemic reinforced
how important is stability in teachers, which is more noticeable in married
teachers, meanwhile single professors require this stability in order to be
able to cover an acquire goods and needs.
It was found out that pandemic came to change
many aspects within teachers and to reinforce other ones regarding motivation
in professors.
After the analysis of data, it was inferred
that what is attributed to success or failure will have an effect on our
motivation. Based on analysis made, it came to the idea that success has many
interpretations as motivation can be increased or decreased in a different way
for everybody, remarking as a common constant salary and stability as the most
important extrinsic factors previous and during Covid 19 pandemic.
According to the specific objective number
one, the researcher of the investigation intended to identify extrinsic factors
of motivation that led teachers’ personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction in Liceo Experimental Bilingue La
Trinidad de Moravia in the English subject before and during the Covid-19. For
this purpose, as explained in the previous chapters, professors from the
institution contributed with relevant information that provided essential
conclusions for this research.
It was identified after the application of
the ten surveys and two interviews that main aspects related to motivation are
the follow ones:
§ Salary
§ Fringe
benefits
§ Job
stability
§ Relationship
with colleagues
§ Mentoring
§ Recognition/prestige/rewards
§ Good
working condition/environment
§ Intellectual
motivation
It has been empathized that
teachers analyzed clearly expressed that those are the main motivational
factors, reinforcing the idea represented by the objective number one.
According to the specific objective number
two, which was to determine if extrinsic factors like wage, school environment,
assistance or educational progress are the main aspects that motivate a teacher
in their job.
Wage and job stability kept being the most
important extrinsic factors for the population analyzed, showing that pandemic
came to reinforce the need of having a reimbursed position, where you can take
personal decisions since you feel protected and secured by the employment.
It can be expressed that as represented in
previous graphics, even though not all the teachers believe they are well paid,
all of them concluded that they would like to stay in this profession until
retirement. It shows the level of affinity they reflect and that not everything
should be related to money in life.
Professional growth would be considered an
area of improvement within the institution since training and technical
preparation are key factors that will definitely increase the quality of
teachers.
Besides previous information, it can be
reminded how single teacher from instrument number two chose aspects related to
wage as the most important extrinsic factors, showing that he/she is supposedly
starting to acquire material possessions, meanwhile the other teacher who is
married had the support of her husband and does not require a higher income to
increase her/his extrinsic motivation.
At the end of the conclusions, for the
objective number two that aimed to determine if aspects like wage, school
environment, assistance or educational progress are the main aspects that
motivate a teacher in their job, important findings were found out to this
research.
It was identified that definitely a teacher
with a stable position and secure wage will be always motivated, throughout the
surveys and interviews it was evidenced how important those aspects are in the
teaching field.
According to the specific objective number
three, which was to differentiate the extrinsic motivation factors in teacher
before the pandemic of Covid 19 and the ones during the pandemic.
Moreover, even Public Ministry of Education
(M.E.P.) is the maximum entity promoting learning skills; it is not strictly
showed nor applied to teachers in the study center. Most of professors did not
rank training or seminars offered by the institution as motivational factors
that can lead to satisfaction or dissatisfaction, not even previous or during
pandemic Covid 19.
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