Abstract:
Teacher motivation is very important as it directly affects the students’ performance.
The performance of agriculture teachers in Imenti South District has been low
compared to other districts. This has been characterized by a decline in the agriculture
subject results. This might have been contributed by inadequate teacher motivation.
The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between selected
motivational factors and the performance of secondary school agriculture teachers in
the district. The study used a cross-sectional research design. The target population
comprised of all the head teachers and agriculture teachers of secondary schools in
Imenti South District. Fifty-nine head teachers and fifty-nine agriculture teachers
were randomly sampled from 70 schools in the District. A structured questionnaire
was used by the researcher to collect data from the respondents. The reliability of the
instrument was estimated using Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient. Data was analyzed
with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics
specifically frequencies and percentages, and inferential statistics particularly
Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation were applied in data analysis. The hypotheses
were tested at a 0.01 confidence level. The general working conditions in secondary
schools were fair as noted by 69% of the respondents. The results also indicate that
there is a positive correlation (0.444) between working condition and performance of
agriculture teachers. The results also indicate that the teaching load of most teachers
(59%) was moderate; however, they had been assigned other non-teaching roles.
Further, the study revealed a negative correlation (-0.416) between teaching load and
performance of agriculture. A correlation analysis between interpersonal relations and
performance of agriculture teachers revealed a positive correlation of 0.403 and a pvalue of 0.01. The overall performance of agriculture teachers in the District has been
fair for the last three years; however, this can be improved by reducing the teachers
teaching load, improving the working conditions and interpersonal relations in the
schools. The study recommends that agriculture teachers should make use of the
surrounding community in the teaching of agriculture. Also, the school administrators
should equip the available workshops with appropriate tools and equipment and in
schools without workshops; the administrators should construct them and equip them
appropriately to facilitate effective teaching.
