MOTIVATIONAL PRACTICES OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS AS PERCEIVED BY THE TEACHERS AND THEMSELVES IN MARAWI CITY DIVISION

Abstract

How school principals motivate their teachers bears on teacher morale, job satisfaction, and teaching performance. Little is documented on how teachers and principals perceive these practices in the Muslim, predominantly Maranao setting of Marawi City. To determine the teachers’ and the principals’ perceptions of the principals’ motivational practices (intrinsic, extrinsic, negative, and other practices linked to cultural and Islamic concepts) in the Marawi City Division, Lanao del Sur, school year 2007–2008; to describe both groups’ profiles and the teachers’ teaching efficiency rating (TER); and to test the difference between the two groups’ perceptions and the relationship between TER and teachers’ perceptions. A descriptive-correlational design was used with all 38 principals and 272 teachers drawn by stratified random sampling (Slovin’s formula) from the nine supervisory districts. Data came from a self-made structured questionnaire rated on a five-point scale and a personal information sheet. Analysis used frequency and percentage, weighted mean, Pearson’s r, and t-tests at the 0.05 level in Microsoft Excel. Typical teachers were female (99.26%), married (80.88%), aged 40–50 years (40.44%), and B.E.Ed. graduates (62.50%), with 11–15 years of service (36.76%); their TER was Very Satisfactory (mean 2.87). Half of the principals were 50 or older; most were female (84.21%), married (89.47%), and B.E.Ed. holders with M.A. units (47.37%). Teachers rated the principals’ intrinsic practices as “always practiced” (mean 4.42), extrinsic and cultural–Islamic practices as “often practiced” (4.10 and 4.19), and negative practices as “sometimes practiced” (2.91). Principals rated their intrinsic (4.64), extrinsic (4.46), and cultural–Islamic (4.41) practices “always practiced” and their negative practices “often practiced” (3.52). The thesis reports no significant difference between the two groups’ perceptions (t = −28.57 against a critical value of 1.96; see Statistical note in Section 4.4) and no significant relationship between TER and teachers’ perceptions (r = 0.076, t = 1.24). Principals in the division are perceived by both groups to rely chiefly on intrinsic motivation, supported by extrinsic rewards and by practices rooted in Islamic and Maranao values; negative practices are used sparingly. The findings point to the importance of promotion, professional growth, and principals’ role modeling, and the thesis recommends graduate study for administrators, continued support for teachers’ competence and commitment, and further research on culturally grounded motivation.