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Good work : how to motivate the teachers of the Riha Community School

Franken, M. (2011) Good work : how to motivate the teachers of the Riha Community School.

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Abstract:This research is about what incentives (other than increase in salaries) can be used to motivate the teachers of the Riha Community School to improve work satisfaction and achievements. To find these incentives, the following (sub) research questions are discussed: 1. How does the Yuvalok staff score at the motivational (task and knowledge), social and contextual characteristics and the Volunteers Function Inventory (VFI) motives? 2. Which characteristic(s) has/ (have) potential for improvement? 3a. What are the possibilities to improve the motivation of the staff? 3b. Can Yuvalok afford these alternatives? To find an answer on the first question, questionnaires based on the Work Design Questionnaire by Morgeson & Humpfrey (2006) are used, combined with the VFI of Clary (1998). The second question will be answered by using interviews with a sample of the teachers. Question three a. and b. are respectively answered by focus group discussions and interviews with the management. It is not possible to give a detailed and accurate characterization of the job based on the questionnaires. In the content of the work a list of low and high scoring characteristics can be made, but the differences are too small to draw clear conclusions. Remarkable is the high presence of variety (both in the task and in the skills) and the autonomy to choose work methods. On the other side, there is little social interaction, both with contacts outside the organization and among the teachers about the relationship between each other’s work (interdependence). Also the work context characteristics are considerably lower, which is not really surprising in a context of developing country. The data from the questionnaires combined with results of the interviews, leads to the conclusion that interdependence needs the most attention, followed by interaction outside the organization and the variety of the equipment that is used. Also, there seems to be a potential improvement when it comes to communication between the staff and the management. However, this theme is missing in the used theory, so it is probably a so-called unknown characteristic. Within the current constraints of the organization, the interdependence between the teachers’ work and especially the communication about that interdependence can be stimulated by: organizing professional meetings with groups split by subject, senior teachers coupled to junior or new teachers by means of a buddy system and by writing carryover documents by the teachers. The used equipment can be made more varied by making more use of the existing equipment available in the building. This can be tried by an ‘equipment used list’ recorded by teachers and through bringing in external knowledge. As soon as new funds come, specially appointed persons can take care of the library and the games, but for now it is important that it is clearly formulated who is responsible. The interaction outside Yuvalok can be improved by using the existing network of the teachers and involve them in showing people around when it comes to the necessary fund raising contacts. To improve the contact that adds to the primary process parents meetings, more regular home visits or a community worker can be used to improve the contacts with parents. Communication with other schools about teaching can be created by envoys and joining interschool competitions in different fields. Communication to the management can be improved by putting an item to discuss ideas for the management on the agenda during meetings, by reserving time during appraisal meetings and by creating a suggestion box.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:88 social and public administration
Programme:Public Administration BSc (56627)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/62955
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