A Study of Job Satisfaction and Retention Amongst Public and Private Basic School Teachers in Ghana

Abstract

The teacher is a focal point among the various agents of education who see to the advancement and development of a nation. This comparative study examined the job satisfaction and retention amongst basic school teachers at Ledzokuku Krowor Municipality in the context of Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory. Specifically, the study will explore the impact of motivator and hygiene factors between public and private basic school teachers, identify the significant difference between public and private school teachers in their hygiene factors, measure the level of job satisfaction variables that are responsible to discriminate private and public school teachers and to find out factors of job satisfaction that influence teacher retention between public and private basic school teachers. The adapted version of Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 210 basic school teachers using descriptive statistics and inferential statistical techniques while the interviews conducted were analysed qualitatively through content analysis. For the qualitative data, 12 senior management teachers and those who indicated they were leaving or had left were purposely selected and interviewed in focus groups. Interviews were recorded using a digital voice recorder (Olympics VN-713PC) then translated verbatim. Interview transcripts were uploaded to NVivo10 software (QSR International Pty Ltd). Different codes were identified into potential themes and all important coded extracts were collated within the identified themes. The independent samples t-test results showed that there is a significant difference in job dissatisfaction variables of basic school teachers. High scores on salary, job security, policy, working conditions and low scores on status, relation with supervisors and subordinate are predictive of private schools teachers. This analysis suggests that private basic school teachers were more dissatisfied with their hygiene factors of job satisfaction than their counterparts in the public sector. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders should develop a policy framework that will culminate into developing a Teacher Support and Motivation Framework (TSMF).

Keywords: Herzberg Theory, Hygiene Factors, Job Satisfaction, Motivator, Private and Public Basic School, Teachers, Retention

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-3-16

Publication date: January 31^st 2021