Abstract
Research shows that teachers’ motivations and perceptions for entering and remaining in the teaching profession are complex and shaped by various challenges and personal factors. It also indicates that their work is intricate and demanding, necessitating teachers to make numerous decisions about lesson planning and management while re-evaluating their core beliefs regarding their motivations and perceptions. This study aimed to assess the motivations and perceptions that influenced teachers’ decisions to become teachers, continue teaching, and consider leaving the profession in primary schools in KMA, Ghana. Research shows that such motivations are complex and encompass various challenges, as teachers navigate intricate responsibilities while continually reassessing their professional values and decisions.
While studies have explored the motivations and perceptions of teachers, limited research has examined the factors influencing primary teachers’ decisions to remain, or may consider leaving the teaching profession in Kumasi, Ghana. This research contributes to the literature on this topic, with a particular focus on the African region, especially Ghana. Thus, this study is timely, as it seeks to address a gap in the research literature and adds to the teacher retention discourse.
An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was employed to explore the motivations driving teachers to enter, remain in, or consider leaving the teaching profession, with particular focus on long-serving primary school teachers in Ghana. This approach enabled a nuanced, layered understanding of how motivational factors interact with teachers' lived experiences. Drawing on Hertzberg's motivation-hygiene theory, the study aimed to identify the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that most strongly influenced retention decisions among teachers.
In the quantitative phase, I designed a 43-item questionnaire informed by the literature, targeting three domains: motivations to teach, motivations to stay, and motivations to leave. A total of 260 teachers participated in the survey. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS (version 25), with independent t-tests and one-way ANOVAs applied to uncover significant relationships across demographic variables.
Building on these results, the qualitative phase purposively sampled 30 long-serving teachers for in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis of their narratives revealed four central themes: public perceptions of teachers, individual motivations and professional identity, drivers of continued engagement in teaching, and factors influencing intentions to exit the profession. Together, these findings provided a comprehensive understanding of the contextual and psychological dynamics shaping teacher retention.
This study reveals that while many Ghanaian primary school teachers are driven by strong intrinsic motivations, such as a love for teaching and commitment to learners, their decisions to remain in the profession are shaped more by extrinsic factors, including career advancement opportunities. This central finding reinforces the need to balance intrinsic-driven motivation strategies with extrinsic motivation to inspire teachers to remain in the profession. The findings of this study significantly enhance our understanding of Ghanaian teachers, providing a foundation for comprehending teachers’ decisions to continue teaching or consider leaving, as well as how motivation can be adjusted to better meet their needs and circumstances. Based on this study, I propose policy implications for improving the retention of teachers and provide recommendations for future studies.