Assessment of the determinants of teacher motivation and job satisfaction in the WESCO Practice Primary School, Ghana

Assessment of the determinants of teacher motivation and job satisfaction in the WESCO Practice Primary School, Ghana

Emelia Ampong, Dickson Adom & Joe Adu-Agyem

Issue: Vol. 7 No. 9 2026 Article 5 pp. 1085 – 1102
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.2026795 Published online 10th November 2026.

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ABSTRACT

This research assessed the determinants influencing teacher motivation and job satisfaction in the WESCO Practice Primary School. Guided by four research questions, the research examined the determinants affecting job satisfaction, the connection between motivation and job satisfaction, and approaches to improve teacher satisfaction. A descriptive survey methodology with a correlational design was employed. The study population included school staff, teachers, and students, with 100 participants selected randomly. The data was examined using descriptive statistics and correlational analysis via SPSS. Results indicated that positive interpersonal relationships with colleagues and students were the most influential factors in teachers’ job satisfaction, whereas salary and physical amenities played a comparatively smaller role. The relationship between motivation and job satisfaction was weak and not statistically significant, implying that improvements in one area do not necessarily lead to gains in the other. Teachers identified optimal working hours and opportunities for collaborative learning as effective ways to boost job satisfaction. The study concludes that teacher job satisfaction is multifaceted and influenced more by social and professional factors than by material incentives alone. These findings suggest that educational policymakers and school administrators should implement comprehensive, relationship-centred, and development-based strategies to enhance teacher satisfaction and learning outcomes. The study contributes significantly to existing scholarship by contextualising existing theories and testing whether well-established drivers of job satisfaction apply in Ghanaian basic schools. Also, it fills a regional gap and adds empirical evidence from an under-researched area (Ashanti Region) to the global literature on teacher satisfaction and motivation.

Keywords: Basic Education, Educational Administration, Job Satisfaction, Teacher Motivation, Teacher Satisfaction

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AUTHOR(S)

Emelia Ampong holds an MPhil in Educational Innovation and Leadership Science from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and teaches Social Studies in a Ghanaian basic school. Her research interests include teacher motivation and job satisfaction, educational leadership, and school improvement. Her work focuses on understanding the factors that influence teacher motivation and job satisfaction in basic schools in the Ashanti Region in Ghana. Through her work, she hopes to support educational research and inform policy to strengthen basic education.

Dickson Adom (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer and a multidisciplinary Researcher in the Department of Educational Innovations in Science and Technology, Faculty of Educational Studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. His research is a nexus between indigenous knowledge, Art, nature conservation, digital solutions, and education. He is a visiting scholar at the Pangasinan State University, Philippines, and a Research Fellow at the INTI International University, Malaysia. He serves as a research consultant to the National Research Foundation in South Africa and an Advisor on research grant applications to the Gower Street, U.K. Dickson is an Editor for Elsevier’s Scientific African Journal, Springer Nature’s Discover Education Journal, Springer Nature’s Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Journal, Frontiers in Human Dynamics journal and many others. He serves as a Guest Editor and reviewer for several journals, including PLoS ONE, African Identities, Oxford Intersections and many others. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Research Journal in Advanced Humanities, helping the journal to be indexed in the Scopus database after one year of establishment. He was awarded Top Reviewer in the Cross-Disciplinary field by Publons in 2018. He has reviewed and edited over 600 journal articles to date. He has extensive experience in editorial workflows 3 and 4 for journal publishing with certifications from Simon Fraser University, Canada. Dickson has over 100 publications, including books, book chapters, peer-reviewed journal articles, and conference papers, with over 4, 100 citations on Google Scholar, an h-index of 25 and an i10-index of 45. Dickson sits on several editorial boards and serves in various capacities for national and international conferences.

Joe Adu-Agyem(PhD) is an Associate Professor at KNUST with extensive academic qualifications, including a PhD in Art Education. He has a rich teaching and research background, supervising numerous graduate theses and serving as an internal and external examiner. His expertise lies in Aesthetics, Criticism, and Art Education, with a career spanning several decades in various educational institutions.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Ampong, Emelia, Dickson Adom and Joe Adu-Agyem.“Assessment of the determinants of teacher motivation and job satisfaction in the WESCO Practice Primary School, Ghana.” Journal of Education and Learning Technology 7, no.9 (2026): 1085 – 1102. https://doi.org/10.38159/jelt.2026795