Teacher Motivation in a Secondary Township School / South Africa. Conducive and Impeding Factors on Teacher Motivation Evaluated with the Help of the Self-Determination Theory by Deci & Ryan

Education has become one of the main foci in contemporary research. Not only students but also teachers have increasingly become the subjects of interrogation. By implementing theory into practice, teachers play a crucial role in the field of education. However, notably in developing countries, the educator’s working conditions are problematic and often demotivating. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate conducive and impeding factors on teacher motivation, which diverge in different cultural contexts, in a secondary township school in South Africa with the help of the self-determination theory by Deci & Ryan. Thus, semi-standardised guideline interviews with five South African secondary township school teachers were conducted. These interviews were evaluated by a content structuring qualitative content analysis. Learners’ discipline emerged to be the factor that influences teacher motivation the most. Further factors most commonly mentioned that have a significant impact on teacher motivation are the following: - low salary - lack of resources - lack of support - class size - non-conducive facilities Additionally, the findings of conducive and impeding factors serve the purpose of providing measures that foster the satisfaction of the three psychological needs in accordance with Deci & Ryan. Conclusively, this research paper is supposed to give insights into South African secondary township school teachers' motivational drive proving that most teachers initially had an internally motivated attitude towards their profession which has been continuously undermined by various factors and circumstances