Abstract

Students and teachers can use different ways to learn when their motivation is high, moderate, or low. The main objective of this descriptive study was to find out how high levels of motivation affect the performance of the prospective teacher. A survey method was used to gather data. Prospective teachers of the University of Punjab Lahore were included in the sample population .sample size was 560 prospective teachers. We used a questionnaire to find out about different ways to get people interested in learning. SPSS was used to look at the data. The results showed that a high level of motivation among future teachers was positively and significantly linked to all academic achievements and self-esteem, while a moderate level of motivation was also positively and significantly linked to other academic achievements. The results of this study may also persuade policymakers to take into account new motivational factors when hiring new teachers.

Key Words

Motivation, Prospective Teachers, Learning, Self-Esteem, Academic Performance  

Introduction

The main goal of every country's education system is to produce skilled workers and teach good values to the people who live there. To do this, all educational systems choose the type of learner they want to teach by looking at their guiding pedagogical principles and their strategies for developing the workforce. They then build their curriculums around that type of learner. Even though education is a basic social institution, it is one of the most important problems in every society. Obviously, school staff are at the centre of this simple problem. The quality of teachers, the way they were raised, and the teaching profession as a whole are all looked at closely in many countries, and most programs that train teachers try to instil these values in their students. Other than self-ness, attitude, learning techniques, academic motivation, and academic achievement, the concept of self-esteem has been looked at as a way to figure out how these programs affect future teachers. 

Researchers in the West and other developed countries have thought a lot about what makes someone want to become a teacher. No matter whether the study looked at intrinsic, extrinsic, adaptive, or maladaptive factors, it was found that intrinsic variables were the most important in a person's decision to become a teacher. Still, there isn't a lot of real-world research on this subject that comes from poor countries. In the few studies that were done, it was found that income and benefits were the most important predictors of a person's decision to become a teacher. Because there hasn't been much research into what motivates teachers in Pakistan, it's hard to make broad statements about why people choose to become teachers there. If you can't find work in other fields, you might want to think about becoming a teacher in Pakistan. The rules for hiring people now are very one-dimensional, putting all of the weight on a candidate's credentials and how well they do in an interview. But the World Bank's rules for hiring new teachers stress how important it is to choose candidates who are passionate about and know a lot about their subject. According to the research we have, there seems to be a link between how motivated a candidate is and how well new and better educational programs are put into place (Pintrich and Schunk, 2002).




What is Motivation? 

The attitudes of employees and how happy they are with their jobs are important parts of making a workplace where people are motivated to do their best work. Teachers desire to be more involved in their students' education because they see themselves as partners in the learning process. The role of the teacher is to encourage this kind of behaviour. The educational needs of teachers in the classroom should be known to everyone. A big reason for the teacher's poor performance is that he doesn't get enough help to grow. If the teacher's specific teaching needs are known, the classroom can have a better atmosphere. Tucker et al. call this "a mental, emotional, and behavioural driver of teacher involvement in education and commitment." Motivation is the single most important predictor of how well a teacher will do his or her job (Francis et al., 2004) Some descriptions of good teachers even say that they inspire their students.




Motivation and Academic Achievements of Teachers 

Motivation has a much more complex, non-cognitive psychological structure. How well they do depends on how well they are trained mentally, emotionally, and in terms of how they act. To motivate someone, you have to put them in a situation that makes them want to do something, or you have to go through a process that starts and keeps them doing something that you want them to do. One definition of motivation is that it gives you the energy you need to do schoolwork. Requests, wishes, needs, urges, and interests are all part of what Cüceloglu (2005) calls "motivation," which is a broad term that includes these and other things. Peklaj and Levpek's (2006) research shows that a teacher's motivation is very important to how well they do in teacher education.

A good teacher is someone who can find a good balance between the social and intellectual parts of their institution. Motivation is a subject that can help both teachers and students understand what makes a learning environment successful or not (Uyulgan and Akkuzu, 2014). The teacher is sure that, with enough time and work, he or she can accomplish the planned pedagogical tasks and get the results that are wanted. This can make it hard for a teacher to be motivated in situations both simple and complicated. A teacher will work hard on a learning activity if she thinks it will help her in some way (Okutan, 2012).

Research Objectives

The following were the objectives of the study:

1. To investigate how teachers' levels of motivation influence their professional development and sense of accomplishment.

2. Identify the correlations between overall motivation and self-esteem

3. To determine the effects of overall motivation regarding different demographic variables.

4. To find out the effects of motivation on teachers' self-esteem.

5. To investigate the effects of overall self-esteem on different levels of motivation.

Review of the Literature

Concept of Motivation in Institutes 

Because of changes in cutting-edge science and technology, people's hopes and needs change. With these goals in motivation, it's clear that it's important to address people's motivations. Educational institutions do a lot of motivation for society because their inputs and outputs are driven by people. Because they are not for profit, these institutions have a unique organizational structure (Abootorabi, 2011).

From a pedagogical point of view, inspiration comes from teachers' own motivation in a topic about which they need to learn more and become more interested. It's clear that motivation's main purpose is to guide and energise people toward their goals. When people talk about motivation in education, they often think of the motivation and openness of a teacher who is also a student. But having the motivation and interest to learn is just as important as knowing how. This is because the teachers' physical presence, energy, and passion in the classroom have a direct motivation on how motivated the students are to learn from them. Researchers have found that the main motivation why students fail in schools is because their teachers don't care (Eymur and Geban, 2011).

Teachers need to be willing to use effective ways to teach and learn, which means they need to be highly motivated, eager, enthusiastic, creative, up-to-date, and inspiring. Also, Atkinson's studies show that instructors' intrinsic motivation has a bigger effect on their own learning than their level of professional competence. So, the willingness and success of teachers have a direct effect on whether or not schools can give the kind of education that people want. Motivation is the process of getting teachers to want to and be able to work hard. Because of this, it is important to boost the motivation of both current teachers and those who want to become teachers in these schools (ahin and akar, 2011).




Teachers’ motivation and their Academic Performance

We use the word "motivation" to describe anything that makes us feel alive and makes us want to study, pay attention at work, and do well in the long run. It's what drives a lot of what we do, including our decision to become teachers. Their underlying motivations determine what they do or don't do to attract others, how far they go to stay motivated, and how well they fit into the big picture. So, what draws people to lessons might depend on what makes them want to go. How long do they spend in programs that prepare them to be teachers? How well they fit their courses and the job of teaching in general. Since there aren't enough teachers right now, it's more important than ever to be interested in motivation. There is more competition for teaching jobs, more respect for certified teachers, and more teachers retiring because they are getting older. The teachers themselves give them the motivation to teach. The quality of education can be improved and teacher shortages can be eased by getting and keeping highly qualified people in teaching jobs (Aslan, 2010).

Academics have talked about the idea of motivation for a long time. It is generally seen as a good thing that makes people more productive and behaves better at work. A big part of what drives a teacher to do well is how they feel about their own motivation. It's about how much professors care about actively helping their students learn in the classroom. People often use the word "motivation" to describe the mental and behavioural processes that people go through as they try to meet their basic needs, wants, and desires, which are the main things that drive all human activity. The term "teacher motivation" refers to the fundamental factors at work in the system of the institute that, if not made available to the teacher, could slow down performance, cause stress, frustration, and discontent, and lower the effectiveness of the classroom and the quality of the teacher's work. This shows and emphasizes that teachers' motivation is made up of things that get them started, keep them going, guide them, and make them act in ways that meet administrative and educational standards (Durdukoca, 2010).




Teachers’ Self-Esteem

Confidence in one's own worth or contribution to society is what we mean when we talk about self-esteem. According to studies, it is one of the most crucial aspects of a person's life that contributes to their overall well-being. Baseline self-esteem, according to the research, is an individual's consistent and long-lasting evaluation of their own value. People with high self-esteem have a more optimistic outlook on themselves in general, regardless of their level of success or failure, whereas those with low self-esteem are more likely to be critical of themselves. One's sense of worth is the essence of self-esteem. It is a term for the critical aspect of introspection (Bain, 2004).

So long as it is grounded in a realistic rather than exaggerated assessment of one's qualities, self-esteem can be a significant asset (for things like life management). Teachers who have poor levels of self-esteem are more likely to experience burnout and abandon the field. It's bad enough when teachers leave the profession because of low morale brought on by disillusionment, but when that disillusionment spreads, it may have disastrous effects on students. 




Indicators of Teachers’ Self-esteem

After more than three decades of research and clinical practice, I have come to believe that self-

esteem awareness rests on six foundational factors.

To accept oneself is to acknowledge the truth of one's own views without rejecting or denying them. Refusing to be in an antagonistic or rejecting relationship with oneself entails feeling and acting in ways that are respectful and compassionate, even if one does not like or love all of one's feelings and decisions. One definition of self-responsibility is the realization that each individual is ultimately accountable for his or her own happiness and that no one else can or will do so on their behalf. There is no one who can help us value ourselves more highly (Usher and Pajares, 2006).

Methodology

The main goal of the study was to find out how the level of motivation of teachers studying affected their grades and sense of personal success. In this section, we explain and defend the approach used in this study in detail. This study gave a detailed account of the topic at hand by using a survey method. The University of Punjab Lahore was the study area for the research. All the teachers of the university were the population of the study. The study's sample size was calculated to be 560 educators. Also, teachers were given questionnaires that they could fill out.

Researchers visited the university in Lahore and collect data. Data was collected from teachers. 560 questionnaires were filled out by the teachers. After the collection of the data, it was tabulated. SPSS was used to analyze data.

Results and Discussion

Table 1

Motivation Level among Teachers








Motivation	Teacher Type	Mean	SD	df	t-value
Total	Males	202.89	17.22
	Females	209.11	19.81	278	-5.474

Table 4.1 shows the significant mean difference between male educators (M=202.89, SD=17.22) and female educators (M=209.11, SD=19.81) (t -5.474). So, we can say that "there is no significant mean difference in teachers' overall levels of motivation," 

which is called the "null hypothesis." Not surprisingly, there was a big mean motivation in how motivated teachers were. The average value of the teacher populations at universities was higher because the teachers there were more motivated.

Ho1: There is no statistically significant difference between teachers' average levels of motivation.

In the table below, you can see how teachers' levels of motivation change as they get older.

Table 2

Motivation Dimensions with Teachers



The means and standard deviations of male and female educators were found to be significantly different (M=26.11, 50.03, 25.39, 96.33, 22.44, 39.22, SD=3.44, 5.11, 3.34, 5.31, 2.98, 7.03 and M=27.03, 51.09, 25.66, 99.01, 23.76, 41.78, SD=3.56, 5.21, 3.48, 5.29, 2.97, 6.81 and t(117 This means that the hypothesis that "there is no significant mean difference between the motivational traits of female and male teachers" cannot be accepted as true. On all four measures of motivation, there was clear evidence of a large mean difference between female and male educators. The average scores show that female teachers are more motivated than male teachers in every motivation.

M .Dimensions	Mean	SD	df	t-value
Work and	26.11	3.44
Intellectual
Stimulation	27.03	3.56	1174	-2.089*
Altruism,	50.03	5.11
Authority and
Leadership	51.09	5.21	1175	-4.669*
Self-evaluation,	25.39	3.34
Personal and
Professional development	25.66	3.48	1177	-2.319*
Life and	96.33	5.31
Influence of
Others	99.01	5.29	1162	-4.468*
Career change	22.44	2.98
And working
Conditions	23.76	2.97	1180	-4.316*
Nature of work	39.22	7.03
	41.78	6.81	1166	-5.248*

Table 3

Self-esteem Level among Female and Male Teachers








Self-Esteem	Teacher Type	Mean	SD	df	t-value
Total	Males	109.23	16.45	1110	-4.381*
	Females	112.44	14.89

In table 4.3, the mean  of men (M=109.23, SD=16.45) and women (M=112.44, SD=14.89) are significantly different (t(1110)=-4.381). So, "there is no significant mean difference between the total self-esteem levels of female and male teachers" can't be true. There was a statistically significant difference between how men and women educators felt about themselves on average. The average value and self-esteem of female educators were higher than those of their male counterparts.

Self-esteem in teachers doesn't change much with age, 

Ho7. In the table below, you can compare how teachers of different sexes feel about themselves as they age. 

Table 4

Self-esteem Dimensions with Teachers



T(1174,1175,1177,1180,1166,1162)=-2.117,-3.691, -2.176,-3.091,-3.628,-4.441 for (M=24.11,47.49,23.31,21.68,38.40,94.43,SD=2.69,4.44,5.09,3.10,6.19,4.49) and (M=25.88,49.40,25.12,22.90,39.66,99. So, "there is no significant mean difference in teachers' self-esteem dimensions" cannot be the correct hypothesis. All of the tests showed that the mean differences in self-esteem were statistically significant. The mean values show that teachers all had a high sense of self-worth.

M. Dimensions	Mean	SD	df	t-value
Living Consciously	24.11	2.69	1174	-2.117*
	25.88	2.22
Self-acceptance	47.49	4.44	1175	-3.691*
	49.40	4.01
Self-responsibility	23.31	5.09	1177	-2.176*
	25.12	5.55
Self-assertiveness	21.68	310	1180	-3.091*
	22.90	3.39
Personal integrity	38.40	6.19	1166	-3.628*
	39.66	6.91
Living purposefully	94.43	4.49	1162	-4.441*
	99.12	4.59

Table 5

Distribution of Respondents According to their Demographic Characteristics  



The information in the table above shows that 65.5% of the respondents were women. 38% of the people who answered were younger than 30, and 31% were between the ages of 36 and 40. Nearly half of the people who answered the survey had less than 5 years of service, while almost a third had between 5 and 10 years of service.

		f	%
Gender	Male	193	34.5
	Female	367	65.5
	Total	560
Age	Less than 30 y	213	38.0
	30 to 35 y	96	17.1
	36 to 40 y	178	31.8
	More than 40 y	73	13.0
	Total	560
Experience	Less than 5 y	256	45.7
	5 to 10 y	195	34.8
	11 to 15 y	64	11.4
	More than 15 y	45	8.0
	Total	560

Discussion

It was found that most of the future teachers in this sample were realistic about the chance that they might fail. The results of the scale that was used to measure this show that prospective teachers have a moderately negative view of uncertainty. People who are more open to uncertainty decide what to do by thinking about the possible outcomes of their decisions and actions in the present, rather than the final results. This gives them a better chance to get ready for and make the most of any challenges they face in the future. Those who are good at dealing with a lot of uncertainty are more likely to dive right into hard problems, while those who don't like uncertainty are more likely to avoid them. But it should be noted that people have a strong tendency to avoid uncertainty. According to his study of college students, both men and women tend to avoid uncertainty more than they should. In a study that looked at the level of uncertainty avoidance of aspiring teachers in different departments of the Education Faculty in relation to a number of different variables, the level of uncertainty avoidance of the participants was found to be moderate. By doing things to avoid uncertainty, you can tell that you don't like uncertainty. The conclusion of this study, which is that "prospective teachers have negative feelings about uncertainty to a large degree," fits with the conclusions of the other studies. It was said that knowing how potential teachers feel about a certain topic is important, especially for decision-makers and practitioners who need to take the right steps to deal with problems. So, it could be said that the current study, in which the prospective instructors' views on uncertainty are found to be very negative, is likely to make important contributions to solving the problems in this field.

In this study, it was found that both the internal and external motivations of the people who wanted to become teachers were at a moderate level. Teachers-to-be aren't too excited about becoming teachers. It was said that university professors didn't have the drive they needed to do their jobs well. This result goes against what teachers say about how "generally happy" they are with their jobs. Research shows that many people who want to become teachers finish their education feeling very motivated and having had few problems on their way to their chosen career path. When trying to figure out how motivated people are in the classroom, the results of these studies tend to be different. In terms of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, it was also found that prospective teachers thought more about the intrinsic motivation dimension than the extrinsic motivation dimension. The results of this study showed that future teachers' intrinsic motivation was, on average, a little bit higher than their motivation that came from outside sources. Sources of intrinsic motivation were more successful than sources of extrinsic motivation. This shows that motivation sources have an effect on the teaching profession and help to distinguish between internal and external resources. High levels of intrinsic motivation in people who want to become teachers could be seen as a sign that these people will like their jobs and do well at work.

It was found that a person's attitude toward uncertainty was a major predictor of their motivation to teach. It was also found that there was a moderate, negative relationship between a person's attitude toward the uncertainty and their desire to teach. This finding suggests that future teachers' negative views of uncertainty have a negative effect on their motivation to teach. More specifically, as future teachers' doubts increase, their desire to teach decreases. When people don't know what's going to happen, it can hurt their emotional and mental health. A study found that future teachers who studied at their department to avoid being unemployed were less happy with their lives and had higher depression scores. Based on the results, it was found that the applicants for teaching jobs were not happy with their lives. Prospective teachers have said that the uncertainty of the appointment process and the futility of their own efforts to get a job have made them feel hopeless and unhappy with life. People who go to college to become teachers become more desperate if they think they won't get a job after graduation. Researchers say that the high levels of pessimism among people who want to become teachers can be explained by the fact that their goals for the future, such as getting a job after graduation or being hired into their dream job, have a low chance of coming true. Studies have shown that people who went into the field of education reluctantly and with low hopes for the future were more likely to be depressed and less happy with their lives. Candidates for teaching jobs who are waiting to be hired say they are less happy when they can't deal with ambiguity. Also, the fact that participants were constantly exposed to uncertainty about appointment dates and quotas during the Ministry of Education's process for hiring teachers was said to be a reason why their scores for intolerance to uncertainty went up. In his research with American college students, he found that people's inability to deal with ambiguity was linked to how they felt and led to the development of a chronic anxiety disorder. More evidence shows that intolerance is linked to a lot of worry and stress. The study also found that people who can keep a positive attitude even when things are unclear are better able to put their worries and fears aside and get to work. Studies show that how people feel about uncertainty at work is a good way to figure out how they really feel. These conclusions show how doubt can make people less motivated. The data support the conclusion that "the way a teacher feels about uncertainty is a strong predictor of motivation to teach." Previous research has shown that uncertainty makes future teachers feel more anxious, worried, and hopeless. As a result, uncertainty has been added to the literature result that which makes people less motivated to teach.

The research also found that prospective teachers with a moderate level of motivation benefit more from learning strategies like rehearsal, critical thinking, organization, elaboration, and metacognitive self-regulation than from factors like study time, study environment, asking for help, and peer learning. Self-regulation, which means being determined to finish goals even when there are distractions or problems, was not linked to effort regulation among teachers-in-training with moderate levels of motivation.

Conclusions

Based on the results of this study, both the future teachers' internal motivation and their motivation from outside sources were found to be moderate. Teachers-to-be aren't too excited about becoming teachers. It was said that university professors didn't have the drive they needed to do their jobs well. This result goes against what teachers say about how "generally happy" they are with their jobs. Research shows that many people who want to become teachers finish their education feeling very motivated and having had few problems on their way to their chosen career path. When trying to figure out how motivated people are in the classroom, the results of these studies tend to be different. Researchers found that prospective teachers liked the intrinsic motivation dimension more than the extrinsic motivation dimension. The results of this study showed that future teachers' intrinsic motivation was, on average, a little bit higher than their motivation that came from outside sources. Sources of intrinsic motivation were more successful than sources of extrinsic motivation. This shows that motivation sources have an effect on the teaching profession and help to distinguish between internal and external resources. High levels of intrinsic motivation in people who want to become teachers could be seen as a sign that these people will like their jobs and do well at work.

So, it is suggested that university professors come up with lesson plans that will encourage future teachers to choose from a variety of successful ways to teach. If they try some new ways to study, they might do well and feel better about themselves. In a follow-up study, it might be possible to find out how potential teachers use learning methods in relation to how motivated they are.

References

• Abootorabi, R. (2011). How I could improve academic motivation of my students in an industrial high school? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 571–575.
• Amrai, K., E. S. Motlagh, S. H. Azizi., & Parhon, H. (2011). The relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement students. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 399–402.
• Aslan, C. (2010). The views of the graduate students in Turkish education programs on their academic self-efficacy. Journal of Faculty of Education, 10(19), 87-115.
• Awang, Z. (2012). Structural equation modeling using AMOS graphic. Penerbit Universiti Teknologi MARA.
• Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Harvard University Press.
• Cüceloglu, D. (2005). Human and its behavior - basic concepts of psychology. 14th Edn., Istanbul: Remzi Bookstore. Deci, E. L. and R. M. Ryan, 2000b. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67.
• Durdukoca, F. Åž. (2010). The evaluation of academic teachers' perceptions of academic self-efficacy from various variables. Journal of AbantÄ°zzetBaysal University, 10(1), 69-77.