Teaching for the future : A minor field study on motivation among Gambian teachers who have participated in Future in our hands in-service training

Abstract: This study aims at creating an understanding of how teachers in Gambian primary schools, who have participated in Future in our hands in-service training, experience their motivation to teach. Three research question were defined to help us examining our purpose further; “Is motivation to teach a problem among Gambian teachers?”, “which factors are most important in order to create a motivational workplace?” and “which factors do the Gambian teachers experience to demotivate them in their work?“. A presentation on previous research in the field is given, which points out that motivation is a problem among many teachers in developing countries and that intrinsic as well extrinsic factors affects the motivation in both positive and negative ways. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted throughout The Gambia focusing on the respondents’ experiences about their motivation to teach. The collected material was analysed using Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory. The results showed that salary, interpersonal relations, lack of materials and facilities, possibilities for growth and promotion as well as workload were factors frequently mentioned in terms of creating motivation as well as demotivation to teach.