IMPACT OF WORKLOAD FACTORS ON TEACHER’S JOB PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Since performance is one of the key factors affecting the standard of living of the populace, it is widely acknowledged that performance plays a significant role in any country’s socioeconomic development. There is no doubt that improved performance is at the core of all business endeavors, including educational institutions, suggesting that the survival and advancement of the majority of human understandings are critically dependent on the performance of the organization, which is dependent on the performance of its employees. Numerous symposiums, seminars, and workshops have been held with the goal of raising the productivity of Nigerian workers across a variety of industries, including school administration. As a result, the workload significantly affects any employee’s performance, including teachers.
Notably, organizations might not be able to find enough people because inadequate resources, including a small budget and staff. As a result, the company gives workers tasks that are outside the scope of their responsibilities, adding to their workload. Shirato and Etoh divide workload into two categories: physical and mental (2021). Physical strain is brought on by the task’s technical requirements, both inside and outside the office. This is the quantified percentage of physical resources used to carry out a specific task, which is influenced by a number of factors. However, mental load refers to the amount of processing power required for a person to finish a task at a specific time. By acting as a link between inputs, rules, and reactions, information processing and control systems have this feature. as a result it
is crucial to pinpoint the elements that businesses must take into account in order to reduce employee workload. They must first identify the crucial element that most affects an employee’s workload. The company must then take the necessary actions to reduce burden. Organizations, in particular human research departments, should certainly look into this matter. A well-defined work schedule, working day, job definition, and other factors are among them (Guimares, Pessa, & Biguelini, 2019).
The ability to manage one’s workload while in school can make or break one’s academic goals. This is due to the fact that the intended results would not be attained if these tasks or commitments are not properly coordinated. Nweke and Dollah’s definition of a teacher’s workload in 2021 is
the total amount of academic teaching work and committee responsibilities assigned to a teacher in order to fulfill the overall educational goals of the school. This includes making lesson plans, completing tests and assignments, taking exams, serving as house master, and performing any other regular tasks that the principal may assign to a teaching staff. According to Usoro, Nnaessien, and Saleh (2020), workload is defined as the physiological and mental demands that arise when completing a task or a combination of tasks. It may also be the physical and/or mental needs associated with a task or combination of activities.
This shows that workload is the price a person pays for working at a certain level of performance on a job with a set of expectations given their skills; it
is the feeling that one has too many things to do or not enough time to finish what needs to be done. It is the portion of a worker’s constrained capacity required to complete a specific task. The structural characteristics of a task define it. A set of rules that map stimuli to responses can be used to describe a collection of stimuli and reactions. Workload issues include issues with teaching units vs. working units, class size, teacher-student ratio, committee assignment, student assessment, and type of work.
The effectiveness and efficiency with which a task is completed within a specific time frame, leading to the achievement of school objectives, is a measure of a teaching staff’s performance. Usoro et al. (2007) concurred that effectivenessmeasured in terms of how well-received and retained the teacher’s instruction was by the students. The rate of comprehension may be impacted by the size of the class. For the sake of goal attainment and effective performance, the principal, who is the only administrator who assigns workload to the teaching staff, must take proactive measures to prevent over- or under-utilization of the latter. In the same vein, the principal is in charge of verifying the instructor’s class size because a large class size indicates a heavy workload for the teacher. The number of students attending our schools is growing, so teachers might receive higher pay (Adu, Titilola & Ifeoma, 2017). They also emphasized how the strength of the teaching staff at the school affects how the principal divides up the tasks. Where
Even though this amount is small, each instructor will have a heavy workload, and some tasks will go unfinished. Because of this, some subjects are not taught unless the principal hires a substitute teacher who may or may not be knowledgeable about the subject; as a result, quality or efficacy is compromised. Quality, in the opinion of Arora (2019), is adherence to a requirement or specification. In this regard, the workload given to teaching staff members directly affects their productivity.
Clearly, the quality of education in Nigeria has received attention recently, especially in secondary schools. Such public concern is primarily directed at the deteriorating state of education and the pressing need to reverse the trend in order to stop further deterioration. Given the aforementioned facts,
Excellent secondary school management and administration become essential. In the secondary school system, the principal is in charge of administration and management, while teachers and students are primarily in charge of teaching and learning. The instructor is essential to the educational context, and when overburdened, they are unable to perform at their best, claims Jaiyeoba (2018).
Statement of the problem: 1.2
Teachers are essential to the output and results of the education sector, which historically has been viewed as the cornerstone of development. According to Onyemaechi (2022), at the Senior Secondary School level of education, there have been reports of instructors’ recurring poor work performance and students’ low academic achievement in core and major topics. The increased workload of teachers in classrooms can be blamed for this
which has caused the job performance of teachers to decline. Abdul (2020) emphasized that because workload has a significant impact on the level of teacher job performance, workload is at the forefront when it comes to the quality or efficacy of education.
Due to the fact that graduates of our educational system, including those from senior high school, are unable to effectively demonstrate their value, there is widespread concern about the decline in educational quality. The situation is getting worse because there aren’t enough teachers in the classrooms, which is putting a lot of pressure on the current teaching staff. Large classes will be challenging to manage, according to Zwalchir and Buenyen (2019), which goes against the principles of classroom management training. They also imply that when a classroom’s teacher-to-student ratio exceeds
1:40 In public senior high schools, a teacher may be overworked, meaning that he or she may have too many committee assignments and teaching units, which may impair performance. Therefore, based on this premise, this study aims to investigate how workload factors affect teachers’ performance at work in public secondary schools.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study’s main goal was to evaluate the effects of workload factors on teachers’ performance at their jobs in public secondary schools. In particular, the study outlines:
i. To determine whether working hours have an impact on teachers’ effectiveness
ii. To ascertain whether teacher performance is impacted by class size;
iii. To determine whether the teacher-to-student ratio affects the performance of the teacher;
iv. To determine how much a bulk assignment affects a teacher’s ability to perform their duties.
1.4
STUDY QUESTIONS
The investigation was steered and directed by the following research questions:
i. Does the number of hours a teacher works affect their productivity in public secondary schools?
Does the number of students in a class affect how well teachers perform their jobs in public secondary schools?
Does the teacher-to-student ratio have an impact on how well teachers perform in public secondary schools?
iv. To what extent do bulk assignments in public secondary schools affect teachers’ job performance?
1.5 RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER STUDIES
The results of this study will advance general knowledge about the effects of workload and teacher performance. In order to improve students’ academic performance and teachers’ job performance, the findings will contribute to knowledge that can be used to plan seminars and workshops on how to lessen teachers’ workload in public secondary schools.
realizing educational objectives.
The Ministry of Education’s human resources division and other government bodies in charge of making policy could also make use of the findings, particularly when formulating measures to ensure that teachers’ workloads are reduced in a way that improves the quality of instruction. The results of this study will also demonstrate the ideal organizational design that will enhance both teachers’ professional performance and students’ academic achievement in the classroom. Empirically, the study will add to the body of knowledge and be a resource for academics and students who wish to conduct additional research on the topic.
1.6 THE STUDY’S SCOPE
The study primarily examined workload variables and teacher performance on the job. The study primarily examined public secondary schools.
teachers in Imo State’s Owerri Municipality.
Limitations of the study: 1.7
Like any human endeavor, the researchers encountered some minor difficulties while carrying out the study. The lack of literature on the subject was the most significant restriction because the discourse was novel. The sample size was limited to public secondary school teachers in Owerri Municipal in Imo State because the researcher spent a significant amount of time and additional money looking for pertinent materials, literature, or information. Therefore, it is not possible to extrapolate the findings of this study to secondary schools in other Nigerian states. The researcher will also work on other academic projects concurrently, which will prevent him or her from
giving the research all of their focus. Nevertheless, all factors were minimized in order to produce the best results and guarantee the success of the study, despite the constraints encountered throughout the research.
1.8 TERM DEFINITIONS
Class size is the total number of students enrolled in a course or classroom, more specifically the average number of students taught by teachers across a school, district, or educational system, or both.
The nature of his work is defined as the fundamental duties he performs on a daily basis in the course of his employment, as well as any other unusual duties that may occasionally be necessary.
The student-teacher ratio demonstrates the
Relationship between the number of full-time equivalent teachers employed by a school, district, or educational system and the number of students enrolled in those entities.
Performance as a teacher: This refers to how well a teacher carried out the duties associated with their job as a teacher. This suggests the degree of productivity among teachers within a school system.
Workload factors are the physical and mental strains experienced while carrying out a task or set of tasks. These elements are: the ratio of teaching to working units, the size of the class, the teacher-to-student ratio, committee assignments, student evaluations, and the type of work.
The amount of time a person spends engaging in paid employment is known as their working hours.
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