Ita Chimezie Iwu

This research sought to ascertain those job characteristics that influence teacher motivation, which may result in improved pass rates for learners in Ibadan South-West Local Government, Nigeria. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analytic methods were employed to determine the relationships between job characteristics and obstacles to teaching and learning, on the one hand; and respondents’ profile, on the other. For the purpose of the research, 456 teachers were surveyed with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Relatively young teachers were surveyed (87%), with females dominating the sample. The results suggest that while salary, career opportunities and duties and responsibilities respectively take central stage in motivating the participants, other job characteristics variables (such as supervision/leadership) do not exert the same effect. Furthermore, the results also show that the lack of resources related to learning and research, and the lack of recognition/reward are deemed as the dominant obstacles in meeting teaching and learning goals, while non-transparent culture is viewed as an insignificant obstacle. A major implication of the findings is that to achieve a sustainable improvement in student performance, a systematic improvement in teachers’ job related factors would be needed.