A Study on the Motivations of Special Education Teachers in Pasay Special Education Center

Abstract

The Philippines offers special education programs but the number of special education teachers is not enough to supply its demand, because others tend to choose teaching in other countries. There are a lot of researches concerning the reasons for attrition and retention of special education teachers and it is mainly based on teachers’ own personal reasons. The objective of this study is to know which of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors are highly considered by Special Education Teachers specifically in Pasay Special Education Center that contribute to their retention in teaching. Eighteen Special Education Teachers were taken as respondents to a self-administered survey questionnaire that looked into the factors affecting their motivation. Results of the study identified that nature of work and recognition had a significant relationship with retention of teachers. However, the other motivators and variables, even if indirectly and weakly correlated to retention, would not mean that there is an absence of relationship between them, rather a possibility of existence of a nonlinear relationship. As a result, the researcher did not reject the null hypothesis and concluded that there is no sufficient evidence to prove the significance of the other factors to retention. Therefore, further research or studies on intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors are be recommended to broaden the study regarding these factors on whether they significantly contribute to the performance of teachers and retention in their job. The motivation of employees is one of the fundamental issues that institutions and organizations must address for the employee’s performance and productivity depends on it.