Stories of motivation from teachers in South Sudan. Why teach?

• In Event: Teachers and Learning: Addressing learning poverty

Proposal

Understanding what attracts teachers to the profession, to remain in the profession and to improve their practice is crucial to informing the design of both in-service and pre-service professional development programmes for teachers. (Benabou and Triole, 2000; Davidson, 2007; Steiner-Khasami, 2013). The conditions for teachers in South Sudan are characterised by limited and unreliable remuneration; limited classroom resources; erratic and inconsistent training; a very high pupil to teacher ratio; insecurity and temporary or damaged school buildings (Akuey, 2018). These factors combine in different ways in different communities, but where most teachers (83%) are described to be untrained, there are only 181 teachers currently enrolled in Initial Teacher Training Institutions across the entire country (EMIS, 2018) and the country is listed as the third most illiterate country in the world (UNESCO, 2020) it seems imperative that efforts to motivate teachers are established to be relevant and contextual (Traianou, 2019) if they are to be effective in recruiting and retaining teachers and improving professional practice.

Understanding teacher motivation ‘in context’ will help policy makers to build better systems and structures of support for teachers aimed at ultimately improving learning outcomes for students and enabling a transformation in education and beyond through sustainable development. Theory suggests that it is well-educated and motivated teachers who can make the most difference to learning outcomes (Han & Yin, 2016; Atkinson 2000; Yong, 1995), but what motivates teachers in contexts where the usual rewards of salary are unreliable and low and where training is inaccessible?


This study aims to contribute to the development of a National Teacher Education Policy in South Sudan by co-creating a theory of Teacher Motivation through the interpretation and theorisation of qualitative data relating to the lived experiences of primary school teachers in rural South Sudan. The study will utilise a unique methodology which embraces a decolonised participatory approach which will focus on the use of narrative inquiry to reflect the strong and familiar oral tradition across communities in South Sudan. Data will be analysed using a Grounded Theory-lite approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and will be iterative in design to ensure researchers are continually reflecting on narratives from teachers, engaging with the literature and adapting interview questions as the study progresses. In-country researchers will be supported to conduct interviews with teachers which will be further endorsed by ethical approval from Juba University and the Ministry of Education. The study will produce a data set of individual narratives recording the lived experiences of primary school teachers in rural SS. Analyses of the data will provide a means to interpret and extrapolate policy guidance to improve understanding of teacher motivation.

There are current campaigns which argue for an understanding of what motivates teachers if we are to improve teaching practices and subsequent learning outcomes. Teacher motivation is a feature of the #TeachersTransform campaign for example from the International Task Force on Teachers for 2030. There are some studies relating to teacher motivation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and low-income countries (LIC) in general, but there are no studies to date exploring the motivations of teachers in South Sudan. Even within the literature exploring teacher motivation in SSA and LIC, there is a tendency to analyse findings through the lens of theories of motivation developed in high-income countries, even if the study itself is with (or rather, ‘on’) actors in LIC.

Through two in-country researchers, I plan to co-develop a theory of motivation for teachers in South Sudan guided by the research narratives collected from teachers in six rural primary schools in Western Equatoria. Teachers will take part in semi-structured interviews or by completing a short questionnaire in their own language. Teachers will be invited to be co-researchers and active participants in the study so that there is a sense of learning together. It is acknowledged however, that some teachers may feel more comfortable remaining in role as an interviewee and sharer of information rather than as a co-developer. This role and type of participation will be established during the pilot phase and initial visits to schools, requiring researchers to navigate these preferences for roles carefully. Researchers will maintain reflective journals which will provide a holistic view of experiences in schools. Teachers involved in the study will be assured of their anonymity, an important consideration in a politically sensitive educational context. In order to ensure that teachers remain as valued participants in the study however, each teacher will be invited to review a summary of findings. Participating teachers will also be invited to join a a Professional Learning Network generated by this study (SMS or WhatsApp) to support their further interests in professional development. Results from this study (aiming to be conducted in December 2022) will be disseminated across educators in South Sudan, particularly through the Ministry of Education and to NGOs operating in the region.

Author

• Vikki Louise Pendry, The Curriculum Foundation