The Impact of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on Teachers’ Performance: Evidence from Selected TVET Colleges in Lagos, Nigeria

Teachers play an important role in the development of human capital by nurturing and building the intellectual capacity of learners. Academic research revealed that teachers, particularly in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are faced with array of challenges constricting the drive towards equipping students with the appropriate practical skills as a result of dwindling motivation. Previous studies in the canon of motivation and performance studies have largely focused on industrial organizations and financial institutions with a sparse attention on teachers of TVET colleges of education in Nigeria. The paper seeks to stimulate the important discourse of motivation as a pathway to the realization of effective teachers’ performance in Nigeria’s TVET colleges of education. The Multiple Case research design was employed with a total of 120 teachers recruited from three selected TVET colleges. Findings revealed that intrinsic motivation has no significant association with teachers’ performance. A positive and significant association exists between extrinsic motivation and teachers’ performance. Amongst all other factors of motivation, total basic salary package appears to be the most impactful motivating factor for teachers. The study makes a case that for a proactive and robust teachers’ performance, TVET must appreciate and harness effective extrinsic motivational strategies for viable teachers’ performance.