From Motivation to Performance: The Crossroads of Teachers as the Fulcrum of Education

This phenomenological study explored the teachers’ motivation and their performance during the school year 2023-2024. The participants of the study were the 15 teachers purposefully chosen from the district 10, Division of Malaybalay City. The data were gathered from the participants using phenomenological interviews. The researcher analyzed the data using Creswell’s qualitative analysis framework. From the data, five themes emerged on the teachers’ motivation, given their principals’ leadership style. These themes are: empowering teachers for student success through professional growth support, creating an empowering and supportive school culture through leadership excellence, building motivation through recognition and growth opportunities, empowering teachers through collaboration and supportive leadership, and fostering teacher empowerment through supportive leadership and trust. As for the performance of school heads as motivators and translators of high-performing leadership, two themes emerged: inspiring excellence through motivating teachers for student success and empowering teachers for high-quality performance. On the other hand, the challenges and support yielded two themes: challenges of adaptation, inequities, uncertainties, and expectations, and thriving together through communication, empowerment, and support.