Structured recognition, unstructured recognition, teachers’ job commitment, state public secondary schools, South East, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined structured and unstructured recognition as predictors of teachers’ job commitment in state public secondary schools in South East, Nigeria. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted correlational research design. The population of the study consist 33,570 teachers in 1,410 state public secondary schools in 21 education zones in South East, Nigeria. The sample of 1,678 teachers in 282 state public secondary schools in 21 education zones in South East, Nigeria was used for the study. Simple random sampling technique was used for the study. The instruments for data collection are questionnaire titled: Recognition Questionnaire (RQ) and Teachers’ Job Commitment Questionnaire (TJCQ). The instruments were subjected to face and construct validation. Face validation was done by three experts. The reliability of the instrument was done using Cronbach Alpha method and the average coefficients were established at 0.80 for RQ and 0.84 for TJCQ. Simple linear regression statistical tool was used to answer the research questions and test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that structured and unstructured recognition positively and significantly predicted teachers’ job commitment in state public secondary schools in South East, Nigeria. The study concluded that recognition is a positive and significant predictor of teachers’ job commitment in state public secondary schools in South East, Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study recommended that teachers’ hard work in state public secondary schools in South East, Nigeria should be adequately recognized and rewarded to keep their morale high for school activities in the region. Teachers who put in their best for the actualization of school goals and objectives should be given short or long term recognition, in line with the school policies, in order to encourage other staffs to be diligent, engaged and committed to their duties.