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As discussed in the previous section, in general teachers are interested in further study in order to climb the education ladder and/or move away from a teaching career. Further light may be shed on this tendency by looking at teachers‟ goals. Of 688 teachers who responded to open questions about their goals (life and professional41), 43% say that their goal is to hold a higher or the highest degree, as table 34 shows. This is followed by 22.1% who aspire to be professional teachers or teach more effectively; 18.5% who aim to teach at a higher level; and 17.7% who want to work in education administration.

While these individuals have goals related specifically to teaching, others have broader ambitions: 15.7% want to be a role model, have greater responsibility and/or be a leader; 13.7% wish to become rich and financially secure; and 10.6% indicate a specific interest in becoming a politician42. At least one in ten shows an interest in a completely different career such as that of doctor or lawyer. Again, this confirms the findings of earlier studies: teachers are keen to further their education in order to climb the ladder and/or change career (Bame 1991; Peil 1995; Hedges 2002; Akyeampong and Asante 2005). Although teachers indicate altruistic reasons for having entered the profession, their goals as teachers are more individualistic.

There are some differences in teachers‟ goals between the two districts. Teachers in Ponkujaku – unlike those in Aumisoe – tend to want to work in education administration rather than teaching at a higher level. This might be partly due to the fact that there are not many post-primary institutions in Ponkujaku − only nine JSS and one SSS. Another

explanation might be that office workers are accorded more prestige, such as the possession of a motorbike. Teachers in Ponkujaku tend to aspire to be role models and/or leaders of

41 _{Teachers were questioned separately about their life and professional goals, but they tended to blur the} distinction. Thus, the two are not differentiated in the analysis.

people and communities, while those in Aumisoe feel that they would like to produce good citizens. The role of a teacher in Ponkujaku may be closer to that in a „golden age‟ in which, being formally educated, teachers were also leaders of the community (Jessop and Penny 1998 p395).

Gender seems to be also a contributory factor in terms of teachers‟ goals. There is no statistical significance in terms of job satisfaction by gender, with the exception of one factor: a teacher‟s relationship with the community. Nevertheless, female teachers – and trained female teachers, in particular – are more likely to wish to further their education, partly because they tend to be from socio-economically better-off families with

concomitant higher aspirations. On the other hand, they are less likely to aspire to be role models and/or leaders compared to their male counterparts, as discussed earlier, for cultural reasons, female teachers may tend not to aspire to public positions.

Table 34 Teachers’ goals

District Gender Qualification Pooled Ponkuja-

ku

Aumi-

soe Male Female Trained

Un- trained N 688 209 479 573 115 258 430 To hold a higher/highest degree 43.0 43.1 43.0 41.9 48.7 49.6 39.1 To be a professional teacher 22.1 30.6 18.4 22.3 20.9 4.3 32.8 To teach at a higher level 18.5 7.2 23.4 18.8 16.5 24.0 15.1 To work in administration

(district and regional offices) 17.7 22.0 15.9 18.2 15.7 17.1 18.1 To be an educationalist/ establish an educational institution 6.0 5.7 6.1 6.1 5.2 8.9 4.2 To be a role model/leader 15.7 20.1 13.8 16.9 9.6 16.3 15.3 To be a politician/MP 10.6 12.0 10.0 11.2 7.8 9.7 11.2 To be rich/financially secure 13.7 12.4 14.2 13.6 13.9 13.2 14.0 To be a doctor, lawyer or work

in another field. 12.5 12.4 12.5 11.9 15.7 14.0 11.6 To produce good citizens 17.0 12.9 18.8 17.1 16.5 16.7 17.2 To receive divine reward 0.9 1.4 0.6 0.9 0.9 1.6 0.5 Other 2.6 0.0 3.8 2.8 1.7 3.5 2.1 Source: questionnaires.

Teachers with different qualifications seem to have different goals. Trained teachers appear to have a stronger desire to enhance their educational qualifications and are much less interested in improving their professionalism and teaching efficiency. Half (49.6%) of

trained teachers are keen on further education, but only 4.3% say their goal is to be a professional/effective teacher. Untrained teachers are also eager to further their education, but are more interested in becoming professional teachers and/or teaching as effectively as their trained counterparts. Indeed, they may not see themselves as having much choice in terms of career, as Hedges suggests (2002), or may be obsessed with the upgrade

programme, the eventual benefits of which they tend to rely on both financially and academically.

One in four (24.0%) trained teachers would like to teach at a higher level, while one in six (15.1%) untrained teachers have this goal. This suggests that trained teachers see their careers as advancing beyond their current school, in the knowledge that basic teaching may be an entry point to the GES, and/or that they prefer to work in towns and urban areas. In other words, untrained teachers are more attached to their localities. However, interestingly, while trained teachers are less attracted to the prospect of working in GES administration than teaching at a higher level, untrained teachers have the opposite aspiration.

5.5. Conclusion

Trainee teachers perceive a post at basic level as a stepping stone to a better job (Hedges 2002; Akyeampong and Lewin 2002). Indeed, the findings of this study indicate that almost all teachers hold this view. Although many of them mention altruistic motives – including willingness to help the children and serve the community and the nation – as reasons for becoming basic teachers, basic school teaching seems to be regarded as a means of facilitating further education. This may be result from their low job satisfaction.

In general, teachers‟ job satisfaction is low − echoing the findings of Akyeampong and Asante (2005) − although they show lower satisfaction with their physical and

organisational environment, and higher satisfaction with their social environment. They are seldom satisfied with their physical environment (living and working conditions) or

services, such as health and finance, to which they are entitled. However, these varying findings suggest that these aspects of teaching could easily be overemphasised and that

with quantitative research alone, it is difficult to provide insights into why teachers show different levels of satisfaction in relation to each of the factors discussed.

Teachers in Aumisoe are less likely to be satisfied with the job than those in Ponkujaku. Similarly, trained teachers are less likely to be satisfied with the job than untrained teachers. Trained teachers in particular – having a higher aspiration to further their education – may be keener to leave basic teaching. It is necessary to explore why these trends occur, and they are therefore discussed further in the light of qualitative analysis in the next three chapters.

The six factors analysed in this chapter may be divided into two: macro factors, that is, organisational support system and social representation; and micro factors, of which there are four: physical environment; safety and security; relationships with the community; and relationships within the school. The remaining factor − job characteristics − seems to be applicable to both levels. Chapter 6 and 7 consider these micro factors in an examination of teachers‟ living and working conditions; and chapter 8 continues the discussion of the impact of policy and its implementation, and the role of organisational authorities – namely the DEO and the DA – on teacher motivation. Similarities and differences between the districts and between trained teachers and untrained teachers in terms of teachers‟ lives and perceptions are also explored in the next three chapters.