American Journal of Applied Psychology 2014; 3(3): 57-61 Published online May 20, 2014 (http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajap) doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.12 Teacher motivation: A study of work motivation of the primary stage teachers in Jordan Emad Mhammad Jamil Al-Salameh Al- Balqa' Applied University- Princess Rhama University College-Special Education Department, Al-Salt 19117- Jordan Email address: imad_alsalameh@yahoo.com To cite this article: Emad Mhammad Jamil Al-Salameh. Teacher Motivation: A Study of Work Motivation of the Primary Stage Teachers in Jordan. American Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol. 3, No. 3, 2014, pp. 57-61. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140303.12 Abstract: This study aims to investigate the work motivation of the primary stage teachers in relation to age, type of school, educational qualifications, and gender. To fulfill this, three hundred and twelve participants were selected randomly by stratified method from government and private schools in Balqa governorate. The finding of the study revealed: i) The primary stage teachers in Jordan have relatively good level of work motivation ii) No significant difference was found in the work motivation among teachers working in government and private schools iii) No significant difference was found in the work motivation of teachers due to the age iv) There were significant differences in the work motivation of male and female teachers, specifically, our results suggest that female teachers were found to be more motivated to their work than male teachers v) Significant difference was reported in the work motivation of teachers having bachelor and high diploma qualification, the analyses revealed that the teachers having bachelor were found to be more motivated to their work than the teachers having high diploma. Keywords: Work Motivation, Teacher Motivation, Type of School, Educational Qualifications 1. Introduction Teachers are arguably the most important group of professionals for any nation’s future. Therefore, it is disturbing to find that many of today’s teachers are unenthusiastic with their jobs. It is well known that many teachers lose or fail to develop self-efficacy within educational settings (Dweck, 1999). In addition, needs satisfaction and motivation to work are very essential in the lives of teachers because they form the fundamental reason for working in life. While almost every teacher works in order to satisfy his or her needs in life, he or she constantly agitates for need satisfaction. Job satisfaction in this context is the ability of the teaching job to meet teachers’ needs and improve their job/teaching performance. It is crucial that we determine what increases teacher motivation. Many factors have been examined in attempt to find which ones promote teacher motivation. Pay incentives alone have been found to be unsuccessful in increasing motivation, schemes such as merit pay were predicted to be counterproductive; true job satisfaction is derived from the gratification of higher-order needs, “social relations, esteem, and actualization” rather than lower-order needs. Sylvia and Hutchinson (1985) confirmed that teacher motivation is based in the freedom to try new ideas, achievement of appropriate responsibility levels, and intrinsic work elements. The relevance of job satisfaction and motivation are very crucial to the long-term growth of any educational system around the world. They probably rank alongside professional knowledge and skills, center competencies, educational resources and strategies as the veritable determinants of educational success and performance. Professional knowledge, skills and center competencies occur when one feels effective in one’s behavior (Filak & Sheldon, 2003). The term employee motivation is a complex and difficult term to define; therefore a precise definition of this concept is elusive as the notion comprises the characteristics of individual and situation as well as the perception of that situation by the individual (Ifinedo, 2003; Rosenfeld & Wilson, 1999). Motivation has been defined in several ways. It can be described as the need or drive that incites a person to some action or behavior, the verb “motivate” means to provide reasons for action. Motivation is crucial and important in everything we do, especially at the work place. If we do not feel driven to do our job then the work will not be successfully accomplished. Hoy and Miskel (1987) demonstrated that employee motivation is the complex forces, drives, needs, tension states, or other mechanisms that