Abstract:

The goal of this study is to find out the situations that motivate and demotivate teachers in their job. In this study, phenomenology, one of the qualitative research method designs, was used to reveal the factors affecting teachers' motivation. Content analysis, one of the qualitative data analysis techniques, was used to examine the acquired data. The study group consisted of (25) teachers working in primary schools in Gaza Governorate-Occupied Palestine in the academic year 2019-2020. They were selected according to the convenience sampling method. (15) extrinsic motivators, (26) intrinsic motivators, (32) extrinsic demotivators, and (3) intrinsic demotivators emerged from the analysis and interviews. The findings of the study are in line with the attribution theory of motivation, especially the dimension of locus of causality, as teachers’ motivators and demotivational factors are classified according to internal and external motivation factors. In addition, some factors can be attributed to the stability dimension, specifically the demotivational factors including the school physical environment, administrative bureaucracy, the routine of governmental organizations, weak incentives, and unstable political conditions. These factors are stable causes that influence teachers’ behaviours consistently over time. Internal motivating factors are effective in increasing motivation more than exterior motivating factors; however, the external factors are effective in decreasing the motivation of teachers more than the internal factors.

Keywords: