Teacher Incentive Strategy in Secondary Schools: The Missing Link between Policy and Practices

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of teachers’ incentive strategy from the perspectives of Expectancy Motivation theory. Methods: Descriptive survey design was employed. The size of the population was 346. Of these, 173 teachers were selected using simple random sampling technique. Questionnaire and interview were used to collect the data. Results: The result of one sample t-test indicated that the mean scores of teachers about the awareness of the incentive strategy (4.21) and attractiveness of the incentives (4.69 ) were significantly higher than the expected mean value (3) at (t = 43.27) and (t = 150.739) respectively at df = 172, p< 0.05. Conversely, the mean scores of teachers’ expectancy in exerting effort in achieving the provided duties (2.00) and instrumentality of getting the incentives when they perform the required tasks (1.98) were lower than the expected mean value (3) at (t = -59.0) and (t = -37.1) respectively at p < 0.05, df =172. Conclusion: Based on expectancy motivation theory, it is concluded that the incentive strategy was not effective in motivating teachers due to the absence of certain personal and institutional factors. Therefore, incentives need to be provided for teachers who perform the required tasks with clear criteria.