Journal Article Critique on Relationship Between Primary School Teachers Extrinsic Motivation And Pupils Academic Performance

Running Head: CRITIQUE 1
Journal Article Critique
Name
Institution

CRITIQUE 2
Journal Article Critique
Article used: Ndifon, R., & Cornelius-Ukpepi, B. U. (2014). The Relationship Between Primary
School Teachers Extrinsic Motivation And Pupils Academic Performance In Cross River State,
Nigeria. Global Journal of Educational Research, 13(1), 45-53.
Introduction
Education is an important element on every society. Today, the most common and viable
yardstick of measuring the impact of education is through student’s performance in their
academics. It is for this reason that Ndifon and Cornelius-Ukpepi (2014) conducted a research on
titled “The Relationship between Primary School Teachers Extrinsic Motivation and Pupils
Academic Performance in Cross River State, Nigeria.” In this study, the researchers seek to
determine the relationship that exists between external teacher motivation factors and the overall
academic performance of the pupils they teach. One may argue that the study was conducted as a
result of the dwindling academic performance among pupils in Nigeria. For a long time, parents
and the general public complained about poor performance by primary school children in both
internal and external examinations .According Ndifon and Cornelius-Ukpepi (2014), the poor
performance was due to the fact that teachers, especially those working in primary schools in the
country had little motivation to encourage them to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in
teaching (Ndifon & Cornelius-Ukpepi, 2014). This, in turn, affected children’s academic
performance. It is noteworthy that other studies have been conducted on the same topic. In all
these studies, the consensus remains that if teachers are not motivated to carry out their teaching
responsibilities effectively, then they can work against the realization of the educational
objectives (Gitonga, 2012). It is imperative to note that the text aims at showing that there is a

CRITIQUE 3
significant correlation between the teachers’ motivation and the academic performance of the
students they teach. Indeed, the authors through their findings were able to establish that there is
a connection between the motivation of teachers and pupil’s performance in academics. This
critical review is organized in sections analyzing various aspects of the text among them the
problem statement, purpose of the study, its hypothesis, methodologies and findings. It will also
compare the article to other researchers’ work on the same subject.
Analysis
Noteworthy is the fact that the study is complementary and concurs with the
results of other studies conducted on the topic of teacher motivation and student’s academic
performance. For instance, the results and conclusions of this study relate to those of Akpaitam
(1997) which examined the role of motivation on the effective performance of teachers and
students on the secondary level. In Akpaitam (1997) we see that that there is a positive
correlation between the two variables. Likewise, Essien (2004) demonstrates that teacher
instructional competence plays a major role on the academic results of the students they teach. In
the same way, Ofoegbu (2001) shows that motivational factors in the school environment for
teachers results in the accomplishment of classroom effectiveness. So far, all studies indicate that
there is a positive relationship between the two, and there is no study that indicates otherwise. As
such, no studies have been conducted as yet to contradict this study and show that there is no
relationship between the level of motivation among educators and the academic performance of
the children they teach.
It is imperative to point out the fact that the researchers demonstrate a deep understanding
of the subject matter. From the beginning of the article, the authors discuss the importance of the