CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Teachers are influenced by certain activities around their working environment. In a common parlance, working environment is identified as the place that one works. According to business dictionary, working environment refers to all existing circumstance affecting labor in the work place, including job hours, physical aspects, legal rights and responsibility, temperature, available space, organizational climate and workload. It is the social and professional environment in which teachers interact with students, principals and other stakeholders in the same environment. A decent working environment is a condition where individuals can do their jobs in an ideal, secure, healthy, and comfort way. Therefore, many y studies classify the work environment into toxic and conducive environments (Akinyele, 2010). Unhealthy and unsafe work environment in terms of poor ventilation, immoderate noise, inadequate lighting etc. affect employees’ productivity and health. Working environment is created by the interaction of employees with their organizational climate, and includes psychological as well as physical working conditions (Gerber 1998). Hay Group (2007) contends that work environment includes a friendly, well-designed, safe physical space, good equipment and effective communication which will improve productivity. Well-designed and organized offices and work areas make significant differences to how people feel about their work. Working environment gives messages about how much the organization value teachers and the standards it expects from the teachers for the realization of the expected productivity (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007).

For Rolloos (1997) productivity is a ratio to measure how well an organization (individual, industry or country) converts input resources (labor, materials, machines etc.) into goods and services. In addition, productivity refers to effort to produce with the least effort by combination of labor, material and machines. The working conditions are very important to the organization. If the employees have negative perception of their working conditions, they are likely to be absent, have stress related illness, and their productivity and commitment tend to be low. In the same vein, Mali (1978) sees productivity as the measure of how resources are brought together in organizations and utilized for accomplishing a set of results. This implies that it reflects on reaching the highest level of performance with least expenditure of resources.

According to Abdulla et al. (2010), environmental factors represent the immediate job environment that contains skills required to perform a job, authority, autonomy, relationship with supervisors and co-workers and other working conditions. It is important for the employer to know how its work environment impacts greatly on the employee’s level of motivation and productivity. A well designed office signals the values and objectives of the organization and the use of design in office interior communicates an organization values and identity.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As revealed by Purcell, Kinnie, Hutchinson, Rayton and Swart (2003) evidence shows that productivity depended on having the right mix of the skills, abilities, motivation and potentialities in achieving the predetermined goal of the institutions. An enabling environment for collaborative building of teachers’ capacity is therefore very critical. This is because the more skillful the teachers are, the higher their level of productivity. Skilled labor not only can do things beyond the competence of unskilled labor, it is likely also to be able to work faster, with less supervision, fewer errors as well as producing goods and services of a higher substance and quality. This view is accepted by Adelakun (2011) who affirms that teachers with a good learning environment developed more confident and feel less at risk, while at the same time acquiring motivation for entrepreneurial activity. A satisfied, happy and hardworking teacher is the biggest asset of any organization. For instance, the level of salary, promotion, appraisal system, climate management, and relation with co-workers are the very important factors. Creating better and higher performing workplace requires an awareness of how workplace impacts behavior and how behavior itself drives workplace productivity (Armstrong & Murlis, 2007).

It is in the above light, that this study intends to fill the gap of investigating the relationship between work environment and teachers job performance in Ilorin, the challenges of work environment, effects of work environment on teacher’s performance in Ilorin secondary school and the ways to promote enabling work in Ilorin secondary school.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of work environment on teacher’s job performance

The specific of the study are:

1. To ascertain the relationship between work environment and teachers job performance
2. To examine the challenges of work environment on teachers job performance
3. To assess the effects of work environment on teachers job performance
4. To provides ways of enabling work environment on teacher’s job performance.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Rising from the research objectives, the following are the research questions to be address in the study:

1. What is the relationship between work environment and teachers job performance?
2. What are the challenges of work environment on teacher’s job performance?
3. What are the effects of work environment on teacher’s job performance?
4. What ways can promote enabling work environment on teacher’s job performance?

1.5 STATEMET OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0 there is no significant relationship between work environment and teachers job performance.

H0 there is significant relationship between work environment and teachers job performance.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study will be of benefit to the education scholars, students, teachers, principals and other stakeholders who will likely research into similar topic all over the higher institutions in Nigeria. The study will be of help to school management who has the responsibility of providing the related facilities for the comfort of the teachers, students and principals. This is obvious as performance of the teachers cannot be generated in the situation of distress and inconvenience. This study will add to the volume of literatures on working environment and teachers’ performance in secondary schools in Ilorin west L.G.A.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study was limited to working environment and teachers’ performance in secondary schools in Ilorin west local government area. It covered certain variable such as: work environment challenges, effects of work environment.

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

TIME CONSTRAINTS: One the challenges experienced by the researcher is the issue of time; the research will simultaneously engage in departmental activities like seminars and attendance to lectures. But the researcher was able to meet up with the deadline for the submission of the project.

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS: Every research work needs funding; however lack of adequate funds might affect the speed of the researcher in getting materials for completion of the project.

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Teacher performance

Teacher performance evaluation as a process of growth and development: a process of change and achievement. Most of his work on teacher evaluation centers on formative evaluation, which is used to determine the degree of mastery of a given task. It is the level at which teachers are encouraged to grow and are given the opportunity and support needed to become better teachers.

Work environment

The term work environment is used to describe the surrounding conditions in which an employee operates.  The work environment can be composed of physical conditions, such as office temperature, or equipment, such as personal computers.  It can also be related to factors such as work processes or procedures.

Leadership style

Are the behavioral patterns that a leader adopt to influence the behavior of his followers, i.e. the way he gives directions to his subordinates and motivates them to accomplish the given objectives.

Existing infrastructure

means existing public realm, road, highway, Utility Infrastructure, railway infrastructure, drainage works, landscaping, infrastructure situated on the Lands, means all roads, streets, curbing, sidewalks, parking areas, access drives, and appurtenant drainage thereto within the Project Site existing as of the effective date.

Management system

 Is a set of policies, processes and procedures used by an organization to ensure that it can fulfill the tasks required to achieve its objectives.[1] These objectives cover many aspects of the organization's operations (including financial success, safe operation, product quality, client relationships, legislative and regulatory conformance and worker management). For instance, an environmental management system enables organizations to improve their environmental performance and an occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) enables an organization to control its occupational health and safety risks, etc.