Socio-Demographic Factors and the Level of Teachers’ Motivation in Slovak National Schools in Hungary

Abstract

Introduction. The research paper seeks to identify the level of motivation of Slovak educators teaching in Hungary in the context of a low level of teachers’ motivation in Central and Eastern Europe. The aim of the paper is to show the relationship between socio-demographic factors (age, gender, type of school) and the degree of teachers’ motivation at Slovak national schools in Hungary. The results of research on motivation in relation to gender, age and type of school are shown to be inconsistent and yield varying findings. Materials and Methods. This paper is based on the data collected in the survey conducted in 10 Hungarian counties between January and April 2019, using a sample of 139 teachers of ethnic schools (monolingual, bilingual and schools teaching the ethnic language as a separate subject). We processed the obtained research results using methods of descriptive statistics and methods of inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient; Mann-Whitney U test; Kruskal-Wallis H test). Results. The results showed that there was no correlation between the teacher’s age and teaching motivation (p > 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found between gender and teaching motivation when using the Mann-Whitney test. Using a non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test, the existence of significant differences in the level of motivation of teachers working at various types of schools was confirmed. The research showed that teachers of bilingual schools were the most positive in relation to motivation, and the lowest average scores were achieved by teachers in schools where Slovak is taught as a subject. The age and gender of teachers were not significant in relation to the evaluation of the degree of motivation for teaching Slovak. Discussion and Conclusion. The results presented in the article will be beneficial not only for pedagogical researchers, but especially for Slovak teachers in Hungary, as research of this kind was conducted for the first time.