TEACHING STYLES AND MOTIVATIONAL STRATEGIES OF PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN THE CAPE COAST METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to investigate the teaching styles and motivational strategies of public primary school teachers in the Cape Coast Metropolis. The descriptive survey design was deemed the most appropriate research design to use in conducting the study. A sample size of 342 made up of 255 trained teachers and 87 pupils were captured for the study. The table of random numbers was used first to select 63 public primary schools within the Cape Coast Metropolis. An interview schedule for pupils and research questionnaire for trained teachers were the data collection instruments used. The data that was collected was first grouped and coded using numerical values (coded manual) for the data view of the Test Analytics for Surveys (TAfS), a tool of Predictive Analytic Software (PASW) Version 18.0. Majority of the respondents indicated that the colleagues of the trained teachers and their pupils often compliment the trained teachers on their good manners. The respondents again admitted that trained teachers use caring voice to ask pupils to maintain good behaviour. It was concluded that the various teaching styles and motivational strategies used by trained teachers in the various public primary schools within the metropolis do not influence or predict pupils’ academic performance directly. It was recommended that teachers use caring voice when teaching in order to make learning interesting for pupils. It was also recommended that trained teachers ensure they engage pupils more during the teaching process (learner-centred).