Recognising behaviour that increases learning: the possible role of incentives in the teaching profession - Thabo Mabogoane

This article argues that incentives can help increase teacher performance and retention. Incentives send out a clear signal of what an education system expects from its teachers; at the same time teachers do respond to incentives inherent in the education system. Many education systems have weak incentives and therefore fail to signal to teachers the kind of behaviour the education system values. We explore possible incentives for dealing with retention of teachers in rural schools and the distribution of scarce skilled teachers. In the process we discuss teacher attitude towards these incentives through in-depth interviews and a survey conducted on incentives. A review of relevant international experiences on incentives provides information on the pitfalls to avoid, and on the successes of incentives.
From: Perspectives in Education, Vol. 24 (2), pp. 127-139