Motivation refers to “the reasons underlying behaviour” (Guay et al.

2010, p. 712). Paraphrasing Gredler, Broussard and Garrison (2004) broadly

define motivation as “the attribute that moves us to do or not to do something”

(p. 106). It is the reason for people's actions, desires, and needs. Motivation isthe concept that
elucidates the direction, persistence and goal directedbehaviour of a person. A motive is what prompts
the person to act in a certainway, or at least develop an inclination for specific behaviour.In fact,
motivation has been studied for many years, in the attempts toidentify and further explain external and
internal forces that ignite individualsinto action in order to successfully fulfil different objectives
(Hernandez,Woodcock, Schultz, Estrada, & Chance, 2013). Furthermore, Giampetro-

Meyer (2012) stressed that motivation helps to inspire and direct students’

abilities so they are able to learn and absorb knowledge that will be beneficialfor future use. However,
from a cognitive psychological standpoint, researchers have defined motivation as “the process whereby
goal

-directed

activity is instigated and maintained” (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002, p. 4).

Motivation is a process that begins with a deficiency that ispsychological or a drive aimed at satisfying a
goal (Okumbe, 1998). So it can be said that motivation is made up of needs (deficiencies) that bring up
drives (motives) that then assist in acquiring the incentives (goals).Motives are action-oriented while
incentives do isolate a need. To Marques (2010) motivation can be said to be what is required for
peopleto perform better in any activity .Every educator needs to be concernedabout motivation. It is a
quality that students, teachers, parents and members of the community must have if education system
is to prepare young people adequately for the challenges and demands of the coming
century.individuals generate and utilize motivation differs to a great extent. For students motivation is
necessary for learning to take place, parents need to be motivated to follow up on the academic
performance of their sons and daughters,teachers need it to ensure all aspects of their schools continue
to improve. It is the role of the school administrator to initiate and nurture motivation among the
various categories of individuals that participate in the educational process

In relation to academic performance, motivation plays a role in the student discovering his/her talents,
self-management, and ambition to achieve. In fact, according to Hidi and Harackiewicz (2000) as cited by
Hadre,

et.al (2006), motivation is among the most powerful determinants of students’

success or failure in school. Motivation is one of the factors that affect the academic performances of an
individual which will bring them to the top of success.