The Effect of Work Discipline and Work Motivation on Teacher Performance at SMA Negeri 1 Keumala, Pidie Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

Teacher performance remains uneven across Indonesian public schools, and evidence on whether work discipline or work motivation matters more is inconsistent. This study examined how work discipline and work motivation, separately and jointly, predict teacher performance at SMA Negeri 1 Keumala, Pidie Regency, Aceh. A quantitative, cross sectional correlational survey was conducted with 44 of the school's 48 teachers, selected by proportionate stratified random sampling according to employment status. Data were collected with a validated five point Likert questionnaire and analysed by multiple linear regression in SPSS 26 after classical assumption testing. Work discipline (t = 3.847, p < .001) and work motivation (t = 4.213, p < .001) were each positively and significantly associated with teacher performance, and together they explained 60.4% of its variance (F = 31.26, p < .001; R² = .604). Squared semipartial correlations showed that motivation uniquely accounted for 17.1% and discipline for 14.3% of the variance, with about 29% shared, indicating comparable and largely overlapping contributions rather than a clearly dominant predictor. The study contributes evidence from a postpandemic Acehnese school, where such data are scarce, and shows that discipline and motivation act as complementary rather than competing levers of performance. Practically, school leaders should combine consistent, transparent supervision of attendance and duties with recognition and professional growth opportunities that sustain teachers' motivation. Because the design is cross sectional and single site, the findings indicate associations rather than causal effects.