Teacher Workload Research Report 2024

2005

Journal of Educational …, 2007

Purpose -The present study seeks to elucidate observed mismatches with workload in teacher respondents to a survey exploring aspects of the work environment. Design/methodology/approach -This phase of the study constituted a pen and paper survey of 298 currently serving teachers in independent schools in Queensland, Australia. Measures used in the research included the Areas of Worklife Survey (AWLS), which identifies matches or mismatches between the worker and organization on six areas of worklife, the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES). Findings -One sample t-tests revealed respondents reported significantly higher matches in the control, community, fairness and values areas of work life than previously surveyed populations, whereas they reported no difference in reward, and significantly more mismatch with workload. Respondents reported significantly higher levels than previously established norms on the OLBI dimension of exhaustion, but similar levels of disengagement. Responses to the UWES revealed significantly higher dedication and absorption and lower vigor than previously established norms. In addition, respondents reported working long hours in order to fulfill all obligations. Expansion of the quantitative data with respondent comments indicated that teachers working independent schools in Queensland have reached a level of workload that is unsustainable and which constitutes a serious risk to their mental and physical health. Originality/value -This article pinpoints the many reasons why demands made on teachers have extended to a level which is making their work unsustainable and will be of interest to those involved in the teaching profession.

The Australian Educational Researcher

In the context of global concerns about teacher workload and the relationship between workload and attrition, understanding the nature, quantity and intensity of teachers’ work is an essential first step in formulating robust solutions to this significant problem. Understanding teachers’ work, however, is a complex undertaking, and prior attempts have largely been focused on the quantity rather than the intensity or quality of work required and undertaken. This article reports on a pilot study of the Teacher Time Use app, a bespoke tool developed by the research team to ‘get inside’ teachers’ subjective experience of time through a focus on both workload and intensity. Our analysis shows that the app provides a simple, non-demanding way for teachers to record their work in a timely and efficient way. It also highlights the capacity of this approach to understand both the range and quantum of tasks that comprise teachers’ work and consequently the nature and subjective experience of ...

2015

The purpose of this study is to test the instrument containing the main factors associated with the list of the teachers’ tasks in order to measure and determine their workload. The respondents consisted of 185 teachers in the secondary schools in Selangor, Malacca and Sabah. The measuring tool used and produced was presented by Abdull, Rahim and Mohamad (2006) and the Ministry of Education (2007). The exploratory factor analysis carried out produced three major components of teachers' workload. These components include curriculum, students' affairs and co-curricular. The result shows that the coefficient of reliability for the workload questionnaire used is 0.933.

Creative Education, 2014

The aim of the study is to determine the perception of workload of primary and secondary school teachers in Turkey in accordance with teachers' opinion. The research data were collected using phenomenological pattern which is one of qualitative research methods, and analysis of documents was made. The research was made on 72 Primary and Secondary school teachers who have at least three years seniority working in 24 schools subordinate of Directorate of Istanbul Provincial Education. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The analysis of the resulting data was conducted by inductive content analysis. In the study, teachers generally state that security duties of teachers should be transferred to the security companies, and teachers should not interfere to the duty of collecting money from students in no way under any intentions. Again, according to the findings of the research, the most fatiguing, puzzling and time consuming issues as for teachers should be reduced which are, documents and correspondences, student tracking and control, disciplinary procedures, administrative meetings, collection of dues, ceremonies and celebrations, home visits and development of material as well. Questions of survey related to special education and guidance and counseling services should be asked by experts of this section and related ones since the related questions include very special subjects for children; as for data entries, they must be done by the school officers. The results are significant due to the fact that they offer a sight for the stakeholders about the works stated in teachers' job description and the perception of the teachers themselves related to their workload.

Journal of Educational Change, 2023

In education systems around the globe influenced by neoliberalism, teachers commonly experience reforms which emphasise local responsibility and accountability. Teachers additionally work within what has been described as an era of social acceleration and associated "fast policy", with a perceived increase in the pace of reform. In this article, we present data drawn from a large (N = 18,234) survey of Australian public-school teachers' work. Analysis of both quantitative and qualitative reports indicates a widespread teacher perception of workload increase from 2013 to 2017, and the attribution of such increase to the introduction of policy initiatives including, but not limited to, school autonomy reform. Our findings have implications for education policy in Australia and beyond, with an erosion of teacher trust suggesting the need for more sustainable and consultative forms of "slow democracy" in education policy.

2018

Three reports from the Independent Teacher Review Groups (DfE, 2016a; DfE, 2016b; and DfE, 2016c) included findings from the Department for Education (DfE) Workload Challenge Survey in which 56% of respondents indicated that data management caused unnecessary workload (DfE, 2016a, 6), 38% identified detailed lesson and weekly planning as adding an unnecessary burden to their workload (DfE, 2016b, 6), and 53% thought that the excessive nature, depth and frequency of marking was burdensome (DfE, 2016c, 6). The National College for Teaching and Leadership commissioned 11 school-based research projects to investigate practical and sustainable solutions for tackling teacher workload and provide evidence of impact of successful workload reduction strategies related to data management, planning and marking. The majority of the research projects were conducted in existing networks of schools, comprising between three and 25 schools; primary, secondary and, in a small number of cases, middle...

International Online Journal of Education and Teaching (IOJET), 2021

Educative process relies on the active interrelation of teacher, student, and learning environment. But it is the teacher who has the control over the two elements and professionally exposed to different challenges including workload intensification. Such educational problem has become one of the major foci of educational researchers since the last half of the 20th century due to the evolution of teaching-learning and education in general. This paper was approached using Apple‟s original thesis of workload intensification and the three refinements formulated by Ballet & Kelchtermans, namely: there are multiple sources of intensification, the intensification impact is mediated, and the intensification impact is differentiated. The study aims to better understand the nature of intensification and its underlying impact on the teaching quality of a teacher in qualitative terms.

In Spring 2001, BCTF Research surveyed teachers on a variety of issues related to working life, including workload and stress. This report examines workload and stress in the context of the differences and similarities between elementary and secondary teachers. Overall, 644 teachers completed the questionnaire, of whom 375 (58.2%) taught elementary grades only, 226 (35.1%) taught secondary grades only, and 43 (6.7%) taught at other levels, including middle school, Kindergarten to Grade 12 schools, and adult education.