Compulsory School Teachers Research Articles

Additional workload or a part of the job? Icelandic teachers' discourse on inclusive education

The aim of this article is to examine the discourse of Icelandic compulsory school teachers on inclusive education. From 1974 and onwards, the education policy in Iceland has been towards inclusion, and Iceland is considered to be an example of a highly inclusive education system with few segregated resources for students with special educational needs. In particular, the article focuses on what characterises and legitimises teachers' discourse on inclusive education, the contradictions in the discourse and how teachers have involved themselves in the process. We use the approach of historical discourse analysis to analyse the discourse as it appears in interviews with teachers and media articles on education as well as in key documents issued by the Parliament. The article provides an insight into the complexities of this topic and draws attention to underlying issues relevant to inclusive education.

Work-related violence and its association with self-rated general health among public sector employees in Sweden

Work-related violence is one of the most serious threats to employee safety and health. To ascertain the extent of self-reported violence or threats of violence at work in relation to the general health of public sector employees. The study population comprised 9,611 female (83%) and male public employees in Sweden. A questionnaire based on items derived mainly from validated instruments was constructed to cover aspects such as health, lifestyle, and physical and psychosocial work conditions. One in three employees reported work-related violence, with the highest proportions among psychiatric nurses (79%) and psychiatric attendants (75%). Work-related violence more often affected those who were < 45 years old, worked < 40 hours/week, worked nights, or reported poor health. Regardless of gender, age, hours of work, night work, and type of occupation, exposure to work-related violence was associated with less than good general health, and this relationship was strongest for psychiatric nurses (OR=3.19; 95% CI=1.28-7.98), medical doctors/dentists (OR=2.46; 95% CI=1.35-4.49), compulsory school teachers (OR=2.14; 95% CI=1.33-3.45), and other nurses (OR=1.87; 95% CI=1.23-2.84). Work-related violence was frequently reported by employees in the most common public sector occupations, and it was associated with poor health in both genders.

Merit Pay Fairness, Leader-Member Exchange, and Job Engagement

In this article, the authors theoretically propose that the perceived fairness of merit pay substantially influences leader-member exchange (LMX) and which in turn influences job engagement. Data from 581 Chinese compulsory school teachers show that the perceived procedural fairness of merit pay policy significantly and positively affects LMX and job engagement. That LMX partially mediates the relationship between procedural fairness perception and job engagement. The results indicate that procedural fairness plays more important role to motivate the public service employees in the merit pay implementation than the distributive fairness. The emphasis of procedural fairness may reflect the respect and dignity of the individual, which therefore promote teachers’ acceptance of leadership management styles and further stimulate greater job engagement among employees.

What controls the teaching of friluftsliv? Analysing a pedagogic discourse within Swedish physical education

Research indicates that outdoor teaching practices within a physical education (PE) context are controlled by several factors with the potential to weaken or strengthen PE teachers' communication of pedagogic messages. Drawing on 12 qualitative interviews with PE teachers in compulsory schools in Sweden, the findings in this study suggest that factors claimed to control teachers' pedagogic communication of friluftsliv (the Scandinavian equivalent to outdoor education) are based on the construction of a dominating pedagogic discourse for outdoor teaching in Swedish schools. Inspired by Basil Bernstein's theoretical concepts of the pedagogic device, the analysis of this discourse indicates that Swedish PE teachers and PE teacher education appear to reproduce friluftsliv as a teaching practice carried out in a remote wilderness setting involving specific equipment, financial resources and a certain amount of risk. In relation to these results, alternative ways to think of outdoor teaching in relation to the achievement of the national aims in Swedish PE are discussed.

Teacher Involvement in School Development Activity and its Relationships to Attitudes and Subjective Norms among Teachers: a Study of Norwegian Elementary and Junior High School Teachers

This article is based on a survey covering 1,435 Norwegian teachers in compulsory schools in 47 municipalities. It examines associations between teacher involvement in school development activity (SDA) and teachers’ attitudes toward SDA as well as their perceived working environment concerning innovation activity among staff and the principal’s involvement in SDA. Results showed that teachers’ perception of SDA as a relevant task was the strongest predictor of the variables examined. Furthermore, teacher perception of the innovation culture among staff and of a principal’s involvement moderately accounted for teacher involvement in SDA. Results suggest that the relevance of SDA has a stronger effect on teacher involvement in SDA if the innovation culture is perceived to be positive and the principal is seen to be involved in SDA. Finally, the results indicated no significant differences between elementary and junior high school teachers with regard to the predictors for teacher involvement in SDA.

Unwinding, Recuperation, and Health Among Compulsory School and High School Teachers in Sweden.

Unwinding, recuperation, and health among compulsory school and high school teachers in Sweden

Sick but yet at work. An empirical study of sickness presenteeism

STUDY OBJECTIVEThe study is an empirical investigation of sickness presenteeism in relation to occupation, irreplaceability, ill health, sickness absenteeism, personal income, and slimmed down organisation.DESIGNCross sectional design.SETTINGSwedish workforce.PARTICIPANTSThe study group...

Teachers' Didactic Work: Compulsory School Teachers' Conceptions of Their Own Civics Teaching

This article summarises and discusses a new research report about Swedish compulsory school teachers' conceptions of their own civics teaching. This empirical and exploratory study looks upon and presents as problems a variety of didactic questions from a teacher perspective. The main purpose of this work is to increase our knowledge of how compulsory school teachers (grades 1–9) verbalise their own thoughts around their choices concerning the civics' goals, contents, processes, methods, possibilities and obstacles, and other relevant organisational, planning, evaluation and in-service questions. The results of this study can, hopefully, also constitute some fruitful starting points for professional reflections, discussions and further investigations among teachers and researchers in teacher education.

Educational Multimedia And Teachers’ Needs For New Competencies: A Study Of Compulsory School Teachers’ Needs For Competence To Use Educational Multimedia

This paper is a step on the way to establish a multimedia didactics for compulsory school. In the paper I review findings from the European PEDACTICE project that deals with these issues. It focuses on describing central teachers' competence, relating to the use of educational multimedia in compulsory school. Les multimédia éducatifs et les besoins des maîtres pour les nouvelles compétences Une étude des besoins des maîtres de l'école obligatoire pour leur compétence à utiliser les multimédia éducatifs. Cet article est une étape en vue d'établir une didactique multimédia pour lécole obligatoire. Il analyse les résultats du PEDACTICE européens, projet qui traite de ces problèmes. Il met l'accent sur la description des compétences du maître principal dans l'utilisation des multimédia éducatifs dans l'école obligatoire. Multimedia Unterrichtsprogramme erfordern neue Kompetenzen von Lehrern: Eine Studie zu Kompetenzbedürfnissen von Lehrern zur Nutzung von Multimedia im Unterricht. Dieses Papier leistet einen Beitrag bei der Entwicklung einer Multimedia Didaktik für das allgemeine Schulwesen unter Verarbeitung von Ergebnissen des europäischen PEDACTICE-Projekts.

Teacher Education On‐Line: What Gets Lost in Electronic Communication?

Abstract In the paper I consider a pilot project at The Icelandic University College of Education, where a traditional 3‐year certificate course for compulsory schoolteachers has partly been converted into distance education mode. The project uses the Icelandic Educational Network, which by now encapsulates the majority of the Icelandic school system. This tele‐communication project is exceptional as it directs itself to the entire national system. I describe the social context of this new project as well as the rationale. Finally I speculate on the conditions and experiences of the participants in the initial phase and mention some technological and pedagogical concerns—and prospects.

Technology for Girls in Sweden

SUMMARY Sweden is placing much greater emphasis on the technical education and training of young people. Since 1982/83, technology has become a required area of study throughout the compulsory school system. This provides an excellent opportunity for girls to learn much more about science and technology at a young age and to become confident in these fields. However, school teachers of young children themselves lack confidence and expertise in technology and are inclined to approach the teaching of the subject in a diffident, somewhat abstract manner A range of very practical activities are outlined which can be introduced into the training of compulsory school and indeed nursery school teachers, so that they have a much better approach to the organisation of technology classes. The author has direct experience of all the work she describes and has been very active in developing curriculum content for technology classes at nursery and compulsory school level. She has arranged for a number of her engineering students at LinkÖping Institute of Technology, mainly women, to become involved as instructors of trainee nursery school teachers. Other students have worked on special technology projects with compulsory level school teachers. The women engineering students act as powerful role models for young trainee teachers and for school girls alike The author stresses that quite simple, often home made and inexpensive materials can be used in imaginative ways to intrigue and involve children and especially girls, in technical activities and studies.