Teacher Workload Research Articles

Specifying Hybrid Models of Teachers’ Work During COVID-19

The term “hybrid” emerged as a common descriptor of pandemic-modified schooling configurations. Yet this umbrella term insufficiently captures the variations among hybrid models, particularly as it pertains to the structure of teacher workdays and related workload demands. Drawing on qualitative research documenting K–12 U.S. teachers’ experience teaching during COVID-19, this brief introduces and explicates three terms specifying structural hybrid models—parallel, alternating, and blended—and their implications for teachers’ work. Differentiating among the models facilitates future analysis of the implications of hybrid schooling for teacher and student experience. Initial analysis indicates teachers experienced one model, blended hybrid, as more challenging than others. This teacher perception highlights the need to discern among the three hybrid models more closely when analyzing schools’ responses to the pandemic. Differentiating among hybrid models may prompt future analysis of hybrid schooling for teacher workload and student learning.

Do Educators Have an Alternative to Tutoring to Increase Their Income?

The article presents the results of a study of the workload and income of teachers that are using online educational platforms and marketplaces to find main and additional job. The approach based on the concept of shadow education. The authors find out to what extent the income of teachers depends on the workload and the combination of types of pedagogical activity in educational organization and outside them. The research question is: whether there are statistically significant differences in the cost of an hour of tutoring, platform and traditional pedagogical load, at which conditions the income of teachers equal to comparable occupations and in line with decent work indicators. An analysis of the data of an online sociological survey using linear regression modeling showed that a teacher working only at school, even with excessive workload, will not achieve earnings comparable to the income of the other types of pedagogical activity. The article for the first time reasonably reveals the reasons for the formation — while maintaining a pool of teachers who work only at school — a large group of teachers employed exclusively in the tutoring sector, both independently and on online platforms.

Use of Information and Computer-based Distance Learning Technologies during COVID-19 Active Restrictions

Despite the reduction of restrictive measures imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of organizing distance learning continues to be topical. Distance learning imposes a much greater responsibility on teachers, giving them more of a workload as learning technologies change rapidly and teachers have to actively adapt to innovations, devoting a lot of time to preparing appropriate materials to ensure the best learning outcomes. The aim of the study is to detect the use of the most effective means of organizing distance learning by teachers. The study is based on a survey of university professors who were teaching in the distance mode during 2020-2021 active administrative restrictions. Opportunities for the use of various services in the organization of distance learning are analyzed and the drawbacks and advantages of the distance learning system are highlighted. The study reveals previously unapparent issues that arose in the course of distance work in quarantine. These include, first and foremost, the high physical workload of teachers, the many technical problems that arose in the transition to distance learning, the lack of teachers’ competencies, which needs to be urgently addressed, and the complicated coordination of the learning process. Despite the problems identified, the authors argue that the system of distance learning can and must be adopted and further developed as an additional supporting direction in the organization of the learning process, which will allow educational institutions to promptly shift to distance learning as needed.

Building of online evaluation system based on socket protocol

As an important part of the evaluation reform, online evaluation system can effectively improve the efficiency of evaluation work, which has been paid attention by teaching institutions. The online evaluation system needs to support the safe and stable transmission of information between the client and the server, and socket protocol establishes the connection through the listening port, which can easily carry out the message transmission and process control. Because it can well meet the construction requirements of online evaluation system, it is applied in our study. The building of online evaluation system based on socket protocol includes the function design of students and teachers, data flow design, evaluation difficulty grading design and system implementation. The system uses Java language and MVC mode for development, which has good scalability and platform-independence. It realizes the paperless examination process and greatly reduces the workload of teachers. The contribution of this paper is mainly reflected in two aspects. One is to explore the construction of an online evaluation system based on the socket protocol, and it provide an Asynchronous IO technical solution for the network communication between the student and the server, which provides a reference for the development of similar systems. The second is to give the realization method of the difficulty classification of the evaluation, and classify the difficulty of the test questions, which lays the foundation for carrying out personalized testing and evaluation.

Exploring the effectiveness of continuous online summative assessment in a vocational stem course

There is limited research on continuous summative assessment and its benefits for students and teachers. The development of online tools that reduce teacher workload has enabled further research that can be conducted in real educational settings. The findings presented in this paper are intended to help expand understanding of the positive impact of intensive continuous online summative assessments on students. Design-based research (DBR) was used as the methodology for the research presented. The parameters of the experiment were modified during the experiment according to the DBR approach and were based on the feedback received from students and teachers during the experiment. Three successive generations of vocational undergraduate students participated in the experiment (88 students in total). The results of the experiment show that the introduced intensive continuous online summative assessment motivated students during the semester and consequently led to more students achieving learning outcomes. It can be concluded that intensive continuous summative assessment, when implemented online, can have positive effects on the process of achieving learning outcomes. If implemented properly, it can help teachers and students continuously adjust their activities during the semester to meet the specific needs of the teaching and learning process.

The Push and Pull Factors of Teaching as a Profession – the Perceptions and Expectations of Student Teachers

Research has shown that despite the teaching profession being labelled an unattractive career, student teachers’ enrolment in South Africa continues to rise annually. This study seeks to investigate why student teachers enrol for teaching in South Africa today. 222 first year student teachers enrolled for education in a South African university participated in the study, which looked at the perceptions and expectations of student teachers in South Africa. A 91-item questionnaire was used to collect data, and the results indicate that these student teachers have more positive perceptions and expectations on the teaching profession than expected. The study recommends improvements in the education and training environment in South Africa in the form of introducing tax relief measures for teachers; intensified capacity building, and skilling of educators; re-imagining educators’ professional identity through improved professional virtue; improving safety and security in schooling environments; lessening what the author regard as pure administrative functions of teachers which add to the teaching workload; and having in place effective and sustainable infrastructure development programmes.

Methods of theaching geography in profile 10th grades

Introduction. The study of geography in modern conditions is very important for the development of youth and the nation as a whole. There is a growing need in the society to study geographical science at a level higher than the standard one. At present, there is an opportunity to study geography in senior classes in depth at the profile level. The purpose of this article is to highlight the methods of teaching geography for students of specialized 10th grade. Main material. The authors consider the method of teaching profile level geography for 10th grade students. The article analyzes curriculum, the main tasks and nature of geography study, singles out directions of practical activity in different kinds of work, as well as the teacher’s work in different employment conditions. Practical activities for the 10th grades of the profile level have a fairly large workload in hours, so most work should be done independently to demonstrate the results and knowledge to the teacher and the class. During the study, the authors made a list of requirements for the study of geography, including approaches, types, technologies, methods of teaching students. The article analyzes practical works on the course of profile geography in the 10th grade and the main forms of conducting lessons during the study. Conclusions. The curriculum in geography is aimed at developing students in various fields. Teachers need to adapt quickly to the latest conditions in teaching geography and help students learn about the world. The curriculum of the profile level for the 10th grade contains a rather large workload for geography teachers and students, so it is aimed at effective study of the course and a large amount of work done. The basic requirements for the study of geography, levels of mental activity, types of learning and different methods of cognitive activity in teaching geography were analyzed in the course of study. During the analysis of two practical works, the authors have singled out basic knowledge and skills that students consolidate and develop during the task. Each student develops research skills and the ability to achieve the expected result while completing the task.

Teacher’s Working Condition and Hybrid Teaching Environment – A Narrative Case Study

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire system of education around the world is living each day under rapid experimentation to grapple with unforeseen challenges. The event of the COVID-19 pandemic has not only impacted a student’s track of learning but also disrupted the everyday functioning of schools. In the case of the United States, since the beginning of March 2020, when schools were pushed into remote learning options, most teachers had minimal training and resources to teach online. Teachers faced technological challenges and suffered a severe lack of pedagogical knowledge to engage students in an online platform. The overnight switch of face-to-face to remote teaching has added to existing teacher workloads, including accommodating student learning and engagement on the virtual platform. The narrative study considers the experiences of Ally, a veteran teacher, who experienced doubts about her sense of confidence as a teacher with the overnight change of instructional formats. Qualitative analysis was conducted from two interviews, 12 written reflections, and observation notes. Following a review of relevant literature, we report the narrative account of this teacher’s lived experiences. Next, we present suggestions and implications for research and practice while addressing the following research question: What were the lived experiences of a veteran teacher while pursuing a hybrid teaching instruction format, in both the traditional and online delivery format?

Features of the Use of Distance Education in Quarantine Conditions in the Postmodern World

Under the conditions of quarantine, distance learning turned out to be the only acceptable form of education, which corresponds to the current world norms of today's postmodern world space, because this type of organization of the educational process is included in the list of institutional forms along with full-time, part-time, network, and the like. Each institution of higher education, within the granted autonomy, has developed and implemented a system of measures for the technological and technical aspects of the implementation of the educational process under quarantine conditions. Along with the variety of forms of production of distance education, there are common problems and challenges for higher education institutions: the workload of both teachers and students has significantly increased; revealed the need for intensive training in the use of distance forms in the educational process; work intensified and it turned out to be obvious that specialized distance learning centers were functioning on the basis of higher educational institutions; Students with special educational needs require significant attention, both in terms of socio-psychological support and support in distance learning. The recommendations of the world community on the course of the educational process in the conditions of quarantine are considered. Most international organizations have implemented the statements and issued a set of recommendations for education systems that countries can use in making policy decisions and implementing specific action plans.

Implementing the updated Early Childhood Development curriculum in Zimbabwean primary schools: Social Validity Based on Practitioners’ Views

This article analysed the level of social validity on implementing the updated Early Childhood Development (ECD) curriculum in Epworth, Mabvuku, Tafara (EPMAFARA) District in Harare, Zimbabwe. To address the ever-changing world economy, Zimbabwe introduced an updated curriculum in all its primary schools, in 2017. The updated curriculum provides a framework for the knowledge that help young people to develop a sense of independence and self-reliance. A qualitative method was employed to explore curriculum implementation in Zimbabwean primary schools. Data were collected from a purposively selected sample of two District Schools Inspectors, four School Heads/ Teachers in Charge and eight ECD teachers. The data were analysed using the NVivo software. The researchers discovered that as well as exposing some gaps in the implementation practice, the study revealed some advantages namely, competence-based component, child centred methods, skills-based approaches, change and nurturing of various children’s talents among others. The disadvantages encountered comprised lack of financial and human resources and school basic infrastructures, excessive workload for teachers, lack of Information, Communication and Technology skills and high- teacher: pupil ratio. The qualitative research method used was one major limitation since it was time consuming and, labour intensive. The researchers' initial sample was further affected by COVID-19's onset in the country in March 2020, when the World Health Organization (WHO) advised lockdown limitations, causing schools to close abruptly. The paper’s findings underscored the significance of planning for change in ECD educational programs in terms of teachers’ preparedness and stakeholders’ resourcefulness. These findings imply that teachers should be trained to become innovative and creative in curriculum implementation. Stakeholders are recommended to support teachers and schools with prerequisite resources.

Elementary Teacher Professionalism and Workload

This study describes teacher performance by quantifying every detail of teacher activity. This research results from a case study conducted for eight months in elementary school. The research focuses on the workload of primary school teachers. This research data collection through observation, interviews, and document review. This research was conducted at SD Negeri 18 Maroangin and SD Islam Terpadu Madan Insan Palopo City, South Sulawesi Province. The study results are as follows: (1) Based on the implementation time, to complete all tasks, the workload of elementary school teachers takes 17 hours a day. Therefore, it equates to 102 hours per week. In this case, the teacher experiences an "overload" workload. (2) The professionalism of primary school teachers is a challenge for education in Indonesia. In addition to the limited ability of teacher resources.

Macao Secondary School EFL Teachers’ Perspectives on Written Corrective Feedback: Rationales and Constraints

Corrective feedback on writing (WCF) has been one of the most controversial topics in ESL/EFL teaching. In the past decades, much has been disputed regarding the effectiveness and preferences of the quantity, focus, directness and source of WCF. With so much uncertainty, the researcher set out to investigate how research-informed secondary school teachers in Macao reported their beliefs, rationales, practices and constraints of administering corrective feedback for EFL writing in Macao secondary schools. Twelve secondary school teachers were recruited at a TESOL conference to conduct focus-group discussions. Similar to previous findings, results suggest teachers had clear rationales as to their ways of practising WCF. However, many expressed difficulties in acting according to rationales and beliefs. Despite their experience and knowledge, practical constraints such as school policies and teacher workload made it unlikely for them to follow their thoughts with feedback on writing. This study identified six sources of constraints that could prohibit practices and potentially reshape ones’ beliefs, which sheds light on future directions of WCF research.

Gender Differences in Teaching and Research Performance of University Teachers Based on Discrete Data Analysis

Numerous studies have found that there were obvious differences between men and women in research performance, but there is little analysis on teaching. At the same time, the existing studies did not classify the teacher sample but only analyzed the overall sample. This study takes both teaching and research into account, and the sample teachers from a certain university in China are divided into three groups such as outstanding teachers in teaching, outstanding teachers in research, and weak teachers in both teaching and research through cluster analysis based on the discrete data analysis of teaching and research workload from 2018 to 2020. The gender differences in teaching and research performance of male and female teachers in every group are analyzed. It is found that there are obvious differences between male and female teachers in the three groups. By analyzing the correlation between male and female teaching and research performance and gender, age, education, and degree of three groups, it is also found that there are differences between men and women in the correlation of individual factors such as degree and type of graduation university. Based on the results, this paper provides several policy recommendations.

Evaluation of Teacher Workload Program in Position (Empirical Study using the CIPP Model on State Madrasah Tsanawiyah Teachers, Serang Regency, Banten Province)

The in-service teacher workload program is an effort to improve the quality of graduates by optimizing the duties and functions of teachers in carrying out the learning process in madrasas. The teacher's workload includes the following main activities: a) planning learning; b) carry out learning; c) assessing learning outcomes; d) guide and train students, and e) carry out additional tasks attached to the implementation of the main activities in accordance with the teacher's workload. The teacher's workload fulfills a minimum of 24 (twenty four) Face-to-face Hours (JTM) and a maximum of 40 (forty) JTM in 1 (one) week. This study uses a qualitative descriptive approach to the CIPP program evaluation model (Context, Input, Process, Product) developed by Daniel Leroy Stufflebeam. The research instrument was collecting data through interviews, decomentation studies and observations. To achieve the level of credibility and objectivity of the results of the program evaluation research with triangulation techniques. In the context component of the research results include; Policy aspects of Teacher Workload in Positions are assessed in the BS category (Excellent). it is recommended to be maintained, In the aspect of needs analysis, a score with the category of Very Good (BS) means maintained, in the aspect of the goal obtained a value with a category of Good (B) is recommended to be increased, in the target aspect a score is obtained in the category of Very Good (BS) i is recommended to be maintained .The results of the study indicate that the evaluation of the context components as a whole has been carried out well. Regarding the input components, all aspects have been implemented well, except for aspects of program planning, aspects of human resources and aspects of infrastructure that require improvement. The overall process components have been implemented well. In terms of product components, all aspects have been carried out well, except for feedback on the teacher's workload requiring improvement. Overall this program is categorized as Good (B), meaning that the implementation of the program needs to be improved. It is hoped that the Teacher Workload in Position Program will continue and be developed even better with several aspects that need to be improved.

Experience-based learning: how a crisis solution informed fundamental change in a clinical education curriculum.

Clinical education represents the most important formative period in undergraduate medical education. It is often criticised as haphazard and inefficient. Experience-based learning (ExBL) is a novel clinical education design that utilises practices of support, learner participation and real patient learning to enhance students' development of vital professional capabilities. We introduced ExBL to address the challenges of a 50% reduction in clinical placement time that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Final year medical students were assimilated into clinical teams as co-workers to facilitate learning through participation rather than observation. Placement education was supported by an integrated case-based learning and high-fidelity simulation program. Real patient learning in workplace contexts was supported by a network of clinician mentors. A qualitative evaluation revealed that granting students co-worker status strongly supported participatory learning and professional identity formation. Furthermore, the triangulation of placements with cognitive coaching and high-fidelity simulation greatly enhanced skills development and students' sense of readiness for practice. Utilisation of ExBL significantly enhanced the quality of informal learning on clinical placements despite the reduced clinical placement time. In addition, the integration of cognitive coaching with simulation opportunities meant students were better prepared for meaningful participation as members of clinical teams. The introduction of ExBL increased the workload of clinical teachers. Moreover, favouring learning through participatory experience reduced exposure to more traditional formal bedside teaching encounters. Despite these challenges, we have adopted an ExBL model created in a crisis as our core educational design for our final year clinical programme.

Concept of Increase Enrolment: Its effect on teachers in Ghana

This study investigated the effects of increase in enrolment on teachers in second cycle institutions in Ghana. The effects of increase enrolment on teacher’s work load, classroom management, health, social life and classroom interaction. The study employed the pragmatic paradigm and mixed method approach. Concurrent triangulation comprising descriptive survey for the quantitative phase and a case study for the qualitative phase. Self-developed questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedule were used to collect data from respondents. A total of hundred and forty-seven (147) respondents were used for the study. It was made up of one hundred and forty (140) teachers used at the quantitative phase and seven (7) head teachers used in the qualitative phase. The study found out that increase enrolment increased the workload of teachers significantly, and exposed teachers to health challenges. The study also revealed that increase enrolment made it very difficult for teachers to manage their classrooms and interact with students during instructional periods. The study recommended that teaching assistants be assigned to all teachers, government should set up a special body which is made up of occupational counsellors, psychologists, physicians who will tasked to organize programs on monthly bases to educate teachers on how to manage work related stress they encounter. Finally, the government should build more schools and make it a priority to train more teachers.
 
 Received: 15 September 2021 / Accepted: 16 October 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

What Affects Teaching and Research Behaviors: A Case of A University in China

This research was supported by the Humanities and Social Science Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 17YJC880018) Abstract In order to analyze the preference of university teachers' teaching and research behavior, this research analyzes the influencing factors of teachers' teaching and research behaviors such as age, gender, professional title, degree, type of graduation universities based on discrete data analysis of teachers' actual workload in 12 years from a certain university in China. The study shows that the workload of teaching and research was significantly and positively affected by age. Professional title, degree and type of graduation universities have no significant impact on the teaching workload, but have a significant impact on the research workload. The proportion of teachers' workload between teaching and research will also be affected by gender, degree and type of graduation universities. The results also show that doctoral teachers who graduated from First-class universities and First-class discipline universities are not outstanding in research. Keywords: university teachers, teaching and research behaviors, influencing factors, discrete data analysis DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-33-02 Publication date: November 30 th 2021

THE EFFECT OF WORKLOAD OF TEACHERS OF ENGLISH ON THE USE OF ICT IN TEACHING OF ENGLISH IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TULIMANI DIVISION, MBOONI-WEST SUB-COUNTY

The purpose of this study was to determine teacher-related factors affecting the use of information communication technology in teaching English in public secondary schools in Tulimani Division, Mbooni-West Sub-county. The specific objective of the study was to establish the extent to which workload of teachers of English affect the use of ICT in teaching of English in public secondary schools. The target population of the study was sixteen (16) head teachers and fifty (50) English teachers. A sample of eight (8) principals and twenty-five (25) teachers of English was used in the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics; frequencies and percentages. The findings of the study revealed that teachers’ workload was one of the main factors influencing use of ICT in teaching of English at the secondary school level. Majority of the teacher respondents (65.2%) who had a high number of lessons (28-33) per week, rarely used ICT in teaching of English. The teachers with few lessons (below 20 per week) per week frequently used ICT in teaching of English. The study recommended that more teachers of English to be hired to reduce their teaching work load. In addition, the school administrators should create a conducive working atmosphere that motivate teachers of English to use ICT in their teaching.

Teachers’ Perception in Google Forms-Based English Assessment in An Indonesian Vocational High School

The use of ICT for learning evaluation is important. Today, Google Forms is a paperless-based system that is widely used for learning evaluation. The significant implication of using Google Forms as an assessment tool is that it can lighten the workload for teachers. This study is qualitative research with a case study approach. This research aims at finding out the teachers' perception of Google forms-based application in the EFL classroom. This research was conducted at SMK Muhammadiyah 3 Makassar. The subject of the research is three English teachers who use Google Forms-based applications in the EFL classroom. The instruments used were observation, interviews, and documents. This research found that The teachers' perception of Google forms-based application in assessing English is classified into two categories namely highly and moderately perceived on Google forms-based application in assessing English. Besides that, the positive features of the Google forms as an EFL assessment tool is considered more efficient, practical, simple, and save more time, money, and energy.

Lost Trust? The Experiences of Teachers and Students during Schooling Disrupted by the Covid-19 Pandemic

This paper aims to help understand how relational trust between students and teachers embedded in the teaching-learning process unfolded during the emergency distance and flexible hybrid education in Serbia in 2020. It also identifies niches in student-teacher relationships that hold potential for repairing and building trust. For the student-teacher relationship to be trust-based and thus conducive to students’ learning and wellbeing, a consensus about role expectations must be achieved. As the Covid-19 crisis interrupted schooling and education, participants faced uncertainties and ambiguities in role enactment, and the cornerstones of relational trust were disrupted. In an effort to understand 1) the context in which trust was challenged, 2) the ways in which trust was disrupted, and 3) the opportunities for its restoration, we relied on a multi-genre dynamic storytelling approach to data collection and values analysis for data processing. A total of 136 students and 117 teachers from 22 schools wrote 581 narratives in three genres: stories, letters and requests. The analysis yielded 22 codes that allowed further understanding of how changes in structural and institutional conditions affected both students’ and teachers’ expectations of each other, and how incongruence of these expectations fed into feelings of helplessness for both students and teachers, disengagement from learning for students, and heavy workload and poor performance for teachers. In addition, the narratives account for positive outcomes when these expectations were met, and for opportunities for trust-building if students’ and teachers’ perspectives are brought to each other’s attention and negotiated locally. Finally, recommendations for restoring trust are given.