"Mother of Twenty-one" : primary and elementary teachers' workloads and health in rural and urban Newfoundland and Labrador

• Main Author: Temple, Julia R.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 2009
• Subjects: Newfoundland; Schaefer
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/9226/; https://research.library.mun.ca/9226/1/Temple_JuliaR.pdf

Research has shown that many primary and elementary teachers in Newfoundland and Labrador and elsewhere struggle with heavy workloads (Dibbon, 2004; Schaefer, 2003) that can impact their health and well-being (Messing, Seifert, and Escalona, 1997; Younghusband, 2005). Teachers' workloads are strongly shaped by gender (Acker, 1996) and place, including rural and urban contexts. However, most research on teacher workload has an urban focus, with little rural-urban comparison (Abel and Sewell, 1999). -- The purpose of this study was to examine primary and elementary teachers' workloads and health in rural and urban areas of Newfoundland and Labrador. I was guided by a theoretical framework based on a social determinants of health approach, and focusing on the importance of gender and place as determinants of health. -- My methodological approach is a feminist action research framework that divided the research into advisory, research, and feedback stages, and included writing a report for the provincial teachers' union. I conducted individual interviews with twenty-four primary and elementary teachers and six representatives of other groups in education, including parents, administrators, student assistants, the teachers' union, school boards, and the Department of Education. I also had the participating teachers complete detailed one-day task-diaries, which we then discussed in the interviews. I questioned participants on their perceptions of primary and elementary teachers' teaching and domestic workloads, the consequences of this work for their health and well-being, and their suggestions for how these workloads can be improved. Participants were invited to offer feedback on the summary report, which was incorporated into the report and this thesis. -- The teachers in this study identified five main areas of concern related to their teaching workloads: the intense and all-consuming nature of their work; emotional labour; specific tasks such as supervision duty, paperwork, planning, preparation and correcting, ...