Session Information
23 SES 17 A, Education and the OECD
Paper Session
Contribution
The workload of Russian teachers in comparison with OECD and other countries, the difference between them and restructuring of the workload in favor of priorities of the State Educational Curriculum, educational goals are discussed in the study. A significant part of the workload of Russian teachers is connected with accountability and paperwork. The survey involved 2.527 teachers and headmasters of educational institutions from 52 Russian regions.
The results of the survey of modern Russian teachers from 52 Russian regions are presented in the study in comparison with the OECD TALIS 2018 survey and other European teacher labor studies.
One of the research focus was connected with the estimation of individualization of teaching, assistance for the students with significant difficulties and special needs in all workload of the Russian teachers. Another focus was connected with the evaluation of the total amount of the paperwork and the difference in comparison with the other OECD countries.
The survey found one of the paradoxes based on the results of this research is a lack of proper paperwork connected with the feedback of students and formative evaluation of their work. At the same time, most of the teacher’s paperwork in many countries is associated with control of students' work [5].
The main research question of the study is connected with the relation between the structure of teachers' workload, key goals of the State Educational Curriculum and 21-century competencies formation, support the students with significant difficulties and special needs.
Objective
To develop the proposals for the restructuring of documents that will mediate the teacher's professional activities in solving pedagogical problems according to the goals of the State Educational Curriculum.
Theoretical framework
According to the results of the analysis [1-4], the following items were described: a typology of the main documents used in the teacher's professional activity, the orientation of the documents to solve the teacher's main professional tasks, time and labor costs for working with the documents of teachers.
For instance, the “deep” or double/triple assessment described in the UK [1], in which the teacher writes notes, noting the mistakes made by the student, makes corrections in his work, and the teacher re-checks the correctness of the work on the errors. As a result, the scope of the audit and the necessary work for this take on a much larger scale, significantly increasing the total time required for this. According to 53% of the participants in a sociological survey of British educators [1], the labor involved in checking students' work is a significant component of the teacher’s paperwork that does not meet the criteria of reasonable sufficiency. In the stereotypical perception by stakeholders of British education, this way of assessing, however, is perceived as a model of best practice for student feedback, and the amount of dialogic (double and triple) assessment is considered as one of the criteria for teacher professionalism.
The issue under discussion is essential for Russian education in the context of the transition to the individualized learning, digital environment, and the National Educational Goals.
Teachers spend a substantial part of their working time participating in the process of evaluation of the quality of education. In addition to the direct loss of teaching time due to the evaluation process, significant time is spent on organizational activities, entering information and preparing final reports. The source of the organization of most monitoring studies is, as a rule, various levels of education management. Most of the studies [2] show that the process of collecting various information about the quality of education, its further using is not effective and the part of the external accountability system.
Method
The survey results on the workload of Russian teachers were compared with the interviews with representatives of executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, interviews with representatives of local authorities; focus groups with headmasters and teachers of educational organizations; and with the results of the OECD TALIS 2018 survey and other countries, for instance, Australia, UK, Canada, New Zealand. The survey involved 2.527 teachers and headmasters of educational institutions from 52 Russian regions. The total administrative work of teachers according to TALIS 2018 in Russia amounted to 3.4 hours and in 2013 - 4.1 hours, there is a decrease in the total administrative work of teachers by 0.7 hours [6-8]. In OECD countries, the overall administrative work in 2018 was 2.7 hours and in 2013 - 2.9 hours [5, 9, 10]. For instance, comparing the workload of Russian teachers with the TALIS 2018 data (43-60 hours a week), it can be reasonably assumed that the level of stress experienced by Russian teachers exceeds the level experienced by New Zealand teachers and its negative consequences for both teachers and students [4]. The structure of teachers' workload is different, with a similar general level of workload and the total time spent filling out documents. For Russian teachers, filling out documents is mainly related to external accountability and is not aimed at the goals of a General Education Program. During the study, recommendations were developed to optimize the documentary load of Russian teachers of educational institutions including formation of a single list of documents which have to be filled by teachers; clarification of the duties of teachers associated with the documentary load; regulatory prohibition on requests for information that can be obtained from open sources; unified calendar of reporting. The development of a data management system and digital services is recommended for the authorities: one-time collection and reuse of information, open data and minimization of requests, calendar and single points of data collection, liability regulation by levels: teacher, director. The following issues can be studied further: monitoring the level of stress of teachers of educational institutions, training for teachers and managers on stress prevention, the psychological profile of future teachers and programs for the development of professionally significant personal qualities. The system of developing evaluation can be implemented: analysis of educational results, including the learning difficulties; a digital environment to optimize the time and labor costs of teachers.
Expected Outcomes
The study results show that the sets of documentation used and requested to date in the activities of teachers and administrations of educational organizations in Russia cannot be considered as effective and balanced in terms of the documentary load on the teacher and potential usefulness for the educational process. Along with the key documents that determine the content of the educational process (teacher’s work program, subject-based calendar planning, student academic progress evaluation), there are practice reports for external state and regional governing bodies, other state institutions and public organizations. Such reports and documents most often serve the goal of external accountability, which extremely negatively affects the quality of the educational process. According to the survey results, the teacher’s paperwork and filling of different documents have a very limited focus on the student’s personality (individually targeted programs for the development of certain categories of students, analysis of educational and educational activities, analysis of students' mistakes aimed at overcoming difficulties in learning). This type of formative and developmental papers and form are used extremely rarely. The second result described in the research shows that even in the electronic flow of information teachers still are forced to duplicate electronic forms with printed paperwork. The third result described in the research shows that the origins of the teachers' concerns about the unreasonable amount of paperwork are different for Russian teachers and foreign colleagues. While foreign teachers' concerns mostly connected with the total amount of hours which they spend on marking student tasks, Russian teachers still have a lack of professional-oriented workload and have involved in the paperwork related to external accountability.
References
1. Eliminating unnecessary workload around marking: Report of the Independent Teacher Workload Review Group / D. Copping, K. Dethridge, D. Didau [et al.]. – London, 2016. – 13 p. – URL: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/511256/Eliminating-unnecessary-workload-around-marking.pdf 2. Eliminating Unnecessary Workload Associated with Data Management: Report of the Independent Teacher Workload Review Group / L. Costello, D. Ajose, D. Baldwin [et al.]. – London, 2016. – 15 p. – URL: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/511258/Eliminating-unnecessary-workload-associated-with-data-management.pdf 3. Primary Teacher Work Study: Report. Vol. 1. Approach and analysis / J. Wilkinson, A. Beavis, L. Ingvarson, E. Kleinhenz. – [London] : ACER, 2005. – 96 p. – URL: http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=workforce 4. Secondary Teacher Workload Study: Report / L. Ingvarson, E. Kleinhenz, A. Beavis, H. Barwick, I. Carthy, J. Wilkinson. – [London] : ACER, 2005. – 11 p. – (Teacher Workforce and Careers). – URL: http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=workforce 5. TALIS 2013 Results: An International Perspective on Teaching and Learning. – Paris : OECD Publishing, 2014. – 440 p. – URL: https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264196261-en 6. TALIS 2018 Country Notes // OECD : Better Policies for Better lives. – URL: http://www.oecd.org/education/talis/talis-2018-country-notes.htm 7. TALIS 2018 National Reports: Results. – Paris : OECD, 2018. – 6 p. // OECD : Better Policies for Better Lives.– URL: http://www.oecd.org/education/talis/talis2018nationalreports.htm 8. TALIS 2018 Results. Vol. 1. Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners / OECD. – Paris : OECD Publishing, 2019. – 220 p. – URL: https://doi.org/10.1787/1d0bc92a-en 9. TALIS Country Notes, Country Profiles and National Reports: [2013, 2014] – 2015. // OECD : Better Policies for Better lives. – URL: http://www.oecd.org/education/school/talis-country-notes-and-country-profiles.htm 10. The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 Results – Excel Figures and Tables // OECD : Better Policies for Better lives. – URL: http://www.oecd.org/education/school/talis-excel-figures-and-tables.htm
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