“The workload diminishes my interest in continuing in this profession”

The experiences of compulsory schoolteachers

Abstract

Over the past years, compulsory schools have been expected to take on many new roles without increased professional supports for teachers. Teachers are tasked with increasing responsibility and face many challenges in meeting the diverse range of student needs. Research in Iceland shows an increased workload on teachers and the need for a wider range of professionals within the school to meet the needs of students with specific learning difficulties and developmental challenges.

The teachers themselves attest to a lack of preparation in their education to meet the reality of the situation. They do not possess the necessary specialist knowledge, and no professional services or support routes are available. It is common knowledge that in Iceland, there are long waiting lists for schoolchildren to have their developmental needs assessed within the school system and other systems, such as the health system.

This study relates the situation and experiences of teachers and other professionals within compulsory schools and the type of support available for students who have been assessed with ADHD, autism, general and specific learning difficulties, and Tourette’s syndrome, as well as students who struggle with emotional and social challenges. This study stems from a larger body of research regarding support services for primary school students with diverse learning needs. It comprises qualitative interviews with eight focus groups with professionals from 19 primary schools teaching Years 3 – 10. Altogether, 49 individuals participated in the study. The interviews were designed to obtain the participants‘ opinions about the main challenges they face on the job, what works well, and what needs to be improved.

The results show that the participants experience different challenges due to the responsibility they carry in their daily work to fulfil the education and student welfare laws. The study’s results also reveal that the challenging situations described by the participants create extra workloads that, over time, affect their well-being and job satisfaction. These results align with several recent studies that attest to increasing teacher workloads. Importantly, teachers experience the strain of seeing children who struggle with various negative consequences when they don’t receive the specialist support they need.

Teachers profess a lack of solutions and professionals, such as social workers, developmental therapists, and other professionals, to assist within the school in these situations. Hence, the schools are better equipped to meet the challenges that arise. It is difficult to avoid mentioning the role that teachers play in communicating with parents and families to support the whole development of the student. The participants attest that parents trust teachers and expect their children to succeed and continue to develop. Teachers often find it quite complicated to maintain that trust and positive interactions with parents when they need to inform them of their child’s progress and, in some cases, serious developmental learning issues.

In the results, the participants also reveal what they feel is going well. In this regard, teachers found they have been able to allow students to bloom when allowing for more time in the timetable for practical subjects. This has allowed for relief from literal subjects with which they often struggle but often do better in hands-on subjects such as artistic expression, woodwork, and entrepreneurship.

In total, the results from this study infer that inclusive education calls for substantial increases in professional knowledge within compulsory schools, as stated in Icelandic government regulations.

With increased professional support within the school, it would be possible to attain the goal of schools as professional institutions fitted with the capacity to solve most situations that arise within the school domain.