Changes in teachers’ working
conditions
Prof. dr. Geert Kelchtermans
Centre for Educational Policy and Innovation
K.U.Leuven, Belgium
1
Introduction

Confrontation with many changes
efficacy and effectivity

Control and accountability demands

Worsening working conditions

Intensification of teachers’ job
2
Research methodology



Qualitative-interpretative approach
casestudies
Data gathering
semi-structured interviews
& observations on site
Data analysis
vertical and horizontal analysis
3
Case: Summerland
Name
Function
Years of
teaching
experience
Principal
Principal
32 (of which
Married, 2
10 as principal) children
Wim
½ teacher 6th grade
½ assistant to the
principal
13
Married, 2
children
Kathleen ½ teacher 6th grade
(since bird of second
child, 12 years ago)
15
Married, 2
children
Christine 4/5 teacher 3th grade
20
Single, no
children
Kim
12
Married, 2
children
Full time teacher 1st
grade
Family situation
4
Sources of change in working
conditons

School external ‘calls’

Self-imposed ‘calls’

‘Calls’ from the school organization
5
School external ‘calls’

“From above”

Local community & society at large

School board organization
6
Self imposed ‘calls’




Teachers’ task description & normative
beliefs of ‘good education’
Essential criterion: ‘benefits for pupils’
Sense of obligation to respond to all calls,
while not lowering personal standards of
‘good education’
Internalization of external demands
7
‘Calls’ from the school organization

Sharing of standards of pedagogical
perfection

Dedication and hard work as business card

Sense of community and collaboration

BUT: sense of obligation

Declining school roll
8
The legitimacy & the imperative
character of the calls




Criterion: doing justice to the pupils’
educational needs
Moral duty, not easy to neglect
Compelling if in line with personal
beliefs and collectively held norms
(Social) recognition as a competent teacher
9
Filtering school processes

Climate of trust and community

Paradoxical leadership

Policy assistant

Side effects of the ‘innovativeness’

Compensating processes
10
Climate of trust and community

Sense of community and equality

Feelings of trust and confidence

Helps to cope with calls for change

Helps to deal with declining school roll

Spontaneous professional collaboration
11
Paradoxical leadership


Paradox 1
Supportive towards teachers
Calls upon teachers’ sense of
responsibility
Paradox 2
Trust in teachers’ competence
No policy coherence
(no buffering)
=> Loss of an overview, growing pressure
12
Policy assistant


No negative effects of paradoxical
leadership
Compensation by Wim
- takes up policy and leadership
tasks
- leadership tandem
13
Side effects of ‘innovativeness’



Differences in progress
Tension among teachers
Insecurity about the quality of
the own work
Sheltering in the ‘cocoon’ of the grade
14
Compensating processes in the school
organization

No ‘rudderless school’

Compensating processes
- culture of togetherness and trust
- principal’s paradoxical position
and actions
- sense of autonomy
-’cocooning’

Dynamic balance
15
Filtering by teachers

Self-doubts

Keeping the balance of job and family life

Caught between two professional
identities
Teachers’ complex and creative responses
16
Conclusions
“Experience of intensified
working conditions”
(1) Various and mutually reinforcing sources
(2) The impact is mediated by
- school organizational processes
- individual’s interpretation
(3) Teachers cope in a creative way
17
Experience of intensified working
conditions

Individual interpretation of
variety of changes

Teachers’ identity and value systems at
stake

Emotionally not ‘in-different’

Coping strategies : recognition as a
competent teacher
18