School Environment Less Favourable for Elementary Teachers
This ultimately has a negative impact on student learning say researchers

August 14, 2008

A new research study has found that school-level working conditions – how the school is organized and how this affects teachers – are less favourable for elementary teachers than for secondary teachers. The study’s researchers suggest this can negatively impact student learning.

School-level working conditions, which include such issues as opportunities for school-wide collaboration with colleagues, relationships with parents, and school leadership, is one of nine “working conditions that matter” on which the study focused to arrive at the conclusion that working conditions are more favourable for secondary public school teachers. The report suggests that “insofar as teacher working conditions are student learning conditions, better working conditions would seem to be an obvious focus for school improvement.”

The study was undertaken by Kenneth Leithwood, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, on behalf of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).  Evidence for the study was collected from interviews with a small number of teachers who had recently worked in both elementary and secondary schools and from survey responses from 3,000 elementary and secondary teachers.

According to study results, secondary teachers’ responses were more positive than elementary teachers on 14 of the 17 items measuring school-level working conditions.

“As teachers, we know that a more positive workplace culture can generate higher levels of morale and job satisfaction.  In turn, this can more positively shape how teachers interact with their students,” said ETFO President David Clegg.

“Teachers can play a key role in closing the gap between student potential and student achievement but only if they have a supportive school environment and the proper resources.

Details of the teacher working conditions study were released at the ETFO annual meeting in Toronto.  The meeting continues until 2:00 p.m. today.

The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario represents 73,000 elementary public school teachers and education workers across Ontario and is the largest teacher federation in Canada.