Vocal Demands in Teachers: Primary Vs Secondary Schools

Abstract

The human voice is exposed to various Loading factors in the teaching profession. Teachers form a Large group of professional voice users and are thought to be at higher risk for voice problems compared to the general population. The aim of the present study was to correlate vocal demand in primary and secondary school teachers using subjective (questionnaire assessment) and objective assessment: acoustic characteristics, aerodynamics of voice and measuring existing background noise in classroom situations. Thirteen pre-school/primary teachers and fourteen secondary school teachers in the age range of 20-50 years with at least two years of teaching experience participated in the study. MDVP, Dr. Speech software’s were used to analyze voice characteristics. The most distinct result of the study was that secondary school teachers showed increased values in most of the parameters indicating greater vocal load though the same were not significant. Also, 12 out of 14 secondary school teachers had deviant voice quality, whereas 9 out of 13 primary school teachers showed deviant voice quality. The background noise Levels in primary schools were found to be more than secondary schools though significant difference was not present. Since significant correlation could not be obtained between classroom noise Level and teachers' teaching voice Level it cannot be stated conclusively that the teaching environment is a major factor for increased vocal effort in these teachers.