RESEARCH FINDINGS
interview
1
Identified Needs from the Interview
For a better understanding of our chosen topic and inquiry question, our group contacted a local preschool and had the opportunity to interview its principal, Teacher Z.
During this interview, we managed to find out more about the principal's views on manpower sustainability, as well as the centre's needs - stress due to heavy workload.
Stress due to heavy workload
Educational change in Singapore such as play curriculum may cause educators to do more administrative work (e.g. staff meeting) and due to pressure and lack of time, educators are faced with a persistent rise in workload. (Ng, 2011). This would result in lesser time on reflection and low-quality work.
An example the principal gave was that work (e.g. for parents-teacher conference), would pile up during the peak period. So, the educators must take unpaid overtime to complete the work within deadlines and the educators who are still in their adjustment period would be especially stressed.
Therefore, the principal came up with different methods of appreciating the educators’ effort and it have been proven effective in the center as the educators who felt stressed turned out to think that their hard work and effort is worth it at the end of the day.
survey
2
Survey Results
To find out more on the centre’s needs, we have also surveyed 19 of the centre’s educators. Below are some of the key results that support the presence of stress due to heavy workload in the centre.
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"Have you ever thought of changing centres?"
57.9% of the educators have thought of changing centres.
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"Have you ever thought of a career change?"
26.3% of the educators have thought of changing their career.
"If your answers were "Yes" to either of the previous two questions, please elaborate."
11 out of 19 educators answered ‘Yes’ to either of the previous two questions.
5 of the educators answered that it was because of heavy workload.
The other 4 educators answered that it was because of lack of support.
And the remaining 2 educators answered that it was because they wanted new experiences in a different centre.
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"Do you think workload in the centre is heavy?"
89.5% of the educators do think that they are receiving heavy workload in the centre.
Our Group Reflection
Here is our group reflection. It covers our group's perspectives about the topic, and the learning points of this process. Click the button below to find out more!