Female Teacher's Voice During Teaching

The Well-being of Female Teacher's Voice During Teaching

Two voice therapy methods are compared. Activity noise levels and vocal load of teachers during teaching in primary school classrooms are evaluated. Acoustic and Workshop Interventions are implemented in order to reduce noise level during lesson.

Due to the voice disorders, teachers are a major customer group for voice therapy. The main part of the study is comparison of two voice therapy methods.

There are several factors in the classroom that increase teacher's risk of voice disorders. One of the most significant is high noise level during lessons. This study explores the noise conditions the teachers are working in and how these conditions are related to the voice parameters and symptoms.

Finally, the study aims to determine whether classroom noise level can be lowered by improving classroom acoustics and by noise reducing workshops for teachers and pupils.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female teachers or teachers of special needs children from elementary schools
• Voice symptoms and willingness to participate in voice therapy
• Mother tongue Finnish
• No hearing loss, no need to use a hearing aid
• Non-smoking
• No neurological diseases
• No voice therapy during past year
• Successful phoniatric examination with rigid laryngoscopy or nasal endoscopy

Exclusion Criteria:

• Mother tongue other than Finnish
• Need to use a hearing aid
• Need for medical treatment in the larynx
• Abnormalities of the larynx
• Vocal cord paresis
• Laryngitis
• Posterior hypertrophy