Are Teachers Tired of Responsibilities?

• Authors: Mare Tuisk
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Estonian educational life is at a crossroad. Schools and their educational functions have become the focus of public discussion because of the worrisome tendencies in childhood and adolescent life (dropping out of school, deteriorating mental and physical health, increase in self-destructive behaviour, etc.). Many teachers are overtaken by tiredness and apathy. To the amazement of colleagues, even the best teachers are suffering from burnout and leaving school. What are the reasons for these phenomena? The general context of this article is the problem of sustainability in education and, consequently, the sustainability of society. This paper focuses on how teachers perceive themselves as subjects and how they can promote learners' becoming subjects and is based on 48 narrative essays. The author has interpreted the outcomes relying on the works of A. Maslow, L. Vygotsky, V. Peavy, and M. Fullan. The most significant conclusion is that there is a contradiction between the teachers' strong feeling of mission and responsibility which contrasts with the diminishing possibilities of implementing these priorities in their real work. Teachers assume they are accepted as decisive and responsible professionals. Furthermore, they expect other participants of educational processes to share responsibility.

Keywords

EN

teachers; being a subject; responsibility; co-operation; attitudes; sustainable development

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 8
• Pages: 37-47

Dates

published

2007-01-01

online

2009-05-04

Contributors

author

Mare Tuisk

• Tallinn University, Estonia

References

• Fullan, M. (2006) Uudne arusaam haridusmuutustest [New approach to educational changes]. Tallinn: Atlex.
• Guidelines and Recommendations for Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability (2005) Education for Sustainable Development in Action, Technical Paper No. 2 UNESCO Education Sector.
• Maslow, A.H. (1970) Motivation and Personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row Publishers.
• Peavy, V.R. (2002) Sotsiodünaamiline nõustamine [Sociodynamic counselling]. Tallinn: Eesti Tööhõiveamet.
• Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory (2nd ed.). London, Thousand Oaks, New Dehli: Sage Publications.
• Выготский, Л.С. (2000) Психология [Psychology]. Москва: Эксмо Пресс.
• Маслоу, А.Г. (2002) Дальние пределы человеческой психики [Further limits of human psyche]. Санкт-Петербург: Евразия.

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10099-009-0011-8