Research Participation Opportunity

Seeking Australian teachers and their opinions of voice care and professional development.

Are you an Australian teacher? Perhaps you know an Australian teacher?

We are interested in your experiences!

What is this study about?

Teachers are one of the largest populations of occupational voice users. These are people who use their voice as a tool for work. This puts them at a high risk of developing a voice problem. Voice problems can have major financial and psychosocial impacts.

There are many strategies that teachers currently use to care for their voice, however the number of voice disorders reported by teachers remains high. This suggests that the current support for teachers may not be effective at reducing the impact of such problems.

This study seeks to gather the opinions of teachers toward their voice and their experience with professional development. This information may help improve services and support for teachers and their vocal care.

Who can participate?

Kindergarten/early education, primary or high school teachers currently employed within Australia.

What is involved?

• Complete a demographic questionnaire with general personal and voice-related health information (approximately 20 minutes).
• Attend a focus group with up to 10 participants and answer questions about your voice use, voice care and more (approximately 60-90 minutes).
• Read and provide feedback about the themes of the focus group (optional).

Why participate?

• You will have the opportunity to provide valuable information and YOUR opinions about support for your voice use. This could be used to guide the future development of support services.
• You will hear of other teachers’ experiences and perspectives and may learn about some new voice care strategies.
• You can choose to withdraw your demographic information from the study at any stage, and can choose to leave the focus groups at any time.
• You will receive a $20 voucher to thank you for your time and contribution.

STILL INTERESTED? HERE’S HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

Follow the link to read our participant information sheet here, then email paige.abblitt@flinders.edu.au to express you interest!