A Study On The Burden And Its Alleviation Of Primary And Middle School Teachers In The Implementation Of “Double Reduction”

In July 2021,the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Reducing the Burden of Homework and Off-Campus Training for Students in Compulsory Education,which effectively reduces the burden of homework and off-campus training for students in compulsory education,strengthens the role of the main school education,and places higher demands on teachers.In this context,the workload of primary and secondary school teachers has aroused social concern.In this study,789 Shenzhen primary and secondary school teachers were selected as the subjects of this study to understand teachers’ satisfaction with job resources and work burden in the context of "double reduction" policy through questionnaire and interview survey.Then,based on the work job demands-resources Model,we explored the factors affecting teachers’ workload and proposed a practical path to reduce teachers’ workload.The analysis of the survey data showed that:(1)after the implementation of the "double reduction" policy,primary and secondary school teachers’ working hours and work content increased,and teachers’ workload level was higher(M=3.3692);(2)the workload structure of primary and secondary school teachers was unbalanced,and the non-teaching workload was heavy;(3)there were significant differences in the workload levels of primary and secondary school teachers by age,teaching age,education,job title,subject,class teacher,and overall school level;(4)the dimensions of primary and secondary school teachers’ workload and job resource satisfaction showed a significant negative correlation.The higher the job resource satisfaction and the lower the level of teachers’ burden.Based on the job demands-resources model,the paper analyzes the causes of teachers’ excessive workload in the context of the "double reduction" policy from four different educational actors: the government,schools,parents,and teachers themselves.On the one hand,the new requirements of the "double reduction" policy and the high expectations of parents are important reasons for teachers’ workload.On the other hand,teachers’ workload is also affected by their inability to meet their individual needs in terms of resources,such as the reform measures accompanying the "double reduction" policy,school management and assessment mechanisms.Moreover,when teachers’ individual abilities do not meet the demands of their work,it will increase their experience of workload.Finally,based on the analysis of the causes of teachers’ workload problems,we discuss the dual paths of "job demandsdepletion" and "job resources-gain" to explore the problem of excessive workload of primary and secondary school teachers.The paths to alleviate the overload of teachers in primary and secondary schools are as follows: the educational administration should coordinate the planning and systematically reduce the workload;schools should manage and enhance the efficiency and vitality of the school to reduce the workload;parents should change the concept and collaborate to reduce the workload;and teachers should improve their professionalism and reduce the workload on their own.