Professionals who are respected in the wider community can influence public opinion and shape societal value system. While in a number of European countries teaching profession is popular and respected, in many other including Latvia its prestige is rather low. There is an ongoing debate in Latvia how to raise it; therefore, the aim of this research was to study teachers’ views about the status and prestige of their occupation. The quantitative research design was developed. The web survey of teachers (n=1773) confirmed that teachers perceived their occupational prestige in Latvia as low and believed that in other European countries it is much higher. Teachers did not feel assessed adequately to their contribution. In general, teachers were concerned about their professional autonomy and freedom as they felt frustrated, overloaded and over-controlled from different sides. The respondents believed that teachers are authorities and opinion leaders also outside school that indicated positive aspects of occupational prestige. They admitted that teachers should have an ability to adapt in order to respond on contemporary societal and technological changes. Some suggestions were developed on how to improve occupational prestige: from a system perspective, more positive and supportive attitude towards education system and teachers is expected from municipalities, policy makers and the line ministry. Meanwhile great part of the respondents believed that teachers themselves should be responsible for the forming of positive image of their profession and should communicate with society more effectively on the specificity of teaching and challenges they face in contemporary conditions. Keywords: occupational prestige, teaching profession, teaching status, trade union.
The authors in the paper present the results of the on-line survey on teachers' professional support measures which was carried out in collaboration with the Latvian Trade Union of Education and Science Employees. The aim of the research was to explore, how teachers assessed availability and level of professional support measures within a context of current education reforms. The quantitative research design was used in the study and the quantitative survey of the teachers was conducted via web tool visidati.lv (n=1258) from November 2 till November 27, 2018. The questionnaire comprised the statements on following measures of professional support: financial, material and technological, methodological, and societal. Teachers' opinions regarding their provision with resources and support were analysed by region. The results witness about regional disparities mainly between Riga and Latgale regions. There are statistically significant differences between both regions in how teachers are provided with health insurance. The need for financial and societal support was assessed as most important for teachers in Riga region, while Latgale teachers considered the need for methodological and material support. Teachers in Zemgale more often than the respondents from other regions agreed with the statement that when integrating students with special needs into general education institutions, teachers are not paid for additional duties. The authors conclude that different professional support measures are available for teachers in Latvia, but there is No common support system in place to address which functions and support measures should be implemented at national level and which at municipal level.
The author of doctoral thesis: Mg.oec. Ilze Prizevoite. The topic of the doctoral thesis: Remuneration and performance of teachers of general education institutions in the regions of Latvia. Hypothesis: there are several factors that increase the performance of teachers in the regions of Latvia, but the financial remuneration is the most important of them. The aim of the doctoral thesis is to evaluate the financial and non-financial remuneration of teachers of general education institutions in the regions of Latvia and to develop proposals for increasing the performance of teachers. The following tasks are set to achieve the aim: 1. to study the theoretical aspects of financial and non-financial remuneration and performance; 2. characteristic of the education sector and at the same time the place and role of employees in the Latvian economy; 3. determine the principles of the procedure for financing the salaries of teachers of general educational institutions, the influencing factors and their role in the development of the regions of Latvia; 4. factors influencing the performance of teachers in general education institutions of Latvian regions and its increase. To achieve the aim, the outline of the study is structured in four chapters with a subchapters. The first chapter presents the theoretical framework of the financial and non-financial dimensions of remuneration systems, analysing each of its components. Theoretical issues of performance have been studied and factors influencing performance have been identified. The second chapter analyzes international and Latvian teachers' salary levels from the perspectives of both institutional policy and legality. Using elements of analysis methods, socio-economic indicators of the education sector in Latvia and its regions described (share of the education sector in GDP, general government expenditure on education, state consolidated budget expenditure on education, average gross monthly salary of employees, etc.), the general education system in Latvia and the regions is examined in depth. The third chapter analyzes the teachers' financial remuneration or the procedure for financing teachers' salaries “Money follows the student” and its legal framework. Factors influencing the wages, allowances, bonuses, and benefits of teachers working in general education institutions in the regions, counties and cities of the Republic have been identified and analyzed. As well as the potential threats and opportunities for the development of Latvia's regions of the financing procedure “Money follows the student” have been determined, the strengths and weaknesses have been identified. The fourth chapter analyzes the results of the survey of teachers and directors / deputy directors working in general education institutions in the regions of Latvia on the factors influencing the performance of teachers. Based on the results of the research, the author developed scenarios for increasing the performance of teachers. The results of the scenario evaluation were analyzed using the AHP method. The final part formulates main conclusions and main findings as well as reveals problems and gives proposals to solve them. The volume of the doctoral thesis for obtaining the degree of doctor of economics and business (Ph.D.) are 169 pages. The thesis contains 27 tables, 61 figures and 14 annexes; it the author has used 216 sources of information, including 136 sources in English.
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