An Ethnographic Study of Teaching in a High-Tech, High-Touch World

The profession of teaching has evolved throughout the decades. Rigorous curricular standards, systemic evaluation through online high-stakes assessments, an increased emphasis on social-emotional learning, and the rising integration of technology in the classroom have transformed the educational landscape. As teachers welcome the incoming class of 2031 and educate students for thirteen years within the school system, they are being asked to equip all students with necessary postsecondary, career preparation, and citizenship development competencies so students can achieve their full potential.

In an era of increasing technology in the classrooms and high demands from various stakeholders, oftentimes the well-being of the teacher is neglected. The dynamics of the teacher-student relationship, the art and science of teaching the skills and content knowledge to a class of students with a wide range of abilities, and the demands from parents and administrators can often create a high-stress environment. In order to put teachers back in the center of the conversation and honor their voice about how to improve student outcomes, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt^® (HMH^®) partnered with Kelton Global, an independent research firm, to conduct an ethnographic study designed to closely examine the daily social-emotional experiences of the teacher. By conducting in-depth qualitative research, we can gain insight on teachers’ challenges and pain points in the real world of classrooms particularly when it comes to technology use, as well as learning more about the effect those challenges have on teachers’ emotional states.

As The Learning Company™, HMH is committed to raising student outcomes, and teachers are integral to student success. When technology is seamlessly integrated into teachers’ lives both in and out of the classroom, it can save time and energy that teachers can then reinvest in their students and themselves to avoid burnout.

Rather than technology being a barrier, technology usage becomes an extension of the teacher. Conducting observations and interviews with the teachers helps us identify ways we can better support teachers in meeting their students’ needs. The purpose of this study is to gain insights gathered from “dawn to dusk” conversations and observations so that education professionals and policy makers can better understand the teaching profession and make informed decisions that impact the lives of our children, youth, and the nearest adults that serve them.

Despite the changes fostered by the growing advances of technology, the core of teaching remains fairly consistent. Teachers strive to raise the next generation of learners grade by grade with the necessary skills to prepare them for the future. David Rose, a professor from Harvard Graduate School of Education, stated that “Teaching, at its core, is emotional work.” A survey conducted by the American Federation of Teachers examined 33,000 educators and found that teachers reported high stress levels and are more stressed than the average person (AFT, 2017). Sixty-one percent of educators found work to be stressful as opposed to the general population reporting that work was stressful 30 percent of the time. Furthermore, a 2015 survey found that stress levels have grown and mental health has declined in educators over the past couple of years (AFT, 2015).

Studies show that students learn less when teachers are stressed and when students sense teacher hostility (Goodboy et al., 2018; McClean & Connor, 2015). Researchers find that high levels of stress in teachers not only affect students’ stress levels, but it also affects educators’ teaching strategies. Specifically, teachers with higher stress levels in the beginning of the year display fewer effective teaching strategies over the course of the school year (Harmsen et al., 2018). A 2016 report on teacher stress and health by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Penn State University notes that teacher stress was linked to high turnover, which in turn resulted in lower achievement for students and higher costs for school districts (Greenberg et al., 2016). 

In addition, building positive relationships between teachers and students has shown to have positive outcomes. An ethnographic study conducted with 23 youths found that the presence of caring relationships between teachers and students had a positive influence on students and served as a protective factor for at-risk youth (Laursen & Birmingham, 2003). Others have conducted ethnographic studies to further examine the importance of exploring teacher emotion in understanding teaching (Zembylas, 2005). In addition, researchers have demonstrated that teachers’ well-being promoted better teacher-student relationships, effective classroom management skills, and positive social-emotional learning in their students (Jennings, 2015). For educators who face numerous predictable and unpredictable challenges each day, developing and exercising emotional resilience, the ability to bounce back after a setback and thrive in the midst of challenges, is essential (Aguilar, 2018).

A new contributor to teachers’ work life and well-being is the rapid rate at which technology is being integrated at every level within the school system and the pace at which teachers are expected to master and implement these newer technologies. In a survey conducted on over 30,000 teachers, a majority of teachers expressed discomfort with newer teaching practices that rely on technology and stated that they needed additional professional development and collaborative planning time with their peers (Project Tomorrow, 2018). Fifty-nine percent of teachers who responded to a survey noted that data gathering was a stressor (AFT, 2015). In another survey of over 4,000 teachers, researchers found that persistent challenges with technology wastes valuable instructional time within the day (MDR, 2018).

Research funded by the Gates Foundation examined how teachers currently use digital instructional tools, teachers’ attitudes toward digital technology, and teachers’ perceived effectiveness of digital tools (Gates & Gates, 2015). They found that barriers to access keep more teachers from using digital tools despite the myriad of options available.

Teachers have a wide range of comfort levels when it comes to emerging technology. While 15% of teachers stated that they could not live without technology, a smaller percentage noted that they were overwhelmed with the new technology (MDR, 2018). Elementary school teachers scored the highest out of the middle and high school teachers in noting that technology was overwhelming. Although the majority of teachers found technology to be useful, taking into consideration teachers’ comfort levels with technology is crucial to make technology integration into a classroom a success.

When it comes to knowing how to effectively integrate technology in the classroom, teachers know best as they put it to use every day. Through this ethnographic study, we observed four leading areas of technology use and how tech use affects the emotions teachers experience throughout the day:

• Workflow
• Instruction
• Communication
• Data

We found that technology in the classroom—along with student and teacher needs for technology—is rapidly changing. Not only is there a wide variety of options from which teachers and school administrators can choose, but the rate at which particular forms of technology become outdated and obsolete makes it difficult for educators to keep up with the changes. To make matters more challenging, teachers’ lack the time, training, and support needed to fully integrate existing technology into the classroom. However, teachers are hopeful that with time and continued efforts, technology in these four areas can ease teaching and facilitate deeper learning.

These emotions can range from cheerful, confident, and fun to rushed, stressed, and overwhelmed. Not only are there a number of different emotions, but these emotions can cycle within a day. Teachers’ emotions can be a function of students’ emotions and behaviors, often leaving the teacher exhausted by day’s end.

We found that technology can help ease the teaching process or at times exasperate the issues as described in the following sections. The next section will cover how tech is currently used in the classroom, how it influences teachers’ daily responsibilities, and ultimately how we can help provide services to address these challenging areas to meet teachers’ needs.

Using technology for tasks such as attendance, grading, and creating lessons

Currently, workflow tech tools are often standardized within a district and used similarly by teachers given that they are largely provided by district administration to teachers, and districts also provide the necessary training.

Workflow technology has already proven helpful in saving teachers time, especially when it comes to monitoring student attendance and lesson planning. Teachers can then put this time back into more important matters such as face-to-face instruction, differentiation, relationship-building, and personal time to avoid burnout. The biggest barrier to using workflow technology is the time investment required to learn and transition to a new system. Additionally, there are pain points associated with multiple workflow platforms that do not seamlessly connect to each other, creating more work and complexity for teachers.

Using technology to connect with teachers, administrators, students, and parents

Teachers have enthusiastically embraced communication tools because of the low learning curve—many are using similar tools in their personal lives. Plus, teachers and administrators talk about communication apps and their benefits a lot, which creates a perception of ease and further encourages use.

Currently, communication technology saves time, breaks down communication barriers with parents, facilitates relationships with harder-to-reach students, and encourages good classroom behavior. Teachers are also using these tools to share information with one another and build collaborative communities with colleagues—through comments in shared Google Docs and even texting one another with questions and suggestions. These tools have also increased professional learning opportunities and mentorships.

Alongside these positives, teachers also express concerns. Receiving texts and emails from parents around the clock can be overwhelming and can lead to a lack of boundaries between working and personal hours, therefore, affecting work-life balance.

To make technology a true extension of the teacher in the future, there are a number of barriers that need to be addressed:

1. Access: Not all schools have technology consistently available in the classroom. Additionally, due to varying SES levels, not all students have technology resources available to them at home.

2. Infrastructure and tech glitches: Inconsistent Wi-Fi^®, underdeveloped products, misplaced passwords are all examples of common issues that compromise learning.

3. Time: Teachers lack the time needed to learn how to use and incorporate tech. Prioritizing technology often means investing precious personal time, which not all teachers are willing or able to do.

4. Lack of support: A supportive administration can have a major impact on technology use. Teachers currently face inconsistent tech and IT support in and across schools.

5. Lack of training: Teachers need more training on effective use of technology that encourages deeper learning and critical thinking as opposed to replacement of paper and pencil type activities.