Acknowledgement
This research paper would not be accomplished without the generous contribution of any individuals. The researcher would like to acknowledge the following contributions: For the unwavering support and guidance of her family. They are the one who gave her courage and inspiration. To her professor, for giving this study, this could be the task that would help her become more resourceful and knowledgeable. To Almighty Father for the safety, strengths, courage, inner peace and knowledge to make this term paper a success.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement
Chapter I The problem and Its Scope
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Significance of the Study
Definition
Chapter II The Content of the Study
Absenteeism
Factors Contribute to Teachers Absence
Impact of Teachers Absenteeism
Measuring Absenteeism
Controlling Absenteeism
Conclusion
Bibliography
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Chapter I
The Problem and Its Scope
Introduction
Rates of employee absences and the effects of absences on productivity are topics of conversation in many organizations. One reason is that high rates of employee absence may signal weak management and poor labor-management relations. In the education sphere, employee absenteeism is a special problem, not only in terms of the cost to the school (payment to substitute teachers) but also the wasted education-time that is liable to impair the sense of confidence that the general public has in the schools.
Students may eventually lose their desire to learn if the regular teacher is frequently absent and the curriculum is delivered by an array of substitute teachers. In essence, teacher absenteeism has important implications for school reform, teacher training, educational leadership, and issues related to social justice aimed at promoting equity and excellence in the schools (Bruno, 2002).
Teachers who take time off from work, due to sickness, present problems for school principals, who must arrange for their work to be covered. Their absence has an impact on students and other teachers, as well as on the funds available to schools (Bowers, 2001). Teacher absenteeism is related both to student absenteeism and achievement. When a qualified educator is away from the classroom, student achievement is negatively affected. Teachers are the educational leaders in the classroom, and their roles cannot be compromised (Whitaker, 2001).
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Statement of the Problem
This research has the following objectives to come up a unified content of this study: (a) To understand the phenomena of work absenteeism among teacher (b) To relate the factors contribute to teacher absenteeism (c) To investigate the impact of teacher absenteeism
(d) To discuss the solution and how to manage teacher absenteeism
Significance of the Study
The output of this study will contribute to the existing body of knowledge particularly in the field of teaching. To the future researchers, the output of this study may serves as a source of knowledge in pursuing more studies about measuring and controlling absenteeism in workplace.
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Definition of Terms There are many variations to the definition of absenteeism. Defining absenteeism has not changed much in recent years and one simple definition that is being used is that of organizationally excused versus organizationally unexcused absences (Blau, 1985). The definitions of excused absence include categories such as personal sickness, jury duty, religious holidays, and funeral leave and transportation problems. Meanwhile, the unexcused absence meaning absenteeism without an official or recognized (excused) reason, that occurs when an employee fails to provide a satisfactory explanation for the absenteeism, or gives no reason at all (Walfin, 1981). Below are the working definitions of absenteeism: * Based on Martocchio & Jimeno (2003), Absence constitutes a single day of missed work. * Absence occurs whenever a person chooses to allocate time to activities that compete with scheduled work, either to satisfy the waxing and waning of underlying motivational rhythms (Fichman, 1984), or to maximize personal utility (Chelius, 1981). * An individual’s lack of physical presence at a given location and time when there is a social expectation for him or her to be there (Martocchio & Harrison, 1993). * Absenteeism refers to the non-attendance of employees for scheduled work (Gibsson, 1966; John, 1978; Jones, 1971). * Hill and Thrist (1953; 1962) contributed a theory of absence as withdrawal from the stress of work situations, claiming as evidence for this proposition certain patterns of absence and accident rates recorded over a four-year period in a large steel company.
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Chapter II
The Content of the Study
Teacher absenteeism is a serious problem for school systems. According to Eby & Freeman (1999), low commitment resulted in higher absenteeism rate. When employees are absent, employers have to bear the costs associated with absenteeism at the workplace. According to Zakaria (1988), absenteeism can be dysfunctional and financially costly. Firstly, it could upset and disrupt the daily operations of an affected unit or organization. Then, organizations have to bear the extensive cost of absenteeism, which includes both direct and indirect cost such as lost of productivity, use of contingent workers, and overtime cost.
Although, there is no estimate on the cost implications of absenteeism in the educational field, however, when teachers are absent from work, not only are replacement teachers sought but these teachers have to be burdened with the workload of the absent teachers. Problems also arise when the replacement teachers are not skilled or unfamiliar with the subject taught giving rise to frustrations on the part of the students and the teachers concerned. Eventually, they felt angry, exhausted and stressed giving rise to lower motivation, increased job dissatisfaction and poor job performance. Thus, this kind of escape-avoidance behavior would not be beneficial to any profession.
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However, the stated causes for teacher absenteeism often make the fact that the institutional environment does not really require teachers’ constant presence. At the root are limited authority by schools, lack of interest in enforcing sanctions, and the lack of parental involvement. Absenteeism is often lower among female teachers, among teachers born in the district where the school is located, among teachers who work in schools with better infrastructure, and among teachers of children whose parents are more literate. However, few studies have explicitly explored the linkages between accountability and absenteeism.
Occupational stress has a more significance on the teachers’ professionalism. Stress is one of the major factors contribute to teacher absenteeism.
Why Does Absence Occur?
Work absenteeism occurs for many reasons. Its causes are mainly either personal or workplace related. The most common ones are the following:
A) Personal: * Age: Proven research shows that older employees tend to be absent less frequently than younger ones (as time stabilizes them in their jobs and the thrill of an unauthorized day off no longer tempts them.) However, once an older employee is actually absent - usually for sickness leaves - the period of absenteeism is usually longer than that of a younger employee. * Gender: Women tend to be absent more frequently than men usually, especially when they are responsible for the welfare of a family and have variables beyond their control to contend with. * Seniority: If an employee has been with the organization for a long time, his/her absence level tends to become relatively lower. Fresh employees by contrast, are usually tempted to benefit from an “unauthorized” day off to relax and unwind.
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* Personal Attitude: Employees with solid work ethics value the contribution they make to the organization and rarely allow themselves to take unauthorized time off. On the other hand people with a poor work ethic don’t frequently carry the same amount of responsibility and do not feel obliged to show up to work every single day.
B) Workplace: * Job Stress: When a job is stressful, employees tend to take unauthorized casual days off in order to reduce their stress levels and get rid of tension. * Daily Job Routine: People with repetitive and monotonous jobs tend to take advantage of a casual absence to break free from their somewhat boring daily routine and engage in something more interesting for the day. * Job Satisfaction: This is interrelated to daily job routine. The more an employee is dissatisfied with his overall job functions, the more he absentees himself from work.
IMPACT OF TEACHER ABSENTEEISM
The impact is educationally significant. Research shows that teachers are the most important factor determining student achievement. Teachers’ absences affect student learning. Teams of researchers from Duke and Harvard found that teacher absences significantly reduce student achievement. To put the detrimental effects of teacher absence in terms of the well-documented relationship between initial teaching experience and effectiveness, every 10 absences achievement lowers mathematics achievement by the same amount as having a teacher with one year to two years of experience instead of a teacher with three years to five years of experience.
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Teacher absences hinder learning in important ways. Substitute teachers or relief teachers are less qualified, on average, than regular teachers. When the regular teacher is absent, academic instruction is almost simply less intense. In fairness, substitutes are often constrained by low expectations and weak organization on the part of the regular teacher.
Other problem is, when teachers are absent from work, not only are replacement teachers sought but these teachers have to be burdened with the workload of the absent teachers. Problems also arise when the replacement teachers are not skilled or unfamiliar with the subject taught giving rise to frustrations on the part of the students and the teachers concerned.
Other teacher or relief teacher also busy with their subject or work and they are not able to give full attention to the replacement class. Sometimes the relief teacher just come to the class and monitors the class but not teaching. On the other hand, when there are no sufficient teachers at that moment, the class will be abandon and any unwanted thing and tragedy can happen inside the class such as bullying, out of control, vandalism, fighting and truancy problem.
Teacher absences also disrupt the routines and relationships that support learning. A teacher may need to reallocate instructional time to review classroom rules and procedures upon returning from an absence, perhaps in addition to having to perform a full re-teaching of the lesson that was meant to occur on the day of the absence.
Measuring Absenteeism “Absence measurement” is essential in order for management to compare between individual absences and departmental absences. Measuring absence is critical to identify the different patterns of employee absence and target the variables affecting it.
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There are various ways to measure absenteeism, the most commonly used are the “lost time rate” formula and the “individual frequency” formula. Lost Time Rate = (Number of Working Days Lost /Total Number of Working Days)* 100 , Individual Frequency = (Number of Absent Employees/Average Number of Employees) *100 . Limitations do exist when trying to measure absenteeism, whether with data collection or data correctness; thus, managers should be alert to stay on top of such limitations and handle them with care and accuracy.
MANAGING TEACHER ABSENTEEISM
Teacher absenteeism is not a healthy practice and steps should be taken to manage it effectively. There are few steps of keeping absenteeism to a minimum. * Increase salary: Salary increases may improve teacher attendance. Thus, they may no longer have to work part-time or engaging in private tutoring as a side occupation and are not being burdened with the workload, exhausted and stressed which eventually giving rise to lower motivation and poor job performance. * Motivation: Keeping the teacher motivated and try making the school a fun place to work is of the best way to encourage the teacher and reduce absenteeism. * Rewards or incentives schemes: Combinations of incentives could reduce levels of teacher absence enough to pay for themselves. Teachers in Aldine, Texas, for example, receive a bonus for excellent attendance record over a school year, defined as two or fewer days of absence.
Create an Absenteeism Policy: Teachers respond to changes in absence-control policies. For example, teachers who are required to report absences directly to their principal by telephone are absent less often than teachers using impersonal reporting systems. These insights show
11 * that while the causes are multi-dimensional, policymakers do have the power to reduce absence rates. * Bonusesor or Incentives: Teachers are also absent less often when bonuses or incentives are given for exceptionally high attendance or schemes in which districts buy back unused sick leave are available. * Counseling: The headmaster or the counselor should concern about the teacher at the school especially those who are more often absent from work. They also should give attention to all teachers in the school. These approaches can help the school management solve the problem.
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CONCLUSION
Teacher absences can cause financial difficulties. There is no easy solution to the problem of supply cover costs, but more effective management can reduce negative impacts. Absenteeism also a series issue that requires immediate attention by teacher, headmaster and school management. Besides, new approach and improved policies around absence could reduce students’ exposure to teacher absences while generating a net savings for employers. Teacher absences also have a negative effect on student achievement.
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REFERENCES
* http://www.scribd.com/doc/44640026/Managing-Absenteeism-Among-Teachers
* http://www.a1-writers.com/files/absenteeism * http://www.bayt.com/en/career-article-2821/
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