“I feel like a pack a day smoker”: Teacher and student voices from noisy classrooms

Concerns about the effects of poor classroom acoustics on student learning (particularly on students who are deaf or hard of hearing) have been expressed since the 1950s, yet research continues to indicate that poor classroom acoustics are both common, and related to poorer student outcomes in academic achievement, attention, behavior, and most recently, mental health. Teachers are not immune to the detrimental effects of noise; for them, research indicates a higher incidence of voice problems, absenteeism and job stress. However, little is reported about what teachers and students themselves have to say about their experiences attempting to learn under adverse listening conditions, and what changes for them when acoustical conditions improve. Their voices are largely missing from the research literature but they illuminate the problem in ways that quantitative data does not always capture. This presentation by an educational audiologist with over 35 years of experience in classrooms will provide an overview of the research on learning under adverse listening conditions, with a focus on representing teacher and student voices through qualitative research and anecdotal reports. The title is a quote from a teacher describing her voice problems and fatigue after a day of teaching.