Good afternoon.
I hope you are enjoying the symposium so far.
And my name is already 50% a I am likely to be working
as a teacher's assistant in a boy's music.
And then we have 30
and 50%.
We are a multidisciplinary team and I'm the psychologist
and I'm here to talk about
teachers and voices.
Menopause and the impact on teaching
learning process
can air.
Well, I start by asking the question why is that
in the impact of voice quality within an educational content?
Well, several studies
have found that voice quality affect the ability to learn,
and they all start with their hypothesis
that poor voice quality overloads working memory
for those who don't know what is working.
Memory
is a temporary storage with limited capacity
where information is select, where we organize and integrated,
and when an impaired voice quality
happens and our voice in
quality leads to a more complex
message, inconsistent and confusing
So when this happens, overloads
the working memory overloads
and consequently the processing of information is outdated.
And we have a poor perceptual discrimination, poor retention.
The message and poor Problem-Solving ability.
So the quality of voice is important.
And what's happening has been that 57% of teachers
present voice is further
and what is more
even more important is that only one can know the rules.
I consider occupational data
in professional voice uses,
which means that
only 40% of total prevalence
is covered by it is an occupational hazard
and in Spain
also 66.9 are female teachers
as you can see
in this where I am, the lower the level of education,
the highest the female the female teachers representation
And also a large share of
teachers are 50 or over 50 years old.
In countries of OCD.
I am from OCD
and am
also these
This number has increased by 5%
in the last decade.
And as already said in maybe, you know,
the average age of menopause is between 1552
and a in a with menopause
substantial changes in the tissues of the vocal tract and the larynx
all right
happens
vocal for example vocal
edema, vocal alternate
mucosal dryness, reduction in the production
of granular secretions muscular atrophy, impairing blood and closure,
and also of dystrophy are also a subset of in 90%
of postmenopausal woman nonsmokers.
So given this evidence,
it seems important to understand that voice related to understand
voice related attributes, opinion and attitudes of menopausal teachers.
From an educational point of view
and that is what we did we started with
interviews,
I assume the instructor video calls, the interviews
and the inclusive criteria our vision, the woman in peri
or forced menopause and to be a teacher and
to use their voices at 3 hours per day
Our research questions were what are their opinion
on attitudes of teachers with respect to the
impact of menopause?
On boys, their relevance of boy related characteristics in the teacher
learning process and boys related occupational health and safety
measures
and from our thematic content analysis.
There is no where
four categories and two categories have meaning of menopause,
impact of menopause on boys teaching and boys
and boys related occupational health and safety measures
21. The four volunteers have to participate,
and they have an average of 58 years old
all important menopause, except one that works in perimenopause.
And the majority of them, as you can see, were teachers at primary school
What about
the meaning of mental menopause for these teachers?
Well,
for 40% of the participant,
menopause means a really
interesting interestingly in the most cases this was because
of the situation of the this related related to menstruation.
But for the other
menopause was our moment of personal and professional
realization
25% thought
that menopause was only a natural event,
just one more phase in a woman's life.
But half of them manifest that
their awareness that they are having
a contradictory opinion to what society demands.
That is to understand menopause as a negative point of view,
point of turning point.
Sorry
we must empower every woman if you have hot flashes.
So bathe, don't give to them.
Everyone should know that menopause is unnatural, as if you have had it.
Simple as that.
And 35
35% of the participants believe that menopause means
a worsening of their quality of life because negative
and because of the negative symptoms they experience.
And the most perceived incapacitating
symptom was mood swings
you'll feel is strange.
It is an awkward situation.
Like if you and yourself anymore,
you have to gradually get used to it.
And 45% associate being older with menopause.
It mean even if the feeling isn't up to it,
not to be able at all.
And what is even more important is that teachers feel that
their age can be potentially discriminate to discriminate them.
Factor.
There are colleagues who never reveal their age.
I'm proud of my age.
I'm not willing to pretend that I shall be any younger.
We women are forced to hide menopause and pretend
that we are still fertile.
This seems crazy to me.
75% have a what happened when the impact of menopause
on voice quality.
Well, 75% have
or have had a voice problem.
46% were diagnosed
with voice pathology and required six lip
And when we ask the US parents
any voice change at menopause, only three say yes, clearly.
But when we asked,
When did you start noticing changes in your voice?
Half of them know these changes during menopause.
And these am and
60% report
lowering a bit and 50 60% sorry
and 50% vocal dryness or their voice related symptoms
include the loss of top notes of volume of power
and and the flexibility in the ability
to change pitches
and about impacts of boys quality on a student.
It is 5% believe that a poor voice interferes
with a teaching learning process because
reduced attention
and because
being aware of teacher these come forward
and react negatively in the classroom.
It's funny because the first day you arrive for
they behave better and better than ever.
It's a very courteous thing that they behave very well.
But of course, this is only the first day.
Later on,
just because
the situation is different, they have started to behave because
it's humbling and frustrating
The most void related positive characteristics in teaching
that they manifest where
to be a powerful and clear voice
and with several bits modulation,
not to have to have too high pitch of boys
and to be able to attract attention with the voice
and to be able to express authority
and let's talk about these
authority.
A 45% believe that maybe vocal characteristics
are associated with expression
of authority and respect
Male and female
voices express different themes to them.
Male teacher is always in charge getting a student respect,
whereas a female teacher has the voice of a friend,
a mother, someone to whom you can go
and cry to
Another
interesting thing is that
if 50% of them were
or have been school director or headmistress
and two of them have boys education decides
to sound more masculine,
to have authority, you must have had the boy.
I was the headmistress of my school and I had to learn how to speak
with the lawyers speech possible to prove I was in charge
and am
according to the literature.
There are six factors that contribute to the development of voice problems.
One of them is not having boys education.
And in this group
of interviews says 65% have low
or no voice education at all, and 0% have received
continuing voice education as a state prevention measure.
Noise, as
we already say, is related to vocal effort
and therefore voice impairment and only to teacher thing
their classrooms were soundproof, treated,
and in the case
of a supporting technology that helps to avoid voice problem
For example, artificial artificial amplification
of the voice a 30% boy with a microphone.
But when already had a voice problem
I don't see how concerned
with bitter physical or emotional health with this respect.
I feel that we are very very helpless and alone.
To this day I Peter represent a number and so whatever
and governors don't care if we are at menopause or not
a good communication with superiors.
It's helpful to talk about their problems
and find a solution or adaptation in case of need
but only 55% of this teacher thing.
Menopause is just the start.
55% of this teacher thing
that menopause is just the taboo topic.
And 35%
are comfortable talking about menopause.
But only with close female friends.
And if we if they feel
the menopause is a taboo and they are not comfortable talking
with males, maybe
to have.
Well,
I have certain fear that others
can recognize my moods mean as menopausal symptoms.
And it's time I show myself irritable.
They say here it comes again and of course I haven't
and at home that my irritability is due to my menopause.
I don't want that everything I say or do can be because of menopause.
I prefer to cope with it without external help.
What I was saying is that a
and interesting that data is that 50% of.
Them.
Of directors
were male in the in this case,
in Spain in their study institutions.
34% are male directors.
And this is not too high. But
what happens when we compare
this data with the representation of male teachers?
Well, for example, in secondary school,
42% manage to be directors even when the representation of male
teachers is only 18%
So what we can,
what can we conclude for the study?
And one of this research question was impact of menopause.
In voice boys.
50% of participants on voice changes associated
with the beginning of menopause.
The most reported changes were dropping pitch and vocal dryness
and about the relevance of boy related
characteristics in the pitch and learning process.
85% saying poor voice quality.
It affected the learning process.
And clearly there is a gender related prejudice
that authority is related to males vocal characteristics
about
body related occupational health and safety teachers
voice care is perceived as insufficient
and C Robertson have received a continuing voice education provided
by the state as a preventive measure of voice pathology.
Other important, important outcomes
where the menopause is viewed as being older,
even if the individual feeling is not real at all.
Adult menopause is a potentially discriminating factor.
Also, for teachers,
menopause is still a taboo
and social and cultural factors seems to rule
how teachers deal with their health status.
And finally, teachers believe that it is important
that their voices can reflect authority
to their students.
Thank you very much
for your wonderful presentation on teachers beliefs about menopause
and how it interferes with their work ability and relationship
with the students.
It was astonishing to see that
the idea that the authority comes with a lower
pitch does not affect only politicians because I don't know if,
you know, Margaret Thatcher lowered her voice
during her career in order to be more assertive with his
with her colleagues, because it was a world ruled by men,
but in this case, in schools and primarily in
kindergartens, schools especially the overrepresentation is of females.
But they still believe that the lower voice imposes more authority.
So do you think that these from a valid
problem might problematic
a is kind of
a perception of a woman and not of a reality?
I mean,
because
I do not think that men have
that kind of thought, that female voices are less authority,
have less authority, actually, in our paper.
Noria and I found out the fundamental frequency
was not related with something that is important
to males and two females that the sexual attractiveness.
It was rather how we turn our pitch around.
So do we women.
Are we the responsible for this, do you think
It's a hard question.
I know.
Well, I actually am.
Well, that study that say that we women
we have the ability to, um,
to perceive better
this change of pitch
and when a woman and fix with the image
through the boys that are powerful
if if they have a powerful role
and if they have the appropriate fit for that.
So even we actually have
um these I don't know sensitive sensitivity
to to hear better things that doesn't
and are not
well for us.
So I don't know why
I am very sure that is her social and cultural background,
but we don't know how to manage because this is very typical
we're trying to be a feminist feminist, but
we don't know how and we have to reflect
more about these kind of issues and try to change the
Yeah.
Well, thank you very much because actually lowering the pitch
in a female voice can bring some voice disorders
especially if you are a high pitched female.
And also, it's striking that menopause lowers the voice.
So teachers at menopause
should not be concerned of having a lower voice, be it
because they have it anyway.
So but thank you so much for your contribution.