Abstract

Introduction:  The viral disease Covid-19 -currently a pandemic- forced to accommodate measures of social distancing with the intention of limiting its expansion, including: teleworking and online (virtual) teaching. Would the sudden shift from face-to-face classroom to virtual education result in teacher work overload? If so, what are the influencing factors?

Objective:   Analyze the workload of teachers in Latin America, at three different educational levels, during the COVID-19 pandemic in June and July 2020.

Methods:  Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study. A 37-question questionnaire was used, with a Hernández-Nieto content validity coefficient of 0.99 and a temporal stability coefficient 0.91. Statistical analysis was performed using Excel 2019, measures of central tendency and frequency analysis were used.

Results:  887 teachers were surveyed for whom sociodemographic characteristics are detailed and their personal, technical, institutional and space load factors assessed. Student dropout percentage was also ascertained.

Conclusion:  The surveyed teachers perceived an increase in workload due to the factors studied, intertwined with an increase in student desertion. The abrupt change in the modality from face-to-face to virtual education has generated a reorganization of work and family life, teleworking from home requires a clear delimitation by teachers of the work schedules and functions involved in the various aspects of online education.

Keywords: Workload; teachers; Latin America; pandemic; occupational health; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2