Counting the minutes: administrative control of work schedules and time management of secondary school teachers in Québec.

Unlabelled: Québec teachers have been identified as having a high level of stress and having difficulties with work-family balancing (WFB). An analysis of their work activity was done to identify task elements that could be changed.

Participants: Work of 15 teachers was observed and 20 other teachers were interviewed.

Methods: Ergonomic analysis, a mixed method that combines qualitative analysis with some quantitative data: 87 hours' observation; 15 interviews. Environmental parameters were recorded in 8 classrooms and in two faculty workrooms. Working postures were recorded.

Results: Teachers were subject to numerous demands in an often inadequate environment. A new management practice required teachers to spend 300 min/week outside class but in school, where their work could be monitored. The timed and scheduled tasks could not be done in the rooms provided due to overcrowding, inadequate physical environment, and lack of access to computers and telephones. Time at home decreased but work done at home did not.

Conclusions: The physical environment of teaching impacts teaching activity. Work organization that treats a complex, results-oriented task as if it could be well represented by the number of supervised minutes spent on it can be problematic. WFB should be considered when work is re-organized.