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Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research

ISSN: 0031-3831 (Print) 1470-1170 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/csje20

The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education

Irene Velsvik Bele

To cite this article: Irene Velsvik Bele (2008) The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education,
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52:1, 41-57, DOI: 10.1080/00313830701786594

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Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research Vol. 52,

No. 1, February 2008, pp. 41–57

The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education

Irene Velsvik Bele*

Volda University College, Norway

The voice is a basic tool in human communication and an important factor in a positive self-understanding
and identity, both for the teacher's sense of profession and for the pupils' ability to express themselves
orally; two perspectives of great importance in the Norwegian National Curriculum. Voice disorders are
common among teachers world-wide and seem to be increasing.
Voice problems influence the teachers' ability to teach effectively. An historical review illustrates the
significance of the oral tradition in Norwegian teacher education. Against the background of recent
studies that show that voice training courses given to different professional groups prevent voice
disorders, a proposal is presented for the organization of vocal training in Norwegian teacher education.
The purpose is to emphasize the clear link between teaching and voice disorders and to focus on the
prevention of voice problems among teachers by reintroducing voice training in teacher training.

Keywords: Teacher's professional competence; Prevention of voice problems; Vocal training of teacher students

Introduction: Historical background

Recent have seen a considerable increase in the number of people in professions that make great demands on
the voice and its quality. In spite of this fact, the voice and difficulties associated with it have not received
sufficient focus compared to the significance they have for a great many of us. As a profession, teachers are
exposed to straining their voices and are considered to be at risk of suffering voice difficulties, primarily due to
the extremely high demands made on a teacher's voice (Fritzell, 1996, Simberg, 2004). A number of professions
place great demands on the voice. In the old days it was the ministers of the church whose voices were exposed
to the greatest strains. In England the ''clergyman's throat'' was written about in the 18th century, and in the
19th century the term ''pra¨stehalsesjuka'' was in use in Denmark and Sweden. Early in the 1900s the term
''fonasteni'' was used in Scandinavia with reference to functional

*Faculty of Education, Volda University College, Joplassveien, Postbox 500, 6100 Volda, Norway.
Email: [email protected]
ISSN 0031-3831 (print)/ISSN 1470-1170 (online)/08/010041-17
2008 Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research
DOI: 10.1080/00313830701786594
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42 I. Velsvik Bele

voice weakness for singers, teachers and military personnel. ''Vocal fatigue'' is the term used today and it has
proven to be the most common diagnosis, especially for teachers (Fritzell, 1996). Studies document that the
teaching professions are over-represented in the group that seeks help for voice problems. A number of surveys
conclude that there is great demand for preventive voice care as part of the training for professions that make
great demands on the use of the voice (Gotaas & Starr, 1993; Pekkarinen, Himberg & Pentti, 1992; Russel,
Oates & Greenwood, 1998; Simberg, 2004).

Oral presentation has a long tradition in teacher education. Even though antiquity's understanding of rhetoric
comprised far more than we today associate with the term ''voice production'', the use of the voice was an
important part of eloquentia, eloquence, which, not least, Philip Melanchthon made such a key notion in the
Protestant ideal of education. This tradition lasted for several centuries and the

discussion can be recognized in the professional debates of the 1800s (Madssen, 1999). In seminary teaching
great emphasis was placed on ''free lectures'' and in this form it can perhaps be claimed that ''vocal skills'' was
part of the teaching of reading.
Grundtvig's ideas about ''the living word'' prevailed in the Norwegian teacher training college, and this was also
the most emphasized form of teaching. In the 1900s there were increasing demands that ''use of the voice'' must
be part of the teaching of Norwegian. In the law on teacher training of 1930, ''voice use'' became a legally
established subject in mother tongue teaching, and was in a number of places taught by speech therapists,
although it was not laid down anywhere how, by whom and to what extent teaching of the use of the voice
should be given. In the regulations for teacher training colleges since 1938 a description of the framework for a
subject known as ''voice use'' is presented, and vocal training is further described in the draft curriculum for the
teacher training colleges of 1967. Before 1970, vocal training as a subject had a permanent place in Norwegian
teacher training with one period per week on a full-time one-year course (Norsk Logopedlag, 1971). The form
and effect of this teaching have been widely discussed. The discussion was partly focused on interpretations of
the objectives of the subject, partly on methodical issues, the substance, how it was to be implemented and last
but not least, what qualifications were to be expected of the person giving this teaching. Officially non-formal
qualifications were ever established. But in practice it was generally the responsibility of singing and music
teachers and in just a few colleges by professionally qualified speech therapists (Norsk Logopedlag, 1971).

In an officially commissioned Norwegian report (NOU, 1974, p.58), the suggestion was put forward to include
voice training in the teaching of Norwegian, but that working with speech and the voice was best suited as the
topic of separate courses. When the new three-year teacher-training program was introduced in the 1970s, the
topic of voice production more or less disappeared, both from the teaching of pedagogy and from Norwegian
courses. In the struggle to find room for a vast number of new topics, voice training lost its legitimacy as part of
teacher education.
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The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education 43

When it comes to the understanding of the topic voice production today, it is possible to make a rough
distinction between two extremes. On the one hand, a rhetoric-inspired tradition, which in Norway, among other
things, is influenced by Danish teacher training traditions (Grundtvig and ''the living word''). Here, voice
production is partly understood as recitation as an interpretive activity. This is the Fafner tradition (Fafner, 1982).
New-rhetorical trends in today's teacher education, not least in Norwegian as a subject, emphasize this aspect.
In Danish teacher training, the topic of rhetoric has in the last 10–20 years to a large extent involved interpretative
recitation and what is popularly known as ''free oral rendering''. This comprises, among other things, dialogical
pedagogy, which has become a very popular element in teacher training in recent years, and on which a lot of
time is spent in both Norwegian and other subjects. But, in spite of the fact that dialogic pedagogy plays a key
role in teacher education, no guidance is offered in the use of the voice in oral renderings.

Although little emphasis has traditionally been placed on oral skills in Norwegian schools, it is apparent that
oral skills as a whole have been given a more central position in recent reforms, especially in the National
Curriculum L97. According to the report from The Committee for Quality in Primary and Secondary Education in
Norway (NOU, 2003, p. 16), the ability to express oneself orally is one of the most vital basic skills that pupils
are to learn. The ability to express oneself orally is not today defined as a separate subject. Today it is mainly in
the teaching of Norwegian that systematic efforts are made to teach oral skills. In White paper no. 30 (2003–
2004) from the Norwegian national assembly Storting, Culture for Learning (Ministry of Education, 2004, p. 32),
the point is made that oral skills are to be expanded to become a key element in all subjects. In the new
curriculum, Knowledge Promotion, partly implemented in 2006–2007, oral skills are one of five basic skills that
have now been incorporated into every subject on each subject's own terms, namely reading, writing, arithmetic,
oral skills and digital expertise. Both as a skill and as a field of knowledge, oral skills have been placed on an
equal footing with written skills.

In the speech therapy tradition, voice production is placed in a special educational context. In this tradition,
the voice can be studied on at least three levels: perceptually, acoustically and physiologically. At the perceptual
level the voice consists of three basic components: (1) pitch, (2) loudness and (3) timbre. For a more detailed
description, see, for example, Bele 2002. All these components are vital to the development of a good and
functional voice, which is usually described as a voice with: pleasant voice quality, adequate pitch and loudness
levels, and flexibility ; ie the voice can be varied in pitch and loudness and adapted to various situations.

The voice is of great significance seen from several perspectives. The teacher's voice is important from an
imparting-knowledge perspective related to the learner's ability to learn. Furthermore, it ought to be elementary
knowledge for the pupils to learn how to use their voices properly in relation to the basic skill of ''being able to
express oneself orally''.
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44 I. Velsvik Bele

In the present article, documentation will be presented regarding teachers and voice
problems. In conclusion, an outline of the organization and extent of voice training courses
will be given, based on reports on studies of vocal training courses.
The purpose is to focus on prevention of voice disorders in teachers by introducing voice
training to student teachers.

Voice and Identity

The voice is of great importance in human communication, and much of our personality is
reflected in our voice in the context of speech. Etymologically, the word ''personality''
emanates from the Latin persona (originally the mouthpiece of the face mask used by
actors in ancient drama). Over the centuries the word lost its symbolic connection with
the voice (Moses, 1954). However, we often form images of a person's personality, even
their outward appearance, solely from impressions of the voice. With regard to identity
and personality, certain aspects of voice seem to signal special personality traits also
today, hence, perhaps suggesting that they may be regarded as universal (Ohala, 1984).
Thus, authority is often associated with a loud and low voice, although not necessarily.
Confidence may, for example, be judged on the basis of speech rate, overall loudness
and the absence of many pauses.
Primary emotions such as fear, anger, joy and sadness are all expressed vocally
(Laukkanen, Vilkman, Alku & Oksanen, 1997). Hence, the voice is of great importance in
human social relations.
The voice is a vital tool in imparting knowledge and teaching, and appropriate voice
use is important in maintaining pupils' attention and interest. Voice development and
appropriate voice use is part of a teacher's competence-building and is of great value for
a positive self-understanding and sense of profession, to which great importance is
attached in the White Paper no. 30 (Ministry of Education, 2004).
The neglect of ''the spoken word'' in Norwegian school tradition in relation to the strong
written foundation is described by the Norwegian paedagogue Edvard Befring as a
paedagogic paradox (Befring, 2004). The fact that many people find it difficult to speak,
for example, in front of a group of people, reflects failure in functional learning, which
reduces many people to passive spectators, and which may in turn be regarded as a
problem for democracy. Befring points out that speaking involves the most important
aspect of intra-human communication and that organized speech training can help to
strengthen one's self-confidence and provide a greater degree of personal operationality
(Befring, 2004). A Danish study has demonstrated a clear link between verbal passivity
and self-esteem. The ''silent'' pupils have a low social status in school (Lauridsen, 1983).
It is therefore an important goal that all pupils can make their mark as active language
users in a school context, to prevent the crystallization of positions of power and
dominance related to language (Hoel, 1999).

The ''liberation'' of the voice does something to a person. Basic vocal training starts by
relaxing the breathing process and muscles, among other things by learning
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The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education 45

to stand firmly on both feet to establish a good balance in one's body. In this way the balance
point is moved and, in turn, tension is removed from the upper part of the body, ie away from
the speech organs. To establish a safe place to stand can also often be experienced in
metaphoric sense: to increase one's self-confidence. Clinical experience shows that changes
will gradually take place in both the voice function and a subjective experience of greater self-
confidence in speaking contexts. Through individually adapted vocal training, the person will,
as a rule, achieve a lower pitch, greater voice strength and a better timbre. Relieving the body
tension can naturally be experienced as ''liberating'' for the person involved and can often
have consequences for their self-esteem and self-assertion (Linklater, 1976). For many it
becomes easier to express their opinions in a strong, clear voice, which implicitly
communicates greater confidence, authority and self-assurance. Vocal training is therefore
vitally significant in a teacher's work with pupils' ability to express themselves orally.

The Voice as an Important but Vulnerable Factor in Teaching Effectiveness

Teachers are professional voice users as they are dependent on a well functioning voice at
work. Teachers' voices are exposed to a great workload, related to a large amount of
speaking, speaking with loud voice and the emotional aspect in speaking and singing.
This is also the case for pre-school teachers (Szabo, 2004). In addition, a teacher's voice use
is often intentional, eg as a disciplinary instrument. To ensure effective communication in the
classroom, teachers must be able to communicate with the pupils without being exposed to
voice damage. The average working classroom is often characterized by noise and too great
a distance between the teacher and the pupils.
This exposes teachers' voices to the risk of damage and impedes the pupils' ability to clearly
hear the teachers' instructions (Jo´nsdo´ttir, 2003).
Furthermore, studies of listener perception of speakers report a pronounced difference in
the listeners' reaction to normal and voice-disordered speakers, as the voice-disordered were
perceived less favorably on perceptual measures (Blood, Mahan & Hyman, 1979; Lallh &
Rochet, 2000; Lass, Ruscello, Stout & Hoffman, 1991; Hendy (1995) argues that pupil
motivation and self-esteem may be influenced by a teacher's vocal quality. Up until now,
surprisingly little attention has been paid to the importance of the teachers' voice quality and
voice capacity in communication research on the perspective of teaching effective-ness in
class. This brings us to the fact that a teacher's voice is of great importance in the imparting
of perspective knowledge related to the learner's ability to learn.

Voice Problems among Teachers

Occupationally Related Strain

Teachers are one of the largest groups of professional voice users: in the USA they are
reported to be the second largest group after salespersons (Titze, Lemke &
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46 I. Velsvik Bele

Montequin, 1997), in Finland the third largest group after foremen and salespersons
(Laukkanen, 1995) and in Sweden the third largest group after salespersons and
healthcare professions (Fritzell, 1996). Of all occupations, those engaged in teaching are
considered to be the most at risk of incurring voice problems (Verdolini & Ramig, 2001;
Vilkman, 2001). A Finnish study reports that vocal symptoms among teachers have
increased during the 12-year period from 1988 to 2001 (Simberg, 2004).

According to several surveys, 20–80% of teachers have reported that they suffer from
various vocal symptoms, the most common of those being dryness in the throat and vocal
fatigue (Ceuppens, 1995; Gotaas & Starr, 1993; Pekkarinen et al., 1992; Russell et al.,
1998; Sapir, Keidar, & Mathers-Schmidt, 1993; Other studies have reported the most
common symptoms to be voice tiredness, hoarseness without a cold, pain around the
larynx, difficulty in being heard and voice breaks (Simberg, 2004). Swedish research
results suggest that teachers are the largest group of professionals seeking medical help
for vocal symptoms (Fritzell, 1996), which corresponds to findings in other studies
(Herrington-Hall, Lee, Stemple, Niemi & McHone, 1988; Unger & Bastian , 1981). An
American survey among teachers reported that 50% of the teachers had multiple
symptoms of voice problems and expressed that these symptoms influenced their ability
to teach effectively, and a third reported that they had to be away from work as a result of
voice disorders (Sapir et al., 1993). Roughly speaking, we can conclude from several
studies published during the 1990s that about 20% of teachers experience voice disorders
(Simberg, 2004).

As to the social-economic consequences of voice disorders, perhaps the most important

problem concerns their status as an occupational disease. In some countries, an
occupational voice disorder may be recognized as an industrial injury, although this is far
from the rule. The traditional attitude is that voice disorders are self-induced, ie caused
by voice abuse by the individual, and not a problem related to occupation, can be
considered to be at odds with the European Occupational Safety and Health (OS&H)
legislation (Vilkman, 2001). This legislation stresses the importance of analyzing the
interaction between the individual and the working tasks and ''adapting the work to the
individual'' and not vice versa. Such professions as teaching at schools and kindergartens,
should be understood to involve occupational safety and health risks which could lead to
occupational ill health or injury to the vocal apparatus.

Vocal Fatigue

Voice problems are often divided into two etiologic (causative) categories: functional and
organic, where the latter is related to both abuse of the voice muscles and emotional
stress (Wilson, 1979). There is often a gradual transition between the two categories;
Pathological changes in the larynx may lead to dysfunctional muscle use and vice versa.
Vocal fatigue (also called musculosketal tension disorder in the USA)
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The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education 47

is the most frequently reported voice disorder (Fritzell, 1996). It refers to a chronic
subjective sensation of fatigue and can be defined as ''a problem that begins to occur as
the speaking day progresses, is most evident at the end of the day and usually disappears
by the following morning'' (Gotaas & Starr , 1993, p.120) This voice problem is
characterized by changes in voice quality, pitch or loudness or by combinations of some
of these factors, associated with prolonged voice use, loud voice use and/or inappropriate
pitch (Brown & Holbrook, 1985 ; Sataloff, 1991; Scherer, Titze, Raphael, Wood, Ramig &
Blager, 1986, Vintturi, 2001).
Overtaxing the voice can also cause symptoms such as hoarseness, irritation or pain in
the throat, a lump-in-the-throat feeling and minor damage to the mucous membranes
(Koufman & Blalock, 1988). A small amount of daily abuse (insufficient vocal technique)
and misuse (overloading due to excessive use of the voice) is enough to maintain a voice
problem (Boone, 1983).

Risk Factors

A number of factors are decisive in the degree of voice overload involved in speech.
Well-documented research exists on work-related risk factors for voice function
(Vilkman, 1996; Vintturi, 2001). Of environmental factors, noise is a common risk factor
for professional voice users. As a rule a person will increase the loudness of their voice
by 3 dB for every 10 dB increase in noise in the surroundings when 40 dB (A) is the point
of departure. In the classroom the 40 dB limit is usually exceeded, since the loudness of
teachers' voices in the classroom has been estimated to vary between 58 and 79 dB (A)
(Pekkarinen & Viljanen, 1991). Dry air in schools is often a problem, since satisfactory
humidity is necessary for the function of the vocal folds (Verdolini, Titze & Druker, 1990).

There is general agreement among voice researchers that stress influences the voice.
Physiological effects of the stress response may directly interfere with the delicate
mechanism of the vocal tract and body, impeding the quality of the performance. Persons
in vocal professions who are also exposed to a great amount of stress and emotional
strain may be particularly exposed to vocal fatigue (Aronson, 1990; Gotaas & Starr, 1993;
Martin & Darnley, 1996). In addition, individual factors such as, for example, individual
variations in vocal endurance, bad voice habits, general state of health, etc., may influence
the vocal function.

Vocal Training and Prevention of Voice Problems

Voice rehabilitation generally is defined as restoring the normal vocal function after a
state of dysfunction. Enabling voice, however, is more than ''repairing'' a voice or bringing
it back to normal. It is to enable the voice to meet the (higher than normal) demands of a
vocal profession. For a large part of the population, a ''normal'' voice is not enough to
meet occupational needs. The term ''vocology'' refers to the science and practice of voice
habilitation (Titze, 1996).
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48 I. Velsvik Bele

Roughly speaking, there are two different approaches to the treatment of voice problems:
(1) direct approaches, which involve training methods in which one works directly with
strengthening and making the voice more elastic, eg the chewing method (Fro¨schels, 1952)
or the accent method (Smith & Thyme, 1978) and (2) indirect treatment, which does not refer
to direct work with a person's voice, but to teaching of vocal hygiene in order to avoid
muscular tension of the throat musculature (Fro¨schels , 1943). Important aspects of direct
voice training can be to instruct people in how to learn to use an adequate pitch level, to
speak with less intensity and to avoid tension in the voice musculature during speech (Jiang
& Titze, 1994). This will reduce the impact stress on the vocal folds' central area that can
result in vocal fold nodes and thereby voice difficulties (Holmberg, Hillman, Hammarberg,
So¨dersten & Doyle, 2001). In most cases, a voice therapy program uses a combination of
indirect and direct treatment techniques. Voice training can be divided into four basic
approaches: (1) vocal hygiene, (2) relaxation, (3) respiration and (4) direct facilitation. It is
also important to devote time to ''carryover'' of newly learned vocal behavior to ''real life''
situations outside the training setting (Holmberg et al., 2001).

It has been suggested that roughly 90% of all voice problems are the result of misuse of
the voice, which means they are preventable (Marge, 1991). The misuse of the teacher's
voice is often related to unfavorable acoustic conditions, ie environmental risk factors that
can be eliminated by various precautionary measures.
It has also been documented that vocal training has a preventive effect on the voice.
However, a number of studies of voice training lack, for example, control groups and control
of long-term effects, and may be difficult to compare (Carding, Horsley & Docherty, 1999).
There is a need for more research into the real effect of various voice-training methods, in
particular those that are used to improve the normal voice. An American study of a group of
teachers who had received vocal training during their basic education had significantly fewer
voice problems after two years than the control group of teachers without voice training
(Sapir et al., 1993). Persons who had been given voice training also showed a faster recovery
rate from undesirable symptoms than those without, see, for example, So¨dersten &
Hammarberg (1993) and Brewer & Briess (1960). Furthermore, voice problems seem to
decrease with treatment (So¨dersten & Hammarberg, 1993). Chan (1994) investigated the
effect of a voice-care program (ie indirect voice treatment) drawn up for pre-school teachers
and the results seemed to indicate that they improved their voices significantly by practicing
strategies designed to reduce voice use in the kindergarten. A British study of the
effectiveness of voice therapy in the treatment of 45 patients with non-organic dysphonia (ie
voice problems without any organically proven findings), 15 patients received no treatment
(control group), 15 received a program of indirect therapy and 15 received direct therapy
(Carding et al., 1999). The results demonstrated that a combination of direct and indirect
therapy contact was more effective than indirect contact alone, and revealed a significant
difference between the three groups in the amount of change for the voice
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The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education 49

severity and on ratings provided by a patient questionnaire (p,.05). The study did not examine
the effects of therapy time in isolation, ie the effect of the voice therapist-patient contact time.
However, it is pointed out that the effect of a caring and attentive voice therapist may be as
important to the treatment outcome as the therapy program itself. The therapy programs in
this study also varied in how long a patient might stay at a particular stage of the therapy
program, based on the patient's vocal performance and how he or she was responding to
that particular therapy technique. The study covered 12 weeks and the two groups that were
given treatment received this once a week in this period. However, it is concluded that further
research is required into the nature of these covert processes and how they vary with
individuals and different types of patients.

Laukkanen (Bele, 2005; Laukkanen, 1995) has, in the course of a number of studies,
documented that the method of ''resonance tube phonation'' is particularly effective for
several aspects of the voice and provides greater stamina, timbre and loudness . This is a
method that has long traditions among Finnish voice therapists.
One produces sounds in a 26–28 cm long tube, with a 9 mm inner diameter (for children: 24–
25 cm and 8 mm, respectively) (Sovija¨rvi, 1965, 1969). The end of the tube can be
submerged in water or in the air and is often used both ways with the same patient. In cases
of vocal fatigue the term ''water resistance therapy'' has been used.

Biofeedback

The use of objective measurements, biofeedback, of the voice function both before and after
the training program can give us the opportunity to control the effect of the training, in addition
to the subjective assessment by the student himself. It is now more common to use
biofeedback in voice therapy. Various indicators are used to monitor eg the sound level
(overall equivalent sound level, Leq) or the basic or fundamental tone (F0). Other types of
biofeedback than merely acoustic have also been used, eg EMG1 of different voice-
production related muscles and visual feedback of vocal fold vibration from stroboscobic
filming.
Spectral analysis, which visually shows the distribution of energy at various frequencies in, for example,
uninterrupted speech, is often common in biofeedback (eg for people who are deaf or have impaired hearing)
but has also proven to be effective in working with all types of voices. A Finnish study (Laukkanen, Syrja¨,
Laitala & Leino, 2004) measured the effect of two months' voice training on student actors with and without
biofeedback. The effect of the training proved to be greater in the group that used biofeedback during therapy,
probably due to a clear motivational effect.

Voice Training in Teacher Education

On the basis of the research that exists on voice fatigue among teachers/pre-school teachers,
there is every reason to propose the re-introduction of voice training as a
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50 I. Velsvik Bele

subject in teacher education. The aim of vocal training must be to develop and strengthen the
student teacher's voice function in order to meet the demands that will be made on the voice in
a teaching situation. This involves: (1) strengthening and developing a normal voice function in
a student teacher to better tolerate the demands of the profession, but also (2) helping students
who experience problems with their voices to achieve a best possible voice function.
Furthermore, a well-developed awareness on the part of a teacher of his/her own voice use
will be crucial in the attempt at supporting the pupils' use of their voices, to encouraging active
participation of all pupils in oral activities in the classroom.

Organization and Extent of Voice Training

Voice training can be organized using various approaches, and certain methods may be more
appropriate than others in achieving the desired aim for the students. There is no clear answer
to the question of the optimal extent of vocal training to produce the desired effect. Few studies
exist that discuss this aspect, and some of them lack both control groups and control
measurements of the long-term effect of training, for an overview see Simberg (2004). One
must also distinguish between improving a normal voice function and treating a voice that is
suffering from considerable problems, even though it is very individual how long voice training
takes. In a Swedish study of the effect of treatment of vocal nodules, the length of treatment
varied between four and six months (Holmberg et al., 2001). Traditionally it has been accepted
that the training of a singer or actor (elite voice users) will take years.

On the other hand, Finns, Leino & Ka¨rkka¨inen (1995) trained student actors once a week for
a period of eight months and, for most of the students, achieved clear results in the so-called
speaker's formant region (at about 3.5 kHz, measured with long-time-average spectrum), which
is associated with a resonant voice, ie one that carries better, is stronger (vocal loudness) and
of better vocal quality (Leino & Ka¨rkka¨inen, 1995) . The results of the training were lasting and
were also recorded during a control a year later. In Finland, Laukkanen et al. (2004) have
achieved good results with student actors in the course of two months with two training sessions
per week. This was a comparative study of two methods: (1) traditional voice training/therapy
based on auditory feedback and by doing voice exercises with a voice therapist and (2) training
with the use of spectral biofeedback, ie ''real-time'' spectrum (the student sees how the voice
signal responds to changes in voice use on the computer screen). The results showed that
visual feedback would appear to make the exercises more effective. No control has been made
of the long-term effects of the

survey.
Results from a Dutch study in which student actors and radio reporters were given 30 hours'
voice hygiene and 60 hours' voice training over a two-year period, showed that the participants
improved their voice quality compared with students in a control group who were not offered
this training (Timmermans, de Bodt, Wuyts & Van de Heyning, 2004). In Finland, short voice
training courses (1–2 days) are also
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The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education 51

offered to customer advisors on telephone services, with good feedback being received from
course participants, but there was no evaluation of the long-term effect of the course (Lehto,
Rantala, Vilkman, Alku & Backstro¨m, 2003). Forty hours of voice training for prospective speech
therapists who had incomplete vocal fold closure has been reported to have a significant positive
effect on voice quality (So¨dersten & Hammarberg, 1993). Sabol, Lee and Stemple (1995)
evaluated the effectiveness of systematic vocal function exercises performed twice a day for 15–
20 minutes during four weeks for graduate-level voice students. The results showed that the
exercises had had a positive effect of the phonation system of healthy young singers, as there
were significant improvements in the aerodynamic measures of the students in the vocal function
exercise group compared to the students in the control

group.
On the basis of the studies presented above, it is difficult to draw clear conclusions as to what
would be the optimal concept for voice training for student teachers.
Therefore, it is difficult to say what would be sufficient for a student teacher in order to make his/
her voice functional. In the first instance a pilot project on a minor scale ought to be initiated,
followed by an evaluation providing valuable experience with a view to further developing a
syllabus for voice training as a subject. Special attention has to be paid to of the interaction
between the student's motivation, the time set aside for voice training, the perceived usefulness
and the registered effect.
In the organization of the teaching, one can imagine a two-pronged approach, so that the
dialogic paedagogy aspect is incorporated in the teaching of Norwegian and the voice function
aspect is a separate topic or subject. But the most rational approach would be to work with voice
function as part of training of the mother tongue, in Norwegian oral work, but where the
fundamental voice training were given by a speech therapist with special expertise in vocal
training. Furthermore, it would be natural to link vocal training to the drama subject, where oral
presentation is a natural part.

The vocal training starts by establishing a good and appropriate voice function with the help
of exercises designed to relieve tension and with basic practical breathing and voice exercises.
An established good voice function will, in turn, form the basis for oral presentations in, for
example, Norwegian classes and other subjects. The professional background of those who are
to teach these two parts of the voice-use subject can be different, but the practical training part
should be the responsibility of a speech therapist who works professionally in the field of voice
training. With regard to the size of groups in voice training, practical experience seems to
indicate that the group should not exceed 10 students, to allow for adequate individual support
during the course. The ideal group size in voice training has, as far as I know, not been the
subject of any research. The group size must be limited to allow the students to feel secure and
confident in the group; The aim is to relieve physical tension and lay the foundation for relaxation
in breathing and speech.

Furthermore, the speech therapist must have enough time and space to be able to work
individually with each student.
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52 I. Velsvik Bele

Intensive Basic Training

A teaching program for student teachers ought to begin with a more intensive phase of basic voice training
during the first year of studies. The program could consist of both direct and indirect teaching, but clinical practice
indicates that it is very effective to lay a proper foundation at the start of the training, to guarantee the experience
of how the exercises are to be done in order to have a function and, thereby, provide a solid basis for further
work with the voice. It is usually when the student teacher has teaching practice or starts work that the problems
arise. It is therefore essential that each student is followed-up in connection with practice periods, to support the
transfer of a better voice function to their teaching.

Intensive basic training of the voice function should be an integral part of first-year studies and be offered to
all students. The intensive training program ought to be about two–three periods a week, totaling about 24 hours
in all. This would match the extent of the training programs in some of the above-mentioned studies that have
been effective (Leino & Ka¨rkka¨inen, 1995; Sabol et al., 1995; Simberg, 2004), although directly comparisons
are not possible . This is a length that clinical experience also indicates is necessary in order to establish a
sufficient understanding of the basic exercises, so that the students can feel confident enough to practice them
on their own. One often adopts a program made up of a number of voice-training methods for a group as a
whole, and then adapts exercises to suit each individual student's needs. This basic training should be given
before the students start their practical fieldwork in school or kindergarten.

Follow-up

After the basic training in the first academic year, the follow-up of the voice teaching should be given to all the
students, perhaps once or twice a month over a period of three–six months, an extent corresponding to that
reported by Timmermanns et to the.
(2004). Students who have voice problems should be given treatment, ie voice therapy. The follow-up should be
linked directly to the teaching practice period, so that the student could feel the usefulness of receiving guidance
in the appropriate use of the voice in teaching. This may involve the use of the voice in the practical
implementation of teaching programs, but also advice on general voice-use in their interaction with the pupils.

To some degree the follow-up can be net-based guidance (via communication systems such as, for example,
Classfronter), depending on the extent of the problem and the individual student's needs. After a period with
basic exercises there is a possibility of using net-based support for voice training in the future, since there is a
rapid development when it comes to the technical quality of sound and the transfer of digital images. Ideally this
is a form that, combined with direct training, has the potential when it comes to availability, effectiveness and
reduced costs.
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The Teacher's Voice: Vocal training in teacher education 53

Speech Therapists or Speech Teachers?

In Norway, the speech therapists is the professional group that is trained to teach vocal skills,
trained to deal with pathologies in voice. In Finland, however, during the last 30 years they
have been developing a special degree program for speech teachers that is rather different
from the degree program for speech therapists.
There is a clear distinction between these two professional groups. Speech therapists deal
with patients suffering from different kinds of language, speech, voice or swallowing-related
disorders. Speech trainers deal with healthy speakers and voice professionals with different
kinds of higher-than-ordinary demands of voice (like actors, elocutionists, TV and radio editors,
priests, teachers, etc.). Speech teachers have a university degree either with the specialization
in ''speech communication'' or in ''speech technique and vocology'' or both (the former
specialization is available in the universities of Tampere, Jyva¨skyla¨ and Helsinki, the latter
only in the University of Tampere). In Tampere the following training is offered in voice: (1) all
students of the university (from all faculties) get an obligatory lecture of 12 hours concerning
various aspects of speech communication, included two hours of voice hygiene education and
(2) students of speech communication get a basic course (12 hours) in speech technique, with
a special emphasis is given to the importance of perceptual analysis, but also including basics
of voice physiology, acoustics, perception, most common voice problems, basic voice hygiene
and basic introduction to vocal exercises. This course can be taken by all students of the
university as a voluntary course. Furthermore, students specializing in speech technique and
vocology get a 24-hour class concentrating on improving their skills, including an individual
follow-up, a course in elocution (or radio and TV speech) and courses of different voice-training
methods for one year , and become speech instructors (personal communication with professor
Laukkanen, Tampere University, July 2006). This is a very relevant type of education for
persons who are dealing with normal voices in oral and vocal demanding professions, such
as teachers.

Concluding Remarks

It is rather common to attribute vocal symptoms such as hoarseness to teachers' misuse of

their voices. However, this can be misleading as it gives the impression that teachers have
some choice in the matter. It would be more accurate to say that teachers are forced into
strenuous prolonged voice use because of unfavorable environmental, physiological and
psychological factors, each of which can be harmful to the voice. From this angle we are talking
about occupational hazards, factors inherent in the working environment and the nature of the
profession (Vilkman, 2001). The vocal conditions of teachers are serious and detract from the
individual's ability to work in a normal way. In consequence, the Voice Commission of the
Union of European Phoniatricians (UEP) and Pan-European Voice Conferences (PEVOC)
recently set up a program concentrating on voice as an OS&H issue. The results strongly
indicated that the safety and health issue of voice
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54 I. Velsvik Bele

and speech professionals is poor in Europe (Vilkman, 2000). It is clear that the voice has not yet received
recognition as an occupational tool to which employers must give care and attention. In Poland, however,
occupational voice disorders are accepted and, in fact, ''occupational voice disorders in Poland account for
over 25% of all occupational diseases'' (Sliwinska-Kowalska et al., 2006).

In England, ''Voice care and development for teachers'' was established in 1989, a project that invites
teachers all over the country to work with voice development under the instruction of speech therapists (Martin,
1994). In Scotland, concern regarding voice problems among newly qualified teachers was expressed and
measures to ensure voice care were to be introduced throughout the school system, through an inter-disciplinary
approach (GTC Report no. 45, 2002). It is high time for other countries to place teachers' voice problems firmly
on the agenda with a view to prevention rather than cure.

This article has presented the extent of voice problems among teachers and proposed an outline for the
organization and extent of voice-use teaching in teacher education. This contribution is meant as an initiative to
place voice use and vocal training back on the agenda, as a preventive measure. To prevent voice problems
among teachers it is necessary to emphasize the role of oral presentation and give voice use a renewed focus
in teacher education as the important tool it is in the classroom.

note

1. EMG stands for electromyography—a method that measures the activity of the muscle by
registering the electric potential generated by muscle cells when contracting.

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