Vocal Hygiene Training in the Elementary School Teacher Population

This study investigated the effectiveness of vocal hygiene training in improving knowledge and self-rated characteristics of the voice. The subjects were 10 kindergarten through third grade school teachers who received 4 half-hour sessions of vocal hygiene training in the experimental group. Eleven kindergarten through third grade school teachers served as control subjects and received no training. The teachers were placed in subgroups dependent upon their reports of experiencing voice difficulties or not experiencing voice difficulties. This study also researched the effectiveness of vocal hygiene for teachers with self-reported vocal difficulties versus those without difficulties. Lastly, the perception of importance of vocal hygiene training between those participants with reported voice difficulties and those without within the experimental group and within the control group was also investigated. Three instruments developed by the researcher were utilized: the Knowledge Questionnaire, the Vocal Assessment Scale, and the Vocal Hygiene Opinion Questionnaire. The results of this study showed that the teachers in the experimental group increased their knowledge of vocal hygiene significantly higher than the control group participants did. However, vocal hygiene training did not cause significant changes in self-rated voice characteristics of the subjects. In addition, this study revealed that the experimental group participants perceived vocal hygiene training as significantly more important than the control group participants did. Furthermore, this study showed that the experimental with vocal difficulties group perceived vocal hygiene as significantly more important than the experimental without vocal difficulties group did. The implications of motivation in a therapy program and the importance of vocal hygiene training for teachers are discussed