WORKING ENVIRONMENT IN THE SCHOOL: PEDAGOGICAL AND ERGONOMICAL ASPECTS

Ergonomics as a science about a human or a group of humans in the process of work is gaining its im-portance in environments like schools. The reason for this is the importance of suitable working environment in ensuring any teacher as well as learners' health, welfare and comfort, which guarantee good results in teaching/ learning process, as well as to train the future employee who share responsibility for his/ her working place and environment. In this situation a teacher who has been well prepared and educated is of greatest help to learners. Apart from that the teacher's own example is of greatest importance. For the young teacher to acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical skills, Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy (RTTEMA) has introduced a special course - Ergonomics and school hygiene- in all teacher training curricula, and course “Pedagogical Ergonomics” for Master study program “School management”. The new courses are designed to introduce students of pedagogy with modern views on the designing and functioning of working environment in school, including the general issues of work safety and occupational health, with practical application of ergonomics in educational institutions in order to maintain health and working capabilities of both students and teachers as well as with the teacher's duties and responsibilities in order to ensure work safety as a part of general safety in schools. We have to bear in mind that, unlike in classical cases, educational institutions have a specific contingent: on the one hand there are employees (teachers, administration, technical personnel) and on the other hand – students. For each group there are different normative documents regulating their working life which provides for the special position of ergonomics in educational institution in the context of school hygiene and valeology (science of healthy lifestyle). Besides, the great age difference between teachers and learners, makes school community a unique group from the point of view of ergonomics frequently taking totally opposite approaches to various issues including views on work and working environment and having specific, often objectively well grounded, demands regarding this environment. Among the factors most strongly affecting learners' health we should mention unsuitable furniture and heavy school-bags, and some organisational problems. But every pupil, just as every teacher has the right to learn and work in ergonomically well organized environment. It requires that every teacher and every head of educational institution, as well as their learners would have up-to-date ergonomic literacy of the modern working environment.