Teachers’ and children’s experiences after an acoustic intervention and a noise-controlling workshop in two elementary classrooms

Introduction: Treating sources of noise is a novel aspect of voice ergonomics intended to enhance the preconditions for good voice production and easy listening. Objective: To improve experiences of listening and voice ergonomics in classrooms. Methods: Participants were two female elementary school teachers with voice symptoms and their pupils (n = 50). Two interventions were performed: the acoustic intervention and then the workshop intervention where the teachers and pupils were active. Teachers’ voice symptoms and pupils’ and teachers’ experiences of the interventions were elicited by questionnaire. Results: The teacher with many voice symptoms experienced more annoyance from sounds and benefitted more from the interventions. After the interventions both teachers suffered fewer voice breaks and voice symptoms such as lump and mucus in the throat. The pupils reported improvement in the teachers’ voice clarity and audibility (p = 0.001). Pupils aged 12–13 years were more annoyed by sounds than those aged 8–9 years (p = 0.003). The older pupils experienced less sound annoyance after both interventions and the younger ones after the workshop intervention. Conclusions: The importance of good acoustics and individuals’ ability to improve voice ergonomics and listening conditions was demonstrated.