Training, age and technological change: difficulties associated with age, the design of tools, and the organization of work.

OBJECTIVE: This article presents two ergonomic studies carried out when two French administrative bodies modernized their work tools. Our objective was to identify and define the vocational learning of experienced technicians who were required to adopt new working methods to cope with these technological changes. METHODS: We observed the work activity of technicians of different ages and length of service both before and during training, and also after their return to their work unit during the appropriation phase. RESULTS: These two studies revealed some difficulties that were common to all the technicians and others that were more specific to the older employees. In terms of the design of the training course, we were able to point out some mistaken assumptions about the technicians' original command of the work activity and the computers, which made it difficult for them to adopt new work procedures. CONCLUSION: The difficulties encountered by the older employees were ultimately found to be more an indication of organizational problems to do with the management of change rather than training problems due to age.

"Obey", "disobey" or "tinker with" reforms to the system: a subject for French teacher trade unions to work on.

This paper presents our work to support and train members of the teaching sectors of two trade unions. The aim was to encourage participants to discuss practices, the difficulties in their day-to-day work and impediments to taking action, given the current reforms to primary education, and thereby assess the reforms' impact on the teachers' activity. It was also intended to help trade unions build up a collective dynamic around their work and re-positioning the work activity at the heart of their preoccupations. This project consisted of one/two day workshops held at local trade union branches. They were led by an ergonomist and a trade union representative. The discussions revealed that the prescriptions received from the management increasingly contradict the values of the profession. Therefore, in the name of professional ethics, different strategies of resistance have emerged, from minor modifications to the prescriptions received, to disobedience. However, adopting such strategies is itself a cause of suffering for teaching staff, and leads to some leaving the profession prematurely. We will discuss the difficulty trade unions have in dealing with the issue of work, their strategic positioning as regards developments within the profession, and the role an ergonomist can play in this process.

Factors influencing early retirement in a female-dominated profession: kindergarten teacher in France.

OBJECTIVE: This paper presents research on the early retirement of kindergarten teachers in France. We sought to understand the reasons for this in a context which the government is putting in place measures to lengthen people's working lives. METHODS: In order to examine the difficulties teachers experience at the end of their working lives, we conducted interviews focusing on job constraints, health problems, and the impact work has on the private sphere, with reference to the task system model put forward by Curie (2002). PARTICIPANTS: Eight females in their fifties were interviewed. RESULTS: Despite their experience acquired over the years, the more teachers age, the greater the human cost of their job. Health problems increase, work-related fatigue worsens and they need more time to recover. The teachers are also more affected by work-related constraints. From this perspective, the menopause seems to aggravate work-related fatigue. The teachers' feeling of personal effectiveness declines with age, causing them to worry about the last few years of their working lives. This forces teachers to make more and more adjustments to both their jobs and their private lives and sometimes makes them cut their working hours and in extreme cases take early retirement. CONCLUSIONS: The close links between the role of a female teacher and a mother contribute to premature exhaustion phenomena. Several areas for change are proposed.