THE CONCEPT OF TEACHER WORKLOAD IN THE RUSSIAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: A REVIEW AND CONCEPTUALISATION

Abstract

This article addresses the terminological ambiguity surrounding the concept of teacher workload in Russia’s general education system. It demonstrates that media, research, and regulatory-legal discourses construct this phenomenon differently, a divergence that hinders the development of research instruments and effective policy solutions. An analysis of the Newspaper Corpus (Education subcorpus) of the Russian National Corpus reveals a consistent verbal scale of qualitative workload characteristics – from ‘high’ through ‘excessive’ to ‘overload’. A review of Russian academic publications from 2015–2026 allows for the operationalisation of workload on three distinct levels: teaching load, pedagogical workload, and total working hours. Regulatory analysis exposes an institutional gap wherein time standards are established only for the teaching load. To bridge this terminological divide, the paper proposes a two-dimensional matrix model that integrates three workload levels and four qualitative characteristics (normative, high, excessive, and overload). The model offers a common analytical language across the three discourses, identifies areas of legal uncertainty requiring regulation, and provides an operational conceptual framework for empirical research and targeted policy interventions.