SPOTLIGHT on TEACHERS

A Report on the state of Teaching in 2020

What is happening to the teaching profession? Instead of being well-respected members of society with a responsibility for our children's future, teachers are now perceived as an overworked, stressed out, underpaid and put-upon group of professionals who are reaching the end of their tether. Why should this be so? Many teachers feel that they are seriously undervalued as educators, and that performance tables and school inspections are taking priority over quality education.[1]

Others find that the proportion of working hours spent in the classroom has increased, leaving teachers less time for lesson planning, marking and general admin unless they work additional (unpaid) hours. Facing violence in the classroom and dealing with aberrant pupil behaviours not only takes extra time but puts more emotional pressure on teachers. New teachers may feel under-prepared to face these conditions, or that they lack support from principals and other staff.

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/apr/16/fifth-of-teachers-plan-to-leave-profession-within-two-years

The TALIS report

A 2018 survey by the National Education Union[1] found that 80% of UK teachers were considering leaving the profession due to pressures of work. A great deal of this is caused by excessive workload, because the government requires so much data to be collected for various "arbitrary Government targets" demanding teacher accountability at every level. The international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also commissioned a survey in 2018, known as TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey), wherein it was shown that even "under normal circumstances, teachers are overworked, stressed and looking to leave the profession".[2] 

 The TALIS report highlighted the impact on teachers' physical and mental health as well as their personal time, and related that 25% of UK teachers under 50 years old wanted to leave the profession for these reasons. A further report relates that 1 in 20 teachers are suffering mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and stress, a five-fold increase over the last 30 years. This is largely caused by overwork, and these levels of work-related issues are typically higher than those of the general working population.[3]

[1]https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/neu-survey-shows-workload-causing-80-teachers-consider-leaving-profession

[2]https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/oecd-talis-survey-2018

[3]https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/more-teachers-reporting-mental-health-problems-than-ever

DfE response

The government responded with a Department for Education investigative report on teacher retention[1] and in November 2019 issued a parliamentary briefing on 'Teacher recruitment and retention in England',[2] although implementation of these measures has been interrupted by the pandemic crisis. In between times, at the end of 2018, the Education Secretary claimed that more than half working hours were devoted to tasks other than teaching, and pledged to reduce unnecessary data collection in order to tackle the problem[3].

Government statistics published in the School Workforce Census 2018 show that the number of teachers leaving the profession is almost as many as those coming into it.[4] Figures indicate[5] that more than 20% of new teachers are leaving within the first two years, and a much more worrying 33% will leave within five years of first commencing teaching. Many of these are unprepared for the pressure of today's teaching and cannot sustain the workload. A further factor to consider in terms of workload pressure is that, while teacher recruitment levels may be increasing, so are the numbers of secondary school age pupils. This "demographic bulge" is projected to encompass a 15% increase in pupils by 2025, and contributes to the expanded average class size.

[1]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/686947/Factors_affecting_teacher_retention_-_qualitative_investigation.pdf

[2]researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk>CBP7222

[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-support-for-school-leaders-to-tackle-workload

[4]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811811/Infographic_SWFC.pdf

[5]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786856/DFE_Teacher_Retention_Strategy_Report.pdf

Rats from a sinking ship?

Some teachers leave because they are undervalued and under-resourced, some because there are no classes available at the level for which they are qualified. Some continue teaching in foreign schools, where they can expect a better teaching environment and more support. A Guardian report[1] on such teachers said the list of their complaints about conditions in UK education was extensive, including "excessive workload, stress, a lack of work-life balance, funding cuts, a dread of Ofsted, an obsession with paperwork, accountability measures, poor behaviour, children bringing weapons to school, high staff turnover" and more.

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/nov/13/why-british-teachers-fleeing-overseas-international-schools

Overworked

The 2020 Annual Report on the Teacher Labour Market in England[1], produced by the National Foundation for Education Research, has indicated that attracting and retaining teachers is still a major concern. This is despite some small increases in teacher training entry figures and a minor reduction in the weekly workload. Not only is recruitment substantially down, but retention rates are continuing to drop, for a variety of different reasons. 

Full-time teachers who were surveyed over the period 2010/11-2018/19 reported a mean total number of 47.6 working hours in 2010/11, rising to a peak of 49.7 in 2013/14, and dropping back by 2018/19 to 48.2. This figure amounts to an average of eight hours a week more than teachers working in other countries in the OECD,[2] and in reality is still substantially under the 55-60 hours put in by many teachers in an average week[3].

The NFER report[4] compared teachers to full-time professionals working in similar jobs whose mean working hours maintained a relatively consistent 42.7 or 42.6 over the first four years of the survey, and then dropped regularly until the 2018/19 level was reported at 41.8. To all intents and purposes, teachers are seen to be working the equivalent of a six-day week, as compared to other five-day week professionals. Whether it's a Sunday spent in lesson planning and marking, or staying after class on week nights to monitor student activities or deal with disciplinary problems, teachers are always going that extra mile.

It comes as no surprise that over half (55.4-56.8%) of full-time teachers would prefer to put in shorter working hours, whereas the mean figure for similar professionals was significantly under half (45.4-42.3%). These preferences were shown to be rising for teachers and falling for other professionals over the period of the survey.

Who wouldn't want to work fewer hours? It's certainly the case that most people would prefer to put in the same time for the same reward, and teachers are not getting that choice. A substantial proportion of them are also dissatisfied with the amount of leisure time they have, which in general is several percentage points more than those in other professions.

[1]https://www.nfer.ac.uk/teacher-labour-market-in-england-annual-report-2020/

[2]https://www.tes.com/news/workload-bureaucracy-ruining-teachers-lives

[3]https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/oct/02/never-return-teach-england-refuge-abroad

[4]https://www.nfer.ac.uk/teacher-labour-market-in-england-annual-report-2020/

Underpaid

Teachers' salaries are no way commensurate with the amount of work they do. While the NFER[1] survey shows that in 2010/11 they were earning slightly more than similarly placed professionals, the overall total has gone down by 2018/19 to a lower amount. In addition, this is a gross annual sum calculated on a weekly average, and it has already been seen that the teacher's working week is typically eight hours longer than a comparable worker in other fields.

For what amounts to a 48-hour working week, teachers were earning only ￡36,053.20 in 2018/19 (adjusted for inflation), whereas in 2010/11 this figure was ￡41,187.11, representing a net reduction of median income over the period of ￡5,133.91. About 20% of teachers have consistently expressed dissatisfaction with their household income, though figures for the latest year have not yet been collected and "household income" is a loose term which may comprise income from other sources. 20.6% of full-time teachers would prefer to work shorter hours for less pay (effectively a part-time solution), representing an overall rise of almost 4% since 2010/11. Somewhat surprisingly, only 16.7% of full-time teachers expressed dissatisfaction with their current job, though this represents a rise of 2.8% over the surveyed period.

[1]https://www.nfer.ac.uk/teacher-labour-market-in-england-annual-report-2020/

Budget cuts

In March 2019 the NEU published the results of data analysis by the School Cuts campaign,[1] which showed that since 2015, ￡5.4bn in funding had been cut from England's school budgets, directly affecting 91% of schools. These cuts mean that staffing (both teaching and support staff) must be reduced, leading to larger class sizes and/or fewer choices for pupils in the curriculum. Additional hardship is caused by the lack of funds for basic amenities such as school meals, books and stationery, and in some instances these shortfalls are being covered by already low-paid support staff.

An update to these figures[2] in October 2019, to incorporate projections up to April 2020, showed that "16,523 schools will have cuts in April 2020 compared to 2015" and that "83% of schools will be worse off next year than they were in 2015". It also highlighted the unfairness of funding allocations which were skewed heavily in favour of schools with less deprived intakes.

[1]https://neu.org.uk/funding/school-funding-new-analysis-shows-cut-from-school-budgets 

[2]https://neu.org.uk/press-releases/school-cuts-updated-funding-figures

Pupil numbers

A DfE report of figures published in 2019 reported a continuing rise in the size of English state-funded secondary school classes.[1] 13% of pupils were in classes of more than 30, a rise of 3.4% since 2015. According to the General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Geoff Barton, this represented 118,000 more pupils over the surveyed period who were obliged to attend large classes. Barton concluded that the increase in class sizes was directly correlated to cuts in school funding, because schools had been forced to reduce staff numbers even though pupil numbers had increased. There was a 1.6% rise in the average secondary school class size, from 20.1 in 2015 to 21.7 in 2019, though primary school class sizes remained stable at 27.1. The ratio of staff to pupils is therefore also on the rise, making it more difficult for teachers to maintain discipline.

[1]https://www.tes.com/news/secondary-school-class-sizes-rise-fourth-year

Disruptive behaviour

The larger the class, the more difficult it is to maintain control, and reduced staffing means that many schools are experiencing disruptive behaviour which adds to teacher stress. A poll conducted by the teachers' union NASUWT and published in April 2019 showed that 24% of the UK's teachers are confronted by violence in the classroom at least once a week.[1] This ranges from verbal abuse to physical assault and persistent disruptive behaviour, with many forms of pupil rebellion being so common as to have become the norm. 42% of teachers (including primary school teachers) face verbal assault on a daily basis and others have been "kicked, spat on, hit and sworn at." No wonder teachers are beginning to feel afraid of violence at work, the least part of it worrying about being "stampeded" in corridors and regularly being confronted with offensive language and verbal abuse.

Of much greater concern is the rise in instances of children bringing weapons to school, which has been documented in recent years. The number of instances reported by police in 2018 rose almost 3.5%, from 831 to 1072, and this was excluding the Metropolitan Police where figures might be expected to be higher.[2] Data from 39 country-wide police forces showed a general increase (though not all forces provided complete documentation), not only in the number of call-outs but in the frightening nature of the weapons that were found, including a sword, axes, razors, machetes, a meat cleaver and a taser.[3]

Where many other workplaces are stringent in their approach to abuse, with publicly posted warnings and personnel advice offered to staff, the role of the teacher seems to have been overlooked. The DfE agree that this is unacceptable, and have put out recommended guidelines for dealing with violence, but in practice it isn't easy to confront determined abusers. The DfE approach is to exhort schools to "share information"[4] and to allocate funds for supporting "best practice" in schools, rather than actually tackling the root problem, and it's no wonder that many teachers are voting with their feet.

[1]https://www.bbc.com/news/education-47964155

[2]https://www.bbc.com/news/education-50056275

[3]https://schoolsweek.co.uk/surge-in-pupils-with-weapons-sparks-calls-for-more-support/

[4]https://schoolsweek.co.uk/london-schools-lack-ability-and-resources-to-tackle-knife-crime-ofsted/

Lack of trust

While roughly three quarters of the full-time teachers in the NFER survey consistently enjoyed a satisfactory level of professional autonomy (ie, how much control they had over tasks and when/how they were performed), this still leaves one quarter who didn't. Common complaints that have increased over the years since widespread computerisation include excessive focus on data collection, intrusive and stressful Ofsted inspections and performance-driven direction by a government that seeks to improve statistics rather than quality education. Many teachers are also expressing concern about their "infantilisation" by the government, which has replaced their feelings of self-worth and integrity with the constant reprimands and patronising attitude of Ofsted. Many teachers feel that their educational responsibility has been superseded by "box-ticking and number-crunching"[1], and that the teacher as a trusted and benevolent inspiration is a thing of the past.

[1]https://www.tes.com/news/why-teacher-wellbeing-such-dire-state

Ofsted

The Office for Standards in Education[1] was set up in 1992, as an oversight inspection service for schools, nationalising what had previously been a matter for individual local authorities. Ofsted has consistently escalated the power it wields over schools, who are obliged to meet its increasingly arduous standards in order to achieve a good standing. Inspections have become a regular (and dreaded) part of the school routine, and one which has played its part in driving teachers out of the profession.

Their draconian measures have led to great criticism of Ofsted in the past decade, which has been referred to as a "weapon of fear and terror" by Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union. The NEU, UK's largest teaching union, lobbied for the institution to be scrapped in Labour's recent election manifesto, saying that Ofsted was at the core of a "dysfunctional and toxic school accountability system". Bousted added that Ofsted created mistrust and divisions and stated that "Ofsted drives teachers and school leaders from the profession".[2]

Ofsted's attempts to impose its new framework on teachers seriously backfired when it became known as more of an elitist weapon to punish the under-privileged, with misleading inspection results more worthy of a High Inquisitor at Hogwarts than a national school inspectorate.[3] The backlash from teachers culminated in a letter to the Ofsted Chief Inspector from the Joint General Secretaries of the NEU, claiming that the new system made "impossible demands" on teachers and was perceived as "brutal".[4] The NEU have since started a campaign for independent inspectors called #PauseOfsted, advising the resignation of school-based inspectors.[5]

[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

[2]https://www.tes.com/news/neu-ofsted-weapon-fear-has-go

[3]https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/feb/04/outstanding-primary-schools-fail-ofsted-inspections-under-sudden-rule-switch

[4]https://neu.org.uk/media/7531/view

[5]https://neu.org.uk/ofsted, https://schoolsweek.co.uk/time-to-pause-ofsted-heres-how/ 

Box-ticking and number-crunching

In 2016 the Department for Education issued its Workload Challenge report, calling for schools to implement action that would reduce teachers' workload. It focused particularly on tasks associated with lesson-planning, marking and data collection. Surveys carried out for the research found 53% of teachers put down high workloads to "excessive/depth of marking", including such practices as having to make both physical and electronic records of pupils' paperwork and conversations. 56% cited the main reasons for their excessive workload as "recording, inputting, monitoring and analysing data". Even the DfE itself later reported that such excessive data collection was of "little discernible benefit" and suggested that rather than augmenting student learning it was a tool for "monitoring and compliance" that contributed largely to teachers' stress and anxiety.[1]

[1]https://www.sec-ed.co.uk/news/data-is-still-dominating-working-life-for-teachers/

Mental health

The latest Teacher Wellbeing Index,[1] published by the Education Support charity, "reveals 78% of all education professionals experiencing either behavioural, psychological or physical symptoms due to their work." This annual report monitors the mental health of those in the teaching profession, and indicates that work-related stress amongst UK education professionals is steadily increasing. Some of the factors surveyed include difficulty in sleeping, irritability and tearfulness. It also takes into consideration the stress put on teachers by having to work through evenings, weekends and holidays, taking up leisure time which they would otherwise be spending with their families.

About three quarters of educational professionals experience a "negative work/life balance" due to their inability to switch off from their professional responsibilities and relax, while a third of teachers working more than 51 hours a week are likely to find this also contributing to stress. Of all the educational professionals who were surveyed, 72% of them felt stressed. Just over a third have experienced mental health issues and more than half have thought about leaving because of the negative effects the profession was having on their health and wellbeing. A whopping 78% admitted that work was causing them to experience physical, psychological or behavioural symptoms.

Amongst the findings in the NFER[2] survey, additional figures were reported for those feeling tense, uneasy, worried, depressed, gloomy or miserable because of their job, but were only collected up until the 2016/17 period. Of these, the majority of worried, miserable, gloomy or depressed teachers was relatively low, under 10%, those feeling uneasy somewhat over 10% and those feeling tense nearer 20%. Job-related stress is clearly on the rise, with less reward for more time and effort, and many teachers would rather leave the profession than allow their physical and mental health to suffer.

[1]https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/resources/research-reports/teacher-wellbeing-index-2019

[2]https://www.nfer.ac.uk/teacher-labour-market-in-england-annual-report-2020/

Conclusion

There are lots of reasons why teachers might choose to leave the classroom, not least their lack of financial reward and diminishing job satisfaction. Other factors contributing to the stresses of the teaching profession include budget cuts, excessive and unnecessary accountability, result-oriented teaching and long working hours. Add to this the increase in behavioural difficulties in pupils and classroom violence, and it's a wonder there are any teachers left at all.