Stressed-out teachers threaten to quit the classroom
●Fears of mass exodus as four in ten say they plan to leave within 18 months
Four in ten Scottish teachers say they plan to quit their jobs over the next 18 months because of stress and poor working conditions, according to a major independent study.
Researchers described the working conditions of Scotland’s teachers as “extremely poor”, with concerns raised over the demands placed on educational staff, poor support from management, bad behaviour from pupils and parents, and “constant changes” to the curriculum.
The online survey by Bath Spa University of almost 5,000 teachers found that 40 per cent are planning to leave their post within the next year and a half.
The report said the average teacher worked at least 11 hours more than they are contracted to each week.
It said: “Both primary and secondary teachers are exposed to high levels of poor student behaviour, and approximately 40 per cent of primary teachers are exposed to negative parental behaviour either online or on school premises at least once a month.
“Overall however, we found that the one working condition which consistently led to greater stress, reduced job satisfaction, and intentions to leave the job, was that of demands.
“This was exemplified by teachers in Scotland having too many administrative expectations and not enough preparation time, as well as a lack of managerial support mechanisms for dealing with poor student and parental behaviour.
“Additionally, constant changes to the curriculum increased the demands associated with planning and teaching, and large class sizes in addition to a lack of class and student support all proved particularly stressful.”
The report recommended that immediate focus should be put on reducing demands on teachers to reduce stress in the short term.
Over the medium to long term, it said emphasis needed to be placed on the training and recruitment of more classroom support staff, as well as ensuring the curriculum is stable without introducing numerous initiatives throughout each school year.
It concluded: “There is a clear need to improve the working conditions which Scottish teachers are exposed to. Without doing so, increased stress and reduced job satisfaction are likely to lead to a number of negative out-
comes, such as poorer teacher ‘performance’ and a large proportion of teachers in Scotland wanting to leave the job.”
The survey was distributed to members of the EIS teaching union but the authors said it was independent of any organisation.
Dr Jermaine Ravalier, who co-authored the report and is co-lead of the psychological research group at Bath Spa University, warned of a “huge exodus”.
He said: “If only half of those who said they’d leave actually do so in the next 18 months, our public services are about to be hit with a huge exodus of staff.”
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS teaching union, said urgent action was needed to retain and attract teachers. “The results of this independent research confirm Scotland’s teachers continue to be overburdened with excessive workload demands and are subject to high levels of stress. This will obviously have a detrimental impact on morale within the profession and on teachers’ health and wellbeing.”
Labour’s education spokesman Iain Gray said making education the Scottish Government’s top priority was an “empty slogan”.
“Thanks to the SNP, our children’s teachers are undervalued and under too much pressure,” he said. “Teachers are seeing their pay squeezed as earnings rise slower than the cost of living, while workloads continue to increase.
“On top of this, teachers have seen thousands of their support staff go, and face some of the biggest classes in the developed world. No wonder we have a recruitment crisis.
“That’s why Labour has called for an independent review of teachers’ pay, conditions and career structure to re-establish the profession as world leading, and attract new teachers to it.”
Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary, said Scotland could not afford a further fall in teacher numbers.
“Not only are we struggling to recruit enough teachers, but many of those already in schools are feeling overworked. The only way we can do that is to ensure that our schools are properly staffed with the appropriate support networks put in place.”
Green MSP Ross Greer said the report should set alarm bells ringing.
“It is time the SNP stops pretending that a decade of budget cuts, which have cost over 4,000 teachers and thousands of specialist and support staff, have done no damage.
“Remaining staff have been left with unmanageable workloads.
“Instead of dealing with this problem, the SNP is pursuing governance reforms which are near universally opposed and which do not actually solve any of the most pressing problems in our schools.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have already acted to reduce teachers’ workload – working closely with EIS, local authorities and other partners.
“As agreed with the EIS, we are phasing the removal of mandatory unit assessments for a number of qualifications. We have clearly set out what teachers should and should not be asked to do, and reviewed demands placed on schools by local authorities in relation to Curriculum for Excellence.”
Dr Ravalier presented the research compiled with Dr Joe Walsh at the British Science Festival in Brighton.