Teachers’ mental health struggles
SCHOOLS: Children’s education is suffering because of poor mental health experienced by many teachers, according to new research by a Yorkshire university. In a survey, 77 per cent said it is having a detrimental impact on pupils.
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION is suffering because of poor mental health experienced by many teachers, according to new research by a Yorkshire university.
In a survey of 775 teachers, 77 per cent said poor teacher mental health is having a detrimental impact on pupils’ progress.
The survey, carried out by Leeds Beckett University and teaching advice website Teachwire.net, examined the relationship between teachers’ mental health and their ability to teach and maintain positive relationships with pupils.
An overwhelming number of respondents, 94 per cent, said that their energy levels in the classroom drop during periods of poor mental health, and 90 per cent said that their teaching is less creative during these times. Many of the mental health issues were caused by excessive workload and constant work scrutiny.
Professor Jonathan Glazzard, of Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education, said: “Teaching is a fantastic profession that transforms the lives of young people and of course we want people to become teachers.
“At the same time, we need to make them aware of the issues they will encounter. The results of this survey are quite clear, and it’s time the Government and school leaders took action over reducing workload.”
Last year, Leeds Beckett opened the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools – the first of its kind in the country. It provides quality mental health training to all student teachers and has established a quality mark for schools.
Professor Glazzard said: “We are at the cutting edge in this area. On all our teacher training courses, we address issues about teacher workload and how school staff can manage their workload. It is an amazing and incredibly rewarding profession, but we are realistic about the pressures involved.”
The survey also revealed that a significant number of teachers, 81 per cent, said poor mental health has a negative impact on the quality of their relationships with learners.
The same percentage said it affected their behaviour management skills, with teachers citing “lower levels of tolerance”, “focusing on the negative”, and being “quick to anger”.
Of the 775 teachers surveyed, 54 per cent reported poor mental health, with 52 per cent of this number saying their illness had been identified by a GP.
Professor Glazzard added: “The Government is really focussed on children’s mental health, but we also need to look at the mental health of teachers.
“It is clear from this research that teachers feel that their own mental health can have a detrimental impact on the quality of their teaching, the progress of their learners and the quality of the relationships they establish with students and colleagues. Teachers feel that they are less effective in the classroom if their mental health is not good. Our ongoing research demonstrates that teacher workload contributes to poor teacher mental health.
“We also know from our ongoing research that there is also a network of power and surveillance that operates within schools as well as a general lack of trust in teachers. This is about how teachers treat each other. Schools need to promote a culture of inclusion so that all staff and children experience a sense of belonging.”
Joe Carter, group editor at Teachwire.net, said the website was speaking to an increasing number of schools that are putting practices in place to help safeguard the mental health of staff and pupils.
It’s time the Government and school leaders took action. Professor Jonathan Glazzard, of Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education.