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Is The Teaching Profession so Black & White?
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Teacher's Welfare - 1
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This is not unusual. The profession tends to attract people who are unusually dedicated, diligent and conscientious, determined to do the best for the children in their charge.
Those not of that mindset quickly realise there are much easier ways of making money. Like lion taming.
The trouble is that among the thousands who leave the profession every year are many of those in the diligent, dedicated and conscientious category.
A National Education Union survey on teacher workload conducted at the end of 2017 found that a staggering 81 per cent of teachers said they had considered quitting over the preceding year because of their workloads.
Some 84 per cent said theirs was manageable only “sometimes” or “never”.
Partly it’s because Whitehall insists on more box ticking bulls*** than you’d find at the National Association of Bureaucrats’ annual convention.
But it’s not just that.
“Every day you’ll get the chance to inspire young people and use your skills to give something back - making sure every pupil gets the same access to a quality education and the opportunity to succeed,” says the government’s website.
If it was being honest it would add: after you’ve learned to become a social worker, lunchbox monitor, politician, diplomat, data processing manager, and boxing referee. Parents occasionally like to entertain their peers by engaging in the odd bout of fisticuffs in the playground, with their kids on the under card.
I’ve come across stories of teachers wondering how many stairs they would need to fall down to be able to get a few days off sick, or some who just let their health go to pot.
So while the one who considered driving her car into a tree is extreme, it is not unusual.
When stories like this emerge you’ll usually get some Department for Education civil servant talking about record teacher recruitment, and the strategies they have to improve retention and what a great job teaching is. This despite the fact that of the teachers who joined the profession in 2011, only 69 per cent were still teaching five years later.
I spoke to the NEU before writing this column and I was told that while efforts have been made to address the issue of workload, they haven’t gone nearly far enough. Members continually raise it as an issue with their union reps.
Those not of that mindset quickly realise there are much easier ways of making money. Like lion taming.
The trouble is that among the thousands who leave the profession every year are many of those in the diligent, dedicated and conscientious category.
A National Education Union survey on teacher workload conducted at the end of 2017 found that a staggering 81 per cent of teachers said they had considered quitting over the preceding year because of their workloads.
Some 84 per cent said theirs was manageable only “sometimes” or “never”.
Partly it’s because Whitehall insists on more box ticking bulls*** than you’d find at the National Association of Bureaucrats’ annual convention.
But it’s not just that.
“Every day you’ll get the chance to inspire young people and use your skills to give something back - making sure every pupil gets the same access to a quality education and the opportunity to succeed,” says the government’s website.
If it was being honest it would add: after you’ve learned to become a social worker, lunchbox monitor, politician, diplomat, data processing manager, and boxing referee. Parents occasionally like to entertain their peers by engaging in the odd bout of fisticuffs in the playground, with their kids on the under card.
I’ve come across stories of teachers wondering how many stairs they would need to fall down to be able to get a few days off sick, or some who just let their health go to pot.
So while the one who considered driving her car into a tree is extreme, it is not unusual.
When stories like this emerge you’ll usually get some Department for Education civil servant talking about record teacher recruitment, and the strategies they have to improve retention and what a great job teaching is. This despite the fact that of the teachers who joined the profession in 2011, only 69 per cent were still teaching five years later.
I spoke to the NEU before writing this column and I was told that while efforts have been made to address the issue of workload, they haven’t gone nearly far enough. Members continually raise it as an issue with their union reps.
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