Teaching was once a job for life, but in a report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) teacher drop out rates have hit their lowest rate since 2010, with job satisfaction being cited as a key reason for teachers leaving the profession.
Between 2010-11 and 2014-15, the dropout rate among secondary school teachers increased to 12%, while among primary school teachers it rose even higher, from 8.9% to 10.3%. In their latest reporting figures, the NFER revealed teachers leaving the profession has increased from 25,000 in 2010-11 to 36,000 in 2016-17.
As pupil numbers begin to rise, but teachers numbers begin to fall, there is a deep concern that the teaching profession could be facing its biggest crisis to date.
In a survey by The Guardian conducted among state school teachers, 43% said they were planning to leave the profession in the next five years.
With 79% of schools saying they are struggling to recruit or retain teachers, and 88% predicting that things are going to get worse, it’s critical that educational employers understand the key issues that are making many teachers exit the profession.
Workload
It’s estimated that the average teacher works more than 60 hours a week during term-time – this is longer than nurses or police officers.
With the most common complaint being unmanageable workloads, many teachers believe it is the constant changes to government policies, as well as the amount of data teachers must collect and record for each pupil that amount to such a demanding workload.
In some cases, teachers are expected to report on 30 different elements of data for the 30 children in their class.
Commenting on the latest data regarding teacher dropouts, Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Education Union was not surprised – “This is no surprise. Teacher workload is simply unmanageable, particularly due to the current unnecessary accountability regime in schools.”
In a case study on teacher workload by The Guardian, one teacher admitted that the stress of the workload made him lose a stone in just six weeks. Something unfortunately many teachers can perhaps empathise with.
Last year, Education Secretary Damian Hinds pledged to reduce teachers long working hours in the UK in a bid to tackle teaching shortages. His idea is to encourage schools with part-time and flexible working hours.
However, the proposal has been criticized by many who feel the result of flexible working will mean teachers will feel forced into working part-time so they can finish their work unpaid, on their days off.
Freedom
Autonomy to create engaging lessons was also derived as a key factor in job satisfaction. The research by NFER shows that teachers become dissatisfied with their work if they are not given the freedom to do their jobs against an uncreative curriculum.
While teaching guidelines suggest it should only take an hour to prepare a lesson, many teachers believe that you need at least two hours to build a lesson.
In an investigation by The Guardian, one teacher explained how all autonomy to conduct her class had slowly been chipped away. The anonymous teacher’s comments, “I clock in, deliver the lesson planned for by some educationalist, read the stories chosen for me by the book marketing company and then follow the assessment code designed for me by some senior leader with no class of their own.”
Wellbeing
Mental-ill health and stress-related illness are becoming a deciding factor for teachers who no longer feel they can cope with the workload that is demanded of them.
In 2018, the Office of National Statistics revealed that 3,750 teachers were signed off on long-term sick leave because of the pressure of work, anxiety and mental illness.
Altogether, over the last four years, 1.3 million days have been taken off by teachers for stress and mental health reasons.
Dr. Mary Bousted, joint secretary of the National Education Union has commented on the ‘epidemic of stress’ across schools saying, “Teachers work more unpaid overtime than any other profession. You’ve got half a million teachers in England and Wales. Everyone is someone’s mother or father, son or daughter, aunt or friend, and they see the stress. So you can’t talk up the profession when people see the reality”.
As it’s now been revealed that 31% of teachers have experienced a mental health problem in 2018, it is no wonder that this health-related factor is pushing more talented teachers to exit the profession.
Teacher happiness and wellbeing has been proven to play a key part in school performance. Yet, in research conducted by the Education Support Partnership, 67% of education professionals described themselves as stressed.
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Having studied to be an educational psychologist Sharon worked as a supply teacher and then moved into education recruitment. She now has over twenty years experience within recruitment and has run Textbook Teachers for the last seventeen years.
She is extremely proud of the reputation that Textbook Teachers has and the position of trust it has in the local education community.
Her mission and that of Textbook Teachers is that we insist on high standards of integrity, care and compassion when dealing with our teaching staff.
We also promote fair, ethical and good practices when supplying all schools and we aspire to be held in high esteem by clients, agency staff and our competitors in leading the way in providing a more transparent, high quality and professionally reliable service.