NASUWT. Raising Standards? The Teachers Union NORTHERN IRELAND. A survey of the working conditions of teachers in Northern Ireland

Transcription

1 NASUWT The Teachers Union NORTHERN IRELAND Raising Standards? A survey of the working conditions of teachers in Northern Ireland The largest teachers union in Northern Ireland

2 Background The teaching profession in Northern Ireland is committed to ensuring that all pupils have access to educational provision of the highest quality and that every child is able to reach their full potential. But we all know that quality education for all can only be achieved where teachers are able to utilise fully their professional knowledge and skills in order to meet the learning needs of every child. Overworked teachers who are inappropriately deployed are unlikely to be in a position to deliver the best for their pupils. However, a review of the experiences of teachers across the UK reveals that teachers in Northern Ireland have had to endure unfavourable working conditions over many years. This iniquitous situation has resulted in one of the most prolonged periods of industrial action within schools, taken by members of the NASUWT, the teachers union. This action to improve working conditions and working practices is all about creating the very best conditions in schools for all learners. The survey of teachers and principals provides an examination of the key drivers of excessive workload in schools and the impact on teacher morale and job satisfaction. About the teacher survey An online opinion survey was launched by the NASUWT, accessible from 17 May 2011 and closing on 16 June A total of 1,025 responses were received from a representative cross section of teachers and principals across Northern Ireland. 1. Survey findings 1.1 The majority of teachers report that working hours and workload have worsened over the last 12 months (71%). 1.2 Forty per cent of teachers report working a minimum of ten hours per week in the evenings to complete planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) tasks. 1.3 One in three teachers works an extra day every weekend. 1.4 The major source of excessive workload is policies and initiatives from the Department of Education, Northern Ireland (DENI), according to two thirds of teachers. Curriculum and assessment arrangements, together with inspection and accountability demands, are the main workload drivers for teachers. 1.5 For a substantial proportion of teachers, school-level management practices were also cited as key drivers of excessive teacher workload, with particular 3

3 concerns raised about the absence of guaranteed time for PPA, the absence of robust arrangements for the management of teacher-absence cover, excessive management meetings, pupil target-setting, and school selfevaluation practices. There was also strong evidence of increasing concerns amongst teachers regarding excessive classroom observation. 2. Teachers job satisfaction 2.1 Teachers generally felt that their overall job satisfaction had worsened rather than improved over the last year. Teachers job satisfaction over the last 12 months % Got better 12.8 Got worse 45.3 No change The issues that impacted most adversely on teachers job satisfaction in the last 12 months were bureaucracy, inspection/accountability, and working hours/workload. Access to employment and job security were also very significant issues affecting teacher morale. Job satisfaction concerns over last 12 months % The amount of bureaucracy you now have to deal with (e.g. planning, form filling) 74.6 Workload pressures associated with the inspection and accountability system 71.6 Your workload/working hours 70.6 Availability of employment opportunities 55.2 Your job security 41.9 Access to support for pupils with behavioural problems 33.7 Access to professional development or induction support 33.1 Being required to cover for absent colleagues 31.7 Management bullying 24.3 The level of unnecessary classroom observation undertaken in your school

4 3. Teachers workloads and working hours 3.1 Teachers were asked about the pattern of working time outside the normal school day. The results indicate that teachers have to contribute significant amounts of their own time in order to do the job. 3.2 The overwhelming majority of teachers (80%) contributed at least one hour daily (Monday to Friday) of their own time to the completion of job-related tasks. Amount of personal time spent undertaking work in the evenings (Monday-Friday) % 5-10 hours hours hours hours or more 3.3 Teachers also spend significant blocks of their own time at weekends and during the holidays completing job-related tasks. Four out of five teachers said they regularly undertook job-related work tasks during their holidays and one in three teachers indicated that they undertook between five hours and 20 hours of job-related activity every weekend. 3.4 In addition, 40% of teachers said that they attended at least two meetings before or after school every week, with one in ten teachers indicating that they attended five or more meetings each week before or after the school day. 4. Causes of excessive workload 4.1 The main drivers of excessive workload for teachers (i.e. factors achieving a 50%+ rating from teachers) were dominated by matters relating to policies and programmes instituted by the DENI and other external bodies working on behalf of the DENI. 25 Drivers of excessive workload of teachers % Government-led change 68.0 New initiatives from DENI/other external bodies 67.1 Burdensome assessment practices (including the controlled assessment arrangements and requirements for external exams) 65.1 Lack of sufficient non-contact/ppa time

5 Drivers of excessive workload of teachers cont d % Insufficient support for pupils with behavioural problems and special educational needs (SEN) School budget/finances School inspection requirements Requirements for coursework and examination preparation Lack of administrative/clerical support (members still undertake routine admin/clerical tasks) Controlled assessment practice In addition to national policies and initiatives, the survey also confirmed that in-school management practices are an important driver of excessive teacher workload. A total of 41% of teachers said that their excessive workload was attributable to the nature of management practice in their schools. 4.3 The absence of guaranteed PPA time for teachers (55%), a burdensome approach to pupil target-setting (48%), regular use of teachers for cover (44%), meetings before and after school and at lunch times (35%) and school self-evaluation practice (48%) were all identified as the main specific schoollevel workload problems. 4.4 One in five teachers said they were continuing to invigilate (supervise) public examinations and two thirds of teachers continued to spend their time supervising mock examinations. 5. Cover for absence 5.1 Teachers expressed concern that the requirement to undertake regular cover for absence was a major problem contributing to excessive workload (45%). 5.2 Three fifths (63%) of NASUWT members reported that they had done less than 20 hours cover in the last 12 months. (It should be noted that since August 2010 NASUWT members have been subject to a national action instruction to refuse to undertake more than 20 hours of cover in the year.) 5.3 Furthermore, it should be noted that a substantial and significant minority of teachers were doing significantly fewer than 20 hours of cover each year. A total of 39% of NASUWT members had done fewer than ten hours of cover in the last 12 months and 25% of members had done fewer than five hours of cover in the last 12 months. 6

6 6. Classroom observation 6.1 Excessive classroom observation (exceeding the existing provisions of the performance review and staff development (PRSD) scheme) was a problem for one in five teachers. 6.2 Teachers reported an average of 2.23 observations per year lasting on average two hours. 6.3 However, one in five (20%) teachers said the level of unnecessary classroom observation in their school had worsened in the last 12 months. A total of 15% of teachers said that the amount of classroom observation that they were subject to had increased over the course of the last year. 6.4 The survey found that the conduct of the majority of classroom observations is distributed fairly evenly across senior and middle managers within schools, though around one in five observations are conducted by other classroom teachers and one in eight observations are conducted by pupils and by school governors. Who conducts classroom observations? % Principal 24.1 Other members of the senior management team 27.8 Other middle managers 24.9 Other classroom teachers 18.8 Support staff School governors Pupils/students Other Issues and implications 7.1 The current NASUWT national industrial action in Northern Ireland is designed to secure parity in relation to teachers terms and conditions of service. The action has been in place since January The survey confirms the need for urgent action by employers and the DENI to establish a secure basis for raising educational standards in Northern Ireland s schools. In particular, this survey has identified a need for: a halt on new policies and new initiatives from the DENI; measurable and significant downward pressure on teachers workloads and working hours; 7

7 a reduction in the burdens of assessment in schools, particularly in relation to controlled assessment; provision of adequate PPA time; provision of improved support for pupils with behavioural problems and special educational needs (SEN); safeguarding school budgets from cuts that are impacting on excessive workload in schools; streamlining of school inspection requirements; reducing the burdens relating to examinations/coursework; removal of administrative/clerical tasks from teachers; reducing the level of classroom observation. 8

8 NASUWT industrial action Industrial action by members of the NASUWT has been ongoing since January It is designed to raise educational standards and to cause the minimum disruption to pupils learning. Key improvements sought by NASUWT members include: i. a guaranteed minimum of 10% of teaching time for planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) for all teachers who have a timetabled teaching commitment; ii. the removal of any requirement for teachers to undertake routine administrative and clerical tasks; iii. iv. the removal of any requirement for teachers to invigilate examinations; the removal of any requirement for teachers to cover for absence except only rarely in unforeseen circumstances; v. the provision of dedicated leadership and management time for teachers to discharge their leadership and management responsibilities; vi. vii. access to pay progression opportunities to include provision for teaching and learning responsibility (TLR) payments for teachers who are required to undertake the management or co-ordination of teaching and learning within the school; guaranteed employment opportunities for beginning teachers to enable the completion of the probationary period. In addition, measures are also sought to facilitate the raising of standards of teaching and learning by beginning the process of removing from teachers the responsibility for unproductive bureaucracy and tasks whose performance does not require qualified teacher status and thereby enabling them to refocus on pedagogy and improving classroom performance. 9

9 NASUWT The Teachers Union NORTHERN IRELAND Ben Madigan House Edgewater Office Park Edgewater Road Belfast BT3 9JQ Tel: Fax: Website: The largest teachers union in Northern Ireland 11/06045 Northern Ireland