What percentage of British teachers considered quitting their job this year?
10%?
Not even close!
25%?
Keep on going.
35%?
You’re not even trying.
How about 45?
Keep going.
50%?
Correct! According to the Teaching union NASUWT, almost half the teachers in England were considering giving their jobs away. Whilst I don’t take union figures as gospel, the survey results point to two very severe problems.
- Teachers are not happy. Increased Government funding and standardized testing are not going to sufficiently impact student performance when the most important piece in the puzzle, the teacher, are not committed to seeing the year out. A teacher that isn’t happy is more than an impediment to learning – it is a fatal blow.
- The latest trend in education policy is to put more pressure on teachers. Paperwork has become ridiculously onerous, constant changes to curriculum have left teachers in a tailspin, the deterioration of classroom behaviour has left many teachers suffering undue stress and assessments by government, school administration, peers, parents and even students have made teaching one of the most critiqued professions around.
My experience with teachers is that they join the profession largely from a desire to make a difference. The fact that so many enter the job with idealism and passion that becomes eroded so quickly is cause for great alarm.
From all the ideas and methodologies surfacing in education there seems to be one crucial policy area that continues to be avoided:
What policies can we put in place to support teachers rather than judge them, to assist them rather than to overwhelm and suffocate them?
If public policy doesn’t show concern for teachers, it stands to reason that many teachers wont get the job done.
Click on the link to read The Classroom Shouldn’t be a War Zone for Our Teachers
Click on the link to read Remember When Teachers Were Shown Respect? (Video)
Click on the link to read If You Think Teaching is so Easy You Should Try it for Yourself
Click on the link to read Tips For Teachers for Managing Stress
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