At a time when teachers are being unfairly picked on by politicians and the media and forced to take the heat for standardized test results and missed benchmarks, there is no wonder why teachers are suffering from stress. The paperwork is ridiculously high and the support is nowhere to be seen.
Just look at what toll it is having on teachers in Britain:
An increase in Government targets and high-stakes Ofsted inspections is fuelling a rise in serious mental health problems among school staff, according to teachers’ leaders.
The National Union of Teachers claim stress is now the main reason for driving teachers out of the profession.
It follows the publication of figures last year that showed almost 309,000 school teachers – more than half of the workforce – were signed off sick for an average of two weeks in 2009.
The NUT claim that staff are now routinely expected to work more than 50 hours a week after being swamped by marking and form-filling.
Speaking at the union’s annual conference in Harrogate, activities told how many teachers were resorting to alcohol to get through the day or even attempting suicide because of the workload.
She said the problem was being caused by “the demands being placed on our members to hit Government targets”.
“We got into teaching to teach, not to be beaten by the target-driven culture of those Stepford heads who relish the Government agenda,” she said.
“The target tsunami escalating from the aspirations of this Government is sweeping away those [teachers] that you are struggling to support. And as the wave gets bigger it is leaving a trail of devastation in its wake that used to be a world class education system.”
Teachers need more support and consideration. It isn’t an easy profession, and yet it continues to be more taxing and highly stressful than ever before. Less paperwork, less beaurocracy, more support and more leadership from our politicians and administrators please?
Topical Teaching 