Studies Have Found That Teachers Suffer More Stress Than Other Workers

Job-related stress is more likely to impact teachers than other professionals according to a study.

An analysis by the National Foundation for Educational Research revealed that one in five teachers everywhere feels tense about their job all or most of the time, compared with one in eight workers in similar professions,

Experts have warned that there is an urgent need to make sure that there are enough teachers as a shortfall in trainees and more teachers quitting earlier on in their careers have been notices with rising pupil numbers.

This report also revealed that the number of teachers who are trained overseas or returning to the profession has not increased despite government efforts for encouraging a move into British schools.

 The study also found that working intensively over fewer weeks of the year results in a poorer work-life balance and higher stress levels among teachers. 41% are dissatisfied with their amount of leisure time as compared to 32 % of similar professionals.

 Lowering teachers’ workload would lower the numbers of teachers quitting the profession, the report suggested.

 The co-author of the report, Jack Worth, said that the schools of England schools are facing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of teachers. Nurturing, supporting and valuing teachers is very important and vital for making teaching an attractive and rewarding career choice. In order to accomplish this positively, there is a clear requirement of improving the working conditions of teachers, with a focus on making the teaching career more manageable and sustainable. Over half of the new teachers do not plan to stay due to mental health. He warned that the teacher supply challenge will continue to grow, particularly in secondary schools, unless urgent action is taken. The joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), Mary Bousted, said that the reasons because of which so many leave the profession so quickly is not a mystery to us. When faced with impossible and impractical workloads, endless accountability, a testing culture run riot, and flat or underfunded pay deals year after year, it is all very common for good teachers to quit the profession. This report has come after the Department for Education (DfE) published its Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy last month for reducing workload and encouraging more teachers to stay. The education secretary, Damian Hinds said that since she took this job a year ago she has made cutting down the amount of unnecessary and bureaucratic workload teachers face my top priority.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/teachers-stress-professionals-mental-health-workload-national-foundation-educational-research-a8795691.html