Testing times for teachers

 

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A House of Lords committee recently revealed that the Department of Children, Schools and Families introduced 100 new regulations in the year 2006-07 - more than any other government department.

With this extraordinary pace of change, it may come as no surprise that this month's Trade Unions Congress' (TUC) survey of safety representatives found that stress or overwork was the biggest concern in the workplace, with those in the education profession citing this as a particular problem.

Furthermore, as the financial downturn hits its peak, general secretary of the TUC Brendan Barber has suggested that this anxiety is likely to increase.

Teacher Support Network (TSN), a dedicated support group for teachers, published figures for this quarter that showed it had 9,000 more interactions with teachers than this time last year.

And the most popular fields of enquiry revolved around stress and overwork and financial concerns - reflecting the findings of the TUC survey.

Teaching, noted spokeswoman for the TSN Hannah Essex, is "a uniquely challenging profession".

Unlike those in other careers, "you're on show from the minute you walk through the school gates until the end of the day", she added.

In a bid to look at the causes behind the prevalence of stress among teachers, two academics recently conducted research into the issue.

The study published this month by University of Cambridge professors Maurice Galton and John Macbeath, suggested that the workload of primary teachers has increased from 54 hours to 56 hours, despite workforce reforms.

Furthermore, the academics' 'Teachers Under Pressure' research, backed by the National Union of Teachers (NUT), indicated that teachers' creativity has been stifled by a rising number of reforms and an excessive number targets and assessments.

In response to these findings, acting general secretary of the NUT Christine Blower called on the government to realise the negative effects of "over-prescription", calling on Labour to "recognise that teachers need far greater trust to be placed in their judgement".

The high number of reforms has also been cited as a cause of stress for teachers by the TSN. As the figures released by the House of Lords' committee on the merits of statutory instruments show, those in the education profession are subject to an incomparable amount of change.

"Change is a really difficult thing for people to deal with and if it's not managed appropriately then it could cause anxiety and stress because people don't know what the future holds," noted Ms Essex.

Furthermore, a lack of control can further exacerbate the negative effects of this, with school management and sometimes the government failing to consult teachers about these adjustments, she suggested.

And as the realities of stress take their toll on teachers, the consequences can eventually have a detrimental impact on other parts of their life.

A poll conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers found that 85 per cent of teachers and lecturers believe stress in their workplace has had an adverse impact on their health.

But general secretary of the union Dr Mary Bousted has emphasised that rather than being an individual weakness, stress is an "organisational issue". It is vital that those in education who are "struggling to cope with unreasonable demands seek help at the earliest opportunity", she added.

However, this can be difficult when stigma is still attached to stress and mental health issues. This, Ms Essex of TSN added, is why it is important for schools to ensure that they have a support network in place that ensures that this is relieved.

It is important, therefore, that schools' management recognise that there is a problem with stress among teachers, she noted.

Ms Essex argued that in addition to this, a "robust wellbeing policy", as well as "well implemented procedures on bullying and harassment" and "good performance management procedures" are necessary to ensure that teachers feel supported.

But schools are not the only ones that find it difficult to admit there is a problem - those who are experiencing symptoms of stress can often fail to acknowledge they are suffering from stress-related issues.

Those facing symptoms of stress - which can vary widely from person to person - should try and confront their problems before they become worse. Understanding what lies behind the stress is vital, Ms Essex noted.

"It could be a number of things, or it could be one thing in particular, but if you can understand what it is, that's when you can start to take steps to deal with it," she stated.

The next step is to speak to someone about the problems as soon as possible. Ideally this would mean going to the source of the problem - the school - and discussing the issues with management.

However, acknowledging that this can be difficult, Ms Essex urged those suffering from stress to speak to anyone about it - this can be a friend, colleague or a member of family.

And if this is also too hard, support services are always on hand on the other end of a phone call, with the Samaritans offering confidential and non-judgemental emotional support 24 hours a day on 08457 90 90 90, or 1850 60 90 90 in the Republic of Ireland, for the cost of a local call.

Having a conversation with anyone about the problems that have led to symptoms of stress can equip the individual teacher with the confidence to confront their problem head on - and perhaps even help their school realise what they can do to prevent other members of staff being hit by the same problems in future.

 

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