NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
ERIC Number: ED608585
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jun
Pages: 38
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: 978-1-912596-10-2
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Schools' Responses to COVID-19: Job Satisfaction and Workload of Teachers and Senior Leaders
Walker, Matt; Sharp, Caroline; Sims, David
National Foundation for Educational Research
Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, England faced a considerable teacher recruitment and retention challenge. The last ten years have been characterised by insufficient numbers of new teachers joining the profession and an increasing proportion leaving the state sector, particularly in secondary schools. This research is designed to shed some light on the immediate effects of the pandemic on senior leaders' and teachers' working lives. Based on the findings of a national survey of 1233 senior leaders and 1821 teachers in publicly-funded, mainstream primary and secondary schools in England, this report explores their levels of job satisfaction, their sense of control over teaching and learning practices, their weekly working hours, and the manageability of those hours. In doing so, it outlines the key pressures and challenges they are facing, together with the support mechanisms they are using to help them get through the current crisis. This report has found that, despite overall reductions in working hours, 41 per cent of senior leaders are still working more than 50 hours per week; a quarter are finding their workload unmanageable; and 31 per cent are not satisfied with their jobs. Key recommendations include the need for government, local authority services (LAs) and Trusts to ensure that schools have access to sufficient teaching capacity. Senior leaders need to use teaching assistants (TAs) effectively, and address the home working needs of the 22 per cent of teachers who are only able to work from home. In order to give leaders and teachers a greater sense of control, the Government needs to ensure that new directives are clear, kept to a minimum, reflect the concerns of the profession, and are sensitive to the pressures school leaders are facing. [For a summary report, "Schools' Responses to COVID-19: Key Findings from the Wave 1 Survey," see ED608586.]
National Foundation for Educational Research. The Mere, Upton Park, Slough, Berkshire, SL1 2DQ, UK. Tel: +44-1753-574123; Fax: +44-1753-637280; e-mail: enquiries@nfer.ac.uk; Web site: http://www.nfer.ac.uk
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Nuffield Foundation (United Kingdom)
Authoring Institution: National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) (United Kingdom)
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A