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NEWS


New publications from the NASUWT

The Union has recently published a number of new research and advice reports for members on a number of topical issues.

Capability

Older, male and disabled teachers are all disproportionately more likely to be the subject of capability and competency procedures, new research from the NASUWT has found.

The NASUWT casework and feedback from members highlights the growing problem of the inappropriate use of capability and competency procedures against teachers and commissioned a study.

The Report identified several disturbing trends, including the use of capability and competence proceedings to bully and harass teachers.

www.nasuwt.org.uk/CapabilityReport.

Wellbeing

The issue of teacher stress and mental illness is at the forefront of the Union’s agenda and as part of its ongoing campaign to assist members in protecting and managing their health, the NASUWT has created new guidance.

The advice sets out the factors that commonly contribute to teacher stress and burnout and provides practical solutions to minimising their impact on teachers’ health.

Recognising that school leaders can themselves face huge strains, the guidance also offers tailored advice on the particular issues facing headteachers.

The guide offers assistance to teachers in disclosing their health problems with their employer and signposts sources of further support and guidance.

www.nasuwt.org.uk/Wellbeing.

International Comparators

With the Coalition Government increasingly using international comparators to justify its reforms to the education system, the NASUWT has published a report examining the use of international benchmarks as a reliable indicator of educational success.

The report examines the benefits and limitations of using international comparators and whether they tell the whole story about what makes for success.

www.nasuwt.org.uk/Benchmarking.

Bullying

The NASUWT has led the way in raising the issue of bullying of teachers, with its groundbreaking campaigns to tackle cyberbullying and prejudice-related bullying. Two new publications further examine the issue and provide practical advice for members.

Tackling Workplace Bullying is a comprehensive guide to the causes, nature and effects of bullying of teachers in schools and colleges.

It examines the different types of bullying, acknowledging that abuse can take many forms and is often extremely subtle. The growth of cyberbullying, which the NASUWT was the first teachers’ union to identify and raise with the Government, is also covered in the guide.

The NASUWT believes that any behaviour that causes a teacher to feel intimidated, humiliated or undermined in their work is unacceptable and the guidance sets out a range of practical solutions to tackle the issue, including the legal remedies available.

www.nasuwt.org.uk/TacklingWorkplaceBullying.

Following on from its highly successful campaign to raise the issue of prejudice-related bullying in schools, the NASUWT has commissioned further research to identify the nature and scale of the problem.

Prejudice-related bullying is abuse based on a person’s gender, age, sexuality, faith, race, disability or body shape. Using the findings of an online survey of teachers, the study found that two thirds of respondents had experienced some form of prejudice-related harassment.

Few schools have an effectively implemented anti-bullying policy for staff and more than half of all incidents of prejudice-related bullying are not reported to managers.

The research also found that one in ten teachers reported that organised racist and fascist activity was a problem in their school.

www.nasuwt.org.uk/PrejudiceRelatedBullying.

Hard copies of all publications can be ordered free of charge from the NASUWT by calling 0121 453 6150 or emailing dispatch@mail.nasuwt.org.uk