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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE
Bullying epidemic in schools
More than two thirds of teachers have experienced or witnessed workplace bullying in the last 12 months and one in five teachers have left their job because of bullying from colleagues or managers, research from the NASUWT has revealed.
Over 3,000 teachers responded to the online survey, which uncovers the worrying prevalence of bullying, harassment and abuse against teachers from other staff.
Other findings from the survey include:
• over a quarter of teachers said that workplace bullying by other staff members happened frequently;
• 80% of those who bully are in line management or leadership roles;
• three quarters of teachers who have been bullied are female;
• heads of departments are equally likely to be bullied as they are to bully others, reflecting their ‘squeezed’ position between senior managers and those they manage;
• 45% reported intimidatory use of discipline and competence procedures against them;
• 7% of schools have no anti-bullying policy in place and nearly a quarter of policies in place make no specific reference to bullying by colleagues.
The NASUWT will continue to campaign for dignity at work and will use the survey findings to produce a model anti-bullying policy, which it will be pressing to have adopted in every school and college.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, described the findings as ‘appalling’.
Ms Keates said: “This Government’s culture of macho management and punitive accountability is enabling bullying to flourish,” she said.
“One of the first acts of the Coalition was to abandon plans to record all incidents of bullying of staff and pupils.
“Concern for the health and welfare of the workforce does not seem to appear on the Coalition’s list of priorities.”
“I am constantly patronised by one of my colleagues, ‘told off’ in an aggressive tone and they question my competence in front of the senior management team. I have lost my appetite because of this person and dread going to work.”
Visit
www.nasuwt.org.uk/WorkplaceBullyingReport and
www.nasuwt.org.uk/Bullying
Supply teachers being undervalued and undermined
Supply teachers are being treated as ‘second-class citizens’ in many schools, research from the NASUWT has found, with many being underpaid and asked to undertake administrative tasks.
A significant number of supply teachers are being denied access to facilities such as staff toilets and car parking and are often made to cover the lessons of disruptive pupils.
The survey of nearly 900 supply teachers found that an increasing number are being forced to work on supply because they are unable to find permanent work. This problem is particularly acute among younger teachers, with 84% of 20 to 30 year olds stating they were unable to find permanent jobs.
However, the amount of supply work appears to be drying up, with nearly three quarters saying they have had difficulties getting work since September 2010. This is likely to be the effect of Government cuts to school and local authority budgets.
Over a third of supply teachers stated they wanted to work five days a week but only 9% were actually able to do so.
As a result, over a quarter of supply teachers have had to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance since starting work and more than one in ten have claimed other state benefits. Nearly half are not paid at levels commensurate with their experience, a figure which rises to 64% of black and minority ethnic (BME) teachers.
Supply teachers are being expected to undertake most of the same tasks as permanent teaching colleagues and over two thirds are also expected to undertake tasks such as break duty which should be performed by support staff.
Nearly half feel they are being used to cover the lessons of particularly disruptive pupils. Despite this, 22% feel their requests for behaviour management support are not taken seriously by schools. The survey uncovers a clear lack of access to training for supply teachers, with 70% saying they have not received any professional development during their time on supply.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said that the ‘disturbing’ findings clearly demonstrated that supply teachers are being routinely exploited by schools.
“Experienced supply teachers are worth their weight in gold to schools,” she said.
“The NASUWT is clear that when deployed appropriately supply teachers are essential to ensure that teaching and learning for pupils is able to progress during staff absence.
“Supply teachers are professionals who can make a vital contribution to teaching and learning and should be valued by headteachers and schools.”
“You don’t get a lot of support from most schools and quite often there is no proper handover so you don’t know what the children have been working on. I feel you often get given the classes with the worst behaved pupils because no-one else wants to teach them.”
“I am a newly qualified teacher and would love to have a permanent job, but no schools in my area seem to be taking anyone on. It is very frustrating to have to work on supply as all I want is a class of my own where I can work with the same pupils every day.”
Visit
www.nasuwt.org.uk/SupplyTeachersSurvey and
www.nasuwt.org.uk/Supply
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