Following the first in-person meeting of Presidents and General
Secretaries from the ten education unions within the British and
Irish Group of Teacher Unions (BIGTU), the group has called on
policy makers within their jurisdictions to prioritise the
tackling of teacher workload and the promotion of practitioner
wellbeing within schools, colleges and universities.
Teachers and lecturers are increasingly expected to work long
hours each week. There is mounting concern amongst education
unions and the wider education community, about the impact that
this is having upon the work-life balance of education workers
and on their general well-being. The unions believe that the long
and stressful working hours associated with teaching are causing
a recruitment and retention crisis in the profession.
Educators in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland spend an inordinate amount of time on
burdensome non-teaching tasks involving paperwork such as
tracking, audits and form filling which have little direct effect
upon the quality of learning and teaching yet negatively impact
upon the quality of working life. Increasing workload and longer
working hours are resulting in low levels of teacher well-being
and morale.
There are two clear areas where reducing teachers’ workload would
help reduce stress: excessive summative assessment and unhelpful
external audit and inspection processes. Policymakers should
ensure that examination, curriculum and inspection reforms are
designed to decrease workload as all of these factors have the
capacity to create additional work for teachers.
BIGTU calls on the Departments of Education on these islands to
redouble their efforts to reduce teacher stress by reducing the
amount of paperwork teachers and lecturers are required to
handle. The group believes that such an initiative would have a
positive impact on student learning.
BIGTU Chairperson Larry Flanagan stated: “Teachers’ and
lecturers’ time is finite. If we want the very best for our
students, we need to allow teachers to focus on activities that
have the greatest effect on student learning and wellbeing. By
reducing workload in areas with little evidence of impact, we can
realign teachers’ working lives with their moral purpose and
improve both teacher wellbeing and the student experience.”
Signed by:
- Larry Flanagan, General Secretary, Education Institute of
Scotland (EIS), Chairperson BIGTU
- John Boyle, General Secretary, Irish National Teachers’
Organisation (INTO), Secretary, BIGTU
- Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney Joint General Secretaries,
National Education Union (NEU)
- Jo Grady, General Secretary, University and College Union
(UCU)
- Jacquie White, General Secretary, Ulster Teachers’ Union
(UTU)
- Kieran Christie, General Secretary, Association of Secondary
Teachers in Ireland (ASTI)
- Frank Jones, General Secretary, Irish Federation of
University Teachers (IFUT)
- Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT
- Seamus Searson, General Secretary, Scottish Secondary
Teachers’ Association (SSTA)
- Michael Gillespie, General Secretary, Teachers’ Union of
Ireland (TUI)
