Teachers’ wellbeing stayed largely the same during lockdown, with
the proportion of teachers reporting high levels of work anxiety
slightly falling, according to new UCL-led research.
The research, published today and funded by the
Nuffield Foundation, looked at data collected from
around 8,000 teachers in England between September 2019 and
September 2020. The study, which is the first to measure how the
COVID-19 lockdown affected the wellbeing of teachers, found that
slightly fewer teachers were highly anxious about work after
lockdown was imposed, with about one in 20 reporting very high
anxiety compared to one in eight before lockdown.
The same was not true for headteachers, however, many of
whom were highly anxious about work while the country was in
lockdown. There were particular spikes in anxiety among
headteachers in the week before school lockdown, when the
proportion of headteachers reporting very high anxiety doubled to
38%, and in June when school re-openings were first
announced.
Although the wellbeing of teachers was, on average,
unchanged during lockdown, different aspects of their mental
health may have been affected in different ways. For instance, in
April 2020 (during the height of lockdown) teachers were more
likely to say they had energy to spare, were feeling relaxed and
were feeling loved than when the same questions were asked
earlier in the academic year (October 2019). However, teachers
were less likely to say that they felt useful, were optimistic
about the future or were interested in new things in April 2020
than in October 2019.
The study also demonstrates the inequality in teaching
experiences of private and state school children while schools
were shut. Just six per cent of state school teachers delivered
live teaching with student interaction in May 2020, compared to
72 per cent of private school teachers, according to the survey
data.
Co-author Professor John Jerrim (UCL Institute of Social
Research) said: “Like many, teachers were asked to quickly
provide innovative solutions to ensure children’s education could
continue as best as possible when the pandemic hit. It is
reassuring to see that their wellbeing – and particularly their
anxiety about work – does not seem to have been affected by this
difficult period.
“It is a concern, however, that we have seen quite a sharp
uptick in the percentage of highly work-anxious teachers at the
start of September. The government needs to keep a close eye on
this during the months ahead, taking the necessary steps to
support teachers through this unprecedented time.”
He added: “The report also highlights the inequality in the
types of teaching private and state school pupils received over
the summer school term. This clearly has the potential to lead to
further educational inequalities in pupil achievement, which
could be further exacerbated this autumn if schools are forced to
shut down again.”
The study also found work anxiety during lockdown was
higher for women than for men, and for parents of both gender
when compared to teachers without children.
One in five headteachers said the experience of lockdown
had made them more likely to seek to leave the profession,
compared to one in ten middle leaders and teachers.
Researchers based their analysis upon information gathered
from the Teacher-Tapp survey app. At 15.30 on Tuesdays from
September 2019 to September 2020, teachers were asked to report
their work-related anxiety on a 10-point scale. Scores of between
8 and 10 were classed as very high anxiety. They were also asked
a series of broader questions about their wellbeing using
validated measures, both pre- and during lockdown.
Notes to editors
“How did the early-stages of the COVID-19 pandemic affect
teacher wellbeing?” is the latest working paper to be
published by the UCL Institute for Social Research, part of the
UCL Institute of Education. It will be available at http://johnjerrim.com/papers/
on Tuesday 22 September 2020 at 00:01 UK time and is under a
strict embargo until this time.
