Marking and lesson planning are the two aspects of
teachers’ jobs that lead to the greatest increase in workload
stress and levels of poor wellbeing, according to a new study by
UCL researchers.
The working paper is published today by the Nuffield
Foundation, who also funded the report. It analysed data from the
2018 Teaching and Learning International Study (TALIS) and
included survey answers from 9,405 teachers in five predominantly
English-speaking education systems from England, Australia,
Alberta-Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
The study highlights that teachers across England
work some of the longest hours in Europe and recent research by
the UCL Institute of Education found that a quarter of teachers
work more than 59 hours a week.
Lead author, Professor John Jerrim (UCL Institute of
Education) said:“ Our study shows that is it not just as case of
saying extra hours lead to extra stress among teachers, but what
they are doing in those hours.
“We found that for every extra hour teachers spend on
marking and planning there is a significant association with
decline in wellbeing at work. This is most likely because these
are often tasks done at the evening, weekend and during school
holidays.
“We also found that other aspects of the job such as
extra time spent teaching or working with colleagues and
undertaking professional development appear to have little direct
effect upon the quality of working life.”
The study also found the relationship between
teachers’ working hours and their wellbeing may not be linear.
For example, if teachers worked 35 hours a week, adding an extra
hour or two may not lead to serious consequences.
“However, for those working 60 hours a week, an
additional hour or two of work could be the straw that breaks the
camel’s back,” explained Professor Jerrim.
Additionally, the paper also highlighted the
inequality in hours worked and levels of wellbeing experienced by
full-time teachers. The findings suggested that full-time primary
teachers in England who work 40 hours per week could increase
this to 45 or even 50 hours with little effect upon their
workload stress and wellbeing. At the same time, a reduction of
five or ten hours amongst those teachers who currently work 60 or
more hours per week might potentially lead to an appreciable
increase in this group’s quality of life.
Co-author, Dr Sam Sims (UCL Institute of Education)
added: “Our findings have important implications for education
policy. There are two clear areas where reducing teachers’
workloads would help reduce stress: lesson preparation and
marking.
With respect to the former, perhaps the easiest thing
that policymakers can do is dramatically reduce examination,
curriculum and inspection reforms – all of which create new work
for teachers, who are forced to change lessons, materials and
teaching styles as a result.”
