Assistant General Secretary Report – IV 2009 Work Intensification Time for some balance Abridged version of Teacher article Ros McLennan Word count 2, 373
Australian educators are working harder and longer, and it’s time we addressed the problem, for the sake of our students as much as ourselves. Work intensification – or working harder and working longer – has a negative impact on our personal relationships, job satisfaction and productivity. It’s recognised as a particular problem for education professionals, who are four times more likely to suffer a stress-related illness than others. The ACTU’s ‘Future of Work: Working hours and work intensification background paper’ neatly defines the nature and scope of the phenomenon: ‘Work intensification, through reduced staffing levels and increased workloads, has not only driven long hours of work among full-time workers, it has also meant that workers are under constant stress in attempting to meet targets and demands, particularly in jobs which involve dealing with the public. This intensification of work gives rise to unsustainable work practices, which harm both the enterprises and workers concerned. ‘Lack of staffing means there is no time for ongoing training of workers which allows them to keep up with the changing demands of their work. The increased pressure at work gives rise to unsafe workplaces, and the inability of workers to participate in a full non-work life ultimately makes work an unsustainable part of their lives.’ That’s the general picture, but what about education professionals in particular? In 2006, Dr Carolyn Timms conducted a ‘Workplace Dynamics: Engagement and burnout’ teacher survey of Queensland Independent Education Union members. The purpose of her research was to explore the impact of the work environment, including workload, on teacher engagement and burnout. Her findings revealed workload issues to be the primary concern of 75.5 percent of survey respondents. As well, ‘Participants reported long hours preparing lessons to a professional standard, marking, writing reports, co-curricular activities.., as well as seemingly endless mandatory paperwork.’ Sound familiar? IMPACT ON QUALITY EDUCATION We need to address the problem of work intensification for the sake of education
professionals, but also because it has a negative impact on quality education. For positive
teaching and learning to occur, educators need sufficient time and energy to prepare and deliver curriculum in an engaged way and to reflect on pedagogical strategies. Expecting teachers to do more with less is a familiar refrain of employers and government alike. The 1998 Senate Inquiry into the Status of Teachers, A Class Act: Inquiry into the status of the teaching profession, pointed out that teaching is a much more complex and professionally demanding role than it was 20 years before and that ‘the best teacher in the world cannot perform properly in an inadequately resourced and inadequately staffed school.’ It hasn’t got any less complex or demanding in the decade since 1998. Clearly, the provision of quality education is compromised when we fail to attract and retain quality teachers. The provision of professional pay rates, coupled with appropriate support and conditions in the early years of teaching, are needed to attract bright, committed students to a career in teaching. The success of the Scottish education system is a good example of what can be achieved with the winning combination of appropriate funding and political will. The 2007 report, Reviews of National Policies for Education: Quality and Equity of Schooling in Scotland, for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found that Scotland performs at a ‘consistently very high standard’ in the Program for International Student Assessment, with very few countries outperforming it in mathematics, reading or science, in part because of its commitment to education funding. Interest in the teaching profession and teacher morale overall accelerated over the last decade as a result of salary increases, improved working conditions and resourced professional development, including ‘world class’ teacher induction, in Scotland. Closer to home, alarming rates of new graduate teachers leaving the profession after only a few years, and an exodus of experienced classroom teachers, does not bode well for the future provision of quality education for Australian students. NEW GRADUATE TEACHER CHURN Quality education is secured when committed young teachers are first attracted, then retained. The current inadequate levels of support for overworked, overwhelmed new graduate teachers pose a real threat to our ability to regenerate our profession, if left unchecked. Research by Drs Richard Goddard and Patrick O’Brien indicated disturbing trends of intensifying workload and stress. Their study reported that twenty-nine percent of new graduate teacher survey respondents indicated a serious intention to leave their current job after only 8 months teaching. A quarter of study participants owned that if they could have their time again, they wouldn’t have studied teaching. Unsurprisingly, Goddard and O’Brien’s evidence shows that where graduate teachers have had the best induction and support in the beginning years, they become effective teachers. Employers and government may better support the profession by resourcing comprehensive programs for graduate teachers that include: formal induction; reduced teaching load; time release for effective mentoring by experienced teachers; and opportunities to observe
exemplary teaching practice. Appropriate professional development support should also be provided to address any emerging weaknesses early in their career. EXPERIENCED TEACHER EXODUS Excessive workload and lack of consideration for appropriate work-life balance are also key reasons why experienced teachers are leaving the profession. Mark Keogh, a researcher from the Queensland University of Technology, is engaged in studying the current and emerging retirement intentions of experienced teachers aged 50 years or more. In working with a sample group of secondary school teachers aged between 45 and 65 years, Keogh found that many experienced teachers leave the profession to engage in other work, pursue new careers, return to their pre-teaching career, start their own business or undertake further study. Discussing this problem with Queensland Independent Education Union members in July 2008, Keogh noted a major factor that influences the decision by experienced teachers to leave the profession is a lack of workplace flexibility, especially in relation to family responsibilities like caring for aging parents or grandchildren and supporting adult children. Consider the fact that most caring responsibilities still fall to women and the demographics of the profession surveyed – 70 per cent female – and you see why adequate support for experienced educators in finding a satisfactory work-life balance is so important. According to Keogh’s research, where schools don’t provide family-friendly conditions, the loss of experienced teachers increases. Experienced teachers can be retained, however, in settings that use the following practices: • consultation and collegial respect • reasonable and appropriate workloads • flexible timetabling, and • the inclusion of all staff in school life. While Keogh’s study focuses on the experiences of mature-aged teachers, his research insights can readily be extrapolated to inform commonsense practices to encourage the better retention of teachers of any age. KEY WORK INTENSIFICATION PRESSURE POINTS There are a number of key work intensification pressure points. Curriculum change Curriculum changes create enormous workload for teachers struggling to meet the requirements of curriculum boards, and systemic and school-level requirements within imposed timelines. Teachers report the overcrowded curriculum and ever-changing new syllabus documents are simply overwhelming, a point highlighted by Carolyn Timms in her research. Dr Timms reported that survey participants identify mandated government reforms as largely responsible for hikes in work intensification. According to one survey participant, ‘Work intensification stems from curriculum pressure and lack of funding in schools. I am part of
the trial program for implementing a new state syllabus and I find the work load in preparation and creation of new assessment items to be extremely stressful. I work for hours on this task alone.... Our teacher contact hours are too high to allow for adequate preparation for normal teaching scenarios – so when you add in a new syllabi and program creation, the stress load goes over the top.’ It’s likely that a new national curriculum will bring with it further such intensification. What’s needed is direct consultation with practising teachers and their education unions, but one that is yet to happen. There is neither a single representative of practicing classroom teachers nor of any education union on the National Curriculum Board. Any emerging national curriculum must be closely monitored to ensure consideration of teacher workloads. Specifically, it should be: properly resourced; able to be delivered with time to spare for non-core elements; accompanied by funded and accessible professional development; and subject to a workload impact statement prior to implementation. Student assessment and reporting A related workload issue is change to student assessment and reporting, given many education sector employers signed up for a regime of assessment and reporting requirements under the previous Commonwealth government school funding arrangements. Reporting timelines, format and frequency continue, however, to be a major cause of work intensification in schools. This is often exacerbated by unreasonable timeframes set between the conclusion of exams and deadlines for reports, necessitating excessive working hours at nights and weekends for teachers at certain times of the year. The extensive nature of written student reports required, coupled with the frequency of personal interviews offered by many schools, places increasing demands on employees’ private time outside work hours. Technology The increased use of websites to publish curriculum and syllabus resources, coupled with the scarcity of hard copies of these documents, becomes a work pressure for teachers in schools without adequate computer facilities or in rural and remote locations without broadband connections. Similarly, the introduction of new reporting initiatives using computer technology for teaching staff without ensuring adequate facilities, professional development, technical support and reasonable timelines for the completion of student reports causes work intensification for the same reasons. The provision of adequate physical resources and ongoing professional development for staff is essential in the face of rapidly-changing technology in schools. School leaders School leadership teams also struggle to coordinate curriculum change, implement curriculum and manage pastoral initiatives as the rapid changes in curriculum, onerous accountability requirements and increasing demands for pastoral care compound the work pressures.
Supporting students with disabilities Contemporary demands on classroom teachers need to be considered in relation to students with disabilities or behavioural problems. The need for differentiated programs or additional individual attention is required to ensure these students’ learning needs are met; however, this in turn involves additional support and time resource for the classroom teacher. Without both, teachers experience yet further increases in work intensification. WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Solutions to work intensification rely on the preparedness of educators to build a stronger collective voice on professional issues. Some of the best ways to address work intensification are through collective bargaining and campaigning for improved school-level and systemic practices, by ensuring practicing teachers and their education unions are represented on professional boards and by lobbying governments. Educators need vigorously to insist on better consultative arrangements, smarter work organisation, more resources and modern family-friendly policies that result in a healthier work-life balance. Positive change at all levels can be brought about through the following practical strategies. Better consultation Consultation ensures that you can put mechanisms in place to limit work demands and timeframes, and ensure adequate resources are available for the introduction of change. Employers, curriculum bodies and governments must face the reality that there’s a limit to what can be asked of educators and that consultation is the commonsense way to identify what it’s possible to achieve. Genuine consultation involves the explicit discussion of the following issues, prior to the introduction of any new initiative: • open, professional discussion regarding the value of the change under consideration • the identification of the initiatives to be implemented, agreed in advance • clarification of the process of implementation • the identification of resources, like professional development, support staff, non-contact provisions and external support services required for a new initiative • negotiation of an appropriate timeframe for implementation • the identification of specific staff roles in the process of implementation • the identification of the impact of an initiative on workload in order to reallocate some existing tasks or responsibilities so that reasonable working hours are not exceeded, and • the identification of the technological hardware, software and associated professional development required for the successful implementation of the initiative. The outcome of consultation on such considerations may be contained in a work impact statement, to ensure all relevant matters have been incorporated and communicated. Smarter work organisation The way schools are organised and the way the time of employees is allocated need to be
primary considerations if work intensification is to be addressed successfully. If teaching, and the preparation for teaching, are the priorities for the delivery of quality education in schools, then serious judgements need to be made about mounting requirements to undertake numerous other tasks. Administrative tasks, covering classes, extra-curricular activities and the like need to be reconsidered in terms of their effect on the quality of education, given the limited number of hours available in a reasonable working week. More resources According to Steve Holden, writing in Teacher back in 2006, ‘Quality teaching isn’t just about the teacher; it’s also about the conditions required to enable the teacher to provide an appropriate learning environment.’ Appropriate resources are essential if teachers are to provide quality education for students. Careful consideration of the tasks and responsibilities that can be carried out by professional, skilled and committed school support staff can free up teachers’ time so that they’re able to undertake higher level planning and assessment, and to prepare and deliver quality lessons. Family-friendly policies Families need time to maintain quality relationships. As the ACTU’s ‘Family Impact Statement’ noted, ‘Lack of time has replaced money problems as the top issue negatively affecting relationships.’ Policies that better respond to the need for an appropriate work-family balance help schools attract and retain quality, committed teachers. Flexible work practices that include access to job-share and part-time work for defined periods, and family leave provisions also enable teachers to have greater control over their lives and improved flexibility in managing a range of interests in ways that aid the retention of experienced teachers in the profession. THE LAST WORD
Work intensification in our schools must be addressed through appropriate government funding, more resources, professional pay rates, better working conditions and relevant professional development. If we fail to address it, we’ll fail to attract our best and brightest to a career in teaching while losing experienced classroom teachers – and that would be bad news for Australian students.
This is an abridged version of an article by Ros McLennan published in the March 2009 edition of Teacher. http://teacher.acer.edu.au/