Research: Teachers' Wellbeing

This report summarises 1000 responses by teachers and support staff to a wellbeing and mental health survey conducted by the Teach Well Alliance and the School Mental Health Group between 22nd November - 22nd December, 2019.

The purpose of the survey was to identify the main causes of a lack of wellbeing and mental ill-health of teachers and support staff in schools. It was completed by self-selecting teachers and support staff who either received the survey by email or followed a link in social media posts from the Teach Well Alliance on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

The report was shared on 6th January, 2020 with the DfE Expert Group on Teachers' Wellbeing, formed in early 2019, and publicly on social media. It is hoped that the report will inform the DfE Expert Group's discussions on how to address the crisis in retention and recruitment facing the education system in the UK and, more broadly, contribute to an understanding of the impact of a high-stakes accountability culture on individual teachers and support staff.

A second survey with additional questions is now running until 24th July, 2020. If you have not completed the first survey, you are invited to visit the second survey at https://teachwellalliance.typeform.com/to/sujphH A report will be sent to the DfE Expert Group in August 2020 and shared on social media.

There is also a survey running in parallel which is collecting the responses of staff whose wellbeing and mental health are being cared for by their schools. The purpose of this survey is to identify factors in the school as an organisation that reduce or prevent a lack of wellbeing and mental ill-health and/or positively promote mental wellness. A report will also be sent to the DfE Expert Group in August 2020 and shared on social media.

The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2019 uses a series of indicators to benchmark educational professionals’ mental health and wellbeing, which also affords the ability to analyse trends over time. It includes responses received from education professionals working in all job roles – including a) Teachers (Qualified, Newly- Qualified, Trainees, Teaching Assistants and Supply Teachers) and those working with Special Education Needs; b) Senior Teachers with specific roles (Head of Department, Head of Year, Assistant Head, Deputy Head, Head Teachers); and c) staff working in non- teaching roles (such as School Business Managers). Where the findings differ between different job roles, such as Senior Leaders, Teachers and other roles, these have been noted in this report.

Thriving at Work: The Stevenson/Farmer review of mental health and employers was commissioned by former Prime Minister, Theresa May, in January 2017. The review’s report, released in October 2017, stated that ‘the UK faces a significant mental health challenge at work’. The report also called for professional bodies, such as The Law Society, to help with the implementation of mental health care and enhanced standards for organisations, which will help reduce the increasing cost to the economy and businesses of the worsening state of mental ill-health in the workplace.

Work conducted by Deloitte estimates that businesses are losing in excess of £1,500 per employee per year due to the costs associated with poor mental health. For an organisation of 300 people, that equates to more than £450,000 per year.

If implemented correctly, wellbeing interventions can lead to substantial returns on investment. For example, a professional services firm of circa 1,000 employees that invested £40,000 in mental health training saw a return on investment of £387,222 within one year (London’s Business Case for Wellbeing).

Employees that have good mental health can significantly improve an employer’s ability to attract and retain talent and boost workplace morale and productivity (which has the potential to increase realisation rates). There is therefore real value in investing time and resource to improve employees’ mental health. Recognising and supporting mental health in the workplace can help to reduce absences, reduce the risk of mistakes, and create a positive, open and sustainable workforce.

This is a summary of the 90 verbatim responses to a staff bullying survey which the Teach Well Alliance ran from June - August 2019. The respondents were self-selecting, visiting a survey on the platform Typeform after seeing a link on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The responses suggest that bullying and harassment of staff, mainly by teachers in a position of authority over the target, are more common than we thought.

'At UCL we recognise the wide range of barriers to accessing Higher Education, and have begun to explore how we can approach these barriers through action-research programmes, like the Verbal Feedback project. This strand of our activity focuses not only on generating evidence but also on sharing key recommendations for teachers and school leaders, and creating resources to support classroom activities. Our collaboration with the UCL London Centre for Leadership in Learning and Ross McGill from @Teacher Toolkit exemplifies this approach, offering teachers the opportunity to learn more about the research and development process and also develop expertise in terms of verbal feedback techniques.

The Verbal Feedback project has worked with 13 teachers from 8 schools across England, specifically focusing on the impact of verbal feedback on disadvantaged students at Key Stage 3. This evaluation and the accompanying Toolkit outline the interventions used and highlight what we believe to be the key impacts on both teachers and their students'. (Mark Quinn: UCL: Introduction to Research Project Report)

Teaching Toolkit to support verbal feedback, developed by Ross McGill in partnership with UCL.

This report presents the findings of an exploratory research study into the effect of teacher wellbeing and mental health on pupil progress.

The research, which took place in the autumn of 2018, was conducted by the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University (LBU).

The study was based around the following three research questions:

1. What factors affect teacher wellbeing and mental health?

2. How does teacher wellbeing and mental health impact on the progress and learning of students?

3. What resilience strategies are used by highly effective teachers with poor wellbeing or mental health to ensure that their students thrive?

A Critical Evaluation of College X’s culture during a funding crisis

Ashish Sharma

Abstract

The main objective of this report was to evaluate how staff morale, decision making and students have been affected by funding cuts in the post-16 sector. Various perspectives were used to conduct my research using existing literature and staff opinions. The overall conclusion of the report recommends a more holistic approach to staff wellbeing and a more rounded recruitment strategy.

A quantitative study on the psychological factors influencing stress on education professionals

in primary schools.

Ainsley Smith Supervisor: Jeremy Hopper Presented to The Department of Psychology Manchester Metropolitan University in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Psychology (Conversion Award) Accredited by the British Psychological Society (July 2019)

The Teacher Wellbeing Survey was launched 18 months before the publication of the new Ofsted Inspection Framework came into force in September, 2019. However, the survey results are relevant to meeting the criteria In Leadership and Management for achieving ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ in relation to staff workload and wellbeing:

Outstanding (1)

‘The govt/DfE keeps data on the numbers of teachers in post but not about their mental health. Complete our anonymised survey on the Teach Well Alliance resources website at www.teachwellallianceresources.com’

The survey closed on 12th June, 2019. There were 202 responses.

Trends Shaping Education

Slideshare: OECD 2019

Presentation made by Andreas Schleicher, Director for the OECD Directorate of Education and Skills, at the Education World Forum, 21st January 2019, London

Did you ever wonder whether education has a role to play in preparing our societies for an age of artificial intelligence? Or what the impact of climate change might be on our schools, families and communities?

Trends Shaping Education ( http://www.oecd.org/edu/trends-shaping-education-22187049.htm) examines major economic, political, social and technological trends affecting education. While the trends are robust, the questions raised in this book are suggestive, and aim to inform strategic thinking and stimulate reflection on the challenges facing education – and on how and whether education can influence these trends.

This book covers a rich array of topics related to globalisation, democracy, security, ageing and modern cultures. The content for this 2019 edition has been updated and also expanded with a wide range of new indicators. Along with the trends and their relationship to education, the book includes a new section on future’s thinking inspired by foresight methodologies.

This book is designed to give policy makers, researchers, educational leaders, administrators and teachers a robust, non specialist source of international comparative trends shaping education, whether in schools, universities or in programmes for older adults. It will also be of interest to students and the wider public, including parents.

Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators

Slideshare: OECD (Sept 2018)

Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems in the 35 OECD and a number of partner countries. With more than 100 charts and tables, Education at a Glance 2018 imparts key information on the output of educational institutions, the impact of learning across countries, and worldwide access, participation and progression in education. It also investigates the financial resources invested in education, as well as teachers, the learning environment and the organisation of schools.

The 2018 edition presents a new focus on equity in education, investigating how progress through education and the associated learning and labour market outcomes are impacted by dimensions such as gender, the educational attainment of parents, immigrant background, and regional location. The publication introduces a chapter dedicated to Target 4.5 of Sustainable Development Goal 4 on equity in education, providing an assessment of where OECD and partner countries stand in providing equal access to quality education at all levels. Finally, new indicators are introduced on equity in entry to and graduation from tertiary education, and the levels of decision-making in education systems. New data are also available on the statutory and actual salaries of school heads, as well as trend data on expenditure on early childhood education and care and the enrolment of children in all registered early childhood education and care settings.

Empirically Derived Profiles of Teacher Stress, Burnout, Self-Efficacy, and

Coping and Associated Student Outcomes

Keith C. Herman, PhD1, Jal’et Hickmon-Rosa, BA1, and Wendy M. Reinke, PhD1

Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions 2018, Vol. 20(2) 90 –100: June 2018

Abstract

Understanding how teacher stress, burnout, coping, and self-efficacy are interrelated can inform preventive and intervention efforts to support teachers. In this study, we explored these constructs to determine their relation to student outcomes, including disruptive behaviors and academic achievement. Participants in this study were 121 teachers and 1,817 students in grades kindergarten to fourth from nine elementary schools in an urban Midwestern school district. Latent profile analysis was used to determine patterns of teacher adjustment in relation to stress, coping, efficacy, and burnout. These profiles were then linked to student behavioral and academic outcomes. Four profiles of teacher adjustment were identified. Three classes were characterized by high levels of stress and were distinguished by variations in coping and burnout ranging from (a) high coping/low burnout (60%) to (b) moderate coping and burnout (30%), to (c) low coping/high burnout (3%). The fourth class was distinguished by low stress, high coping, and low burnout. Only 7% of the sample fell into this Well-Adjusted class. Teachers in the high stress, high burnout, and low coping class were associated with the poorest student outcomes. Implications for supporting teachers to maximize student outcomes are discussed.

Pupil progress held back by teachers' poor mental health

Jonathan Glazzard: Centre for Excellence in Mental Health in Schools

Leeds Beckett University

23 January, 2018

Children’s education is suffering because of poor mental health experienced by many teachers, according to new research.

In a survey of 775 teachers, 77% said that poor teacher mental health is having a detrimental impact on pupils’ progress.

The survey, carried out by Leeds Beckett University and teaching advice website Teachwire.net, examined the relationship between teachers’ mental health and their ability to teach and maintain positive relationships with pupils.

Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance in Schools

People Management Business (PMB) Report No 1 May 2018.pdf

In March 2018, the People Management Business (PMB) sent out a simple 4 question survey to 40 Headteachers and Academy CEOs on the theme of wellbeing and work-life balance. The purpose was to gather examples of good practice and effective strategies. 35 questionnaires were returned.

A summary of the findings:

• achieving work-life balance is more complex than simply ameliorating teacher workload
• many Headteachers feel ill-prepared to cope with the expectations of the role. This includes addressing the symptoms of staff stress
• the perception of a lack of control is a primary causal factor in workplace stress associated with poor wellbeing/work-life balance
• Headteachers need to be empowered to role-model positive wellbeing/work-life balance behaviours and strategies
• a supportive governing body that fully understands the vulnerabilities of Headship and genuinely‘checks-in’ with the Head regularly on their well-being is essential.

Far from being only a checklist of good practice, PMB believes the study makes a significant contribution to research into wellbeing in schools and academies, theissue impacting on education today.

Gary Edwards

The People Management Business

Global Happiness: Policy Report (2018)

Global Happiness Council

The 2019 Global Happiness and Well-Being Policy Report is produced by the Global Happiness Council (GHC) and contains papers by expert working groups on happiness for good governance. This report provides evidence and policy recommendations on best practices to promote happiness and well-being.

The 2019 Global Happiness and Well-Being Policy Report was presented at World Government Summit held in Dubai on February 10, 2019.

Evidence-Informed Teaching: A Self-Assessment Tool for Schools

Chartered College of Teaching (2018)

Enables teachers to review to what extent they use research to inform teaching and learning.

Teaching and Learning Research Summaries:

A collection for easy access

Tom Sherrington: Teacher Head June 2017

Not strictly related to teacher wellbeing but this is such an excellent collection of research into teaching and learning that we have included it here. There are several superb summaries of educational research that have been compiled into easily accessible websites and articles in pdf format that can be read online and shared with staff. Tom Sherrington, author of the blog teacherhead,com pulls them together into one place for easy access.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relation of burnout components (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy) with employees’ self-rated job performance and prosocial behavior and test a conceptual model that incorporates the direct and indirect relationships of the burnout components with job performance and prosocial behavior. A paper-and-pencil survey battery was completed by 262 working adults in a university setting. The independent and dependent variables were collected one month apart to reduce the likelihood of common method variance bias. Emotional exhaustion and professional inefficacy were associated with lower task and contextual performance, and prosocial behavior. Cynicism was a significant partial mediator of the emotional exhaustion and professional inefficacy relations with three outcome variables, linking to increased task performance, contextual performance, and prosocial behavior. This is one of the few studies that use the burnout process model to examine the links between burnout and performance and prosocial behavior.

Positive early childhood education:

Expanding the reach of positive psychology into early childhood

Lisa Baker, Suzy Green and Daniela Falecki (2017)

European Journal of Applied Positive Psychology Vol 1, Article 8 1-12

Research into the Circles for Learning Project within Secondary Schools

Alison Waterhouse (MA in Education by Research)

2017

It is widely understood that children’s emotional wellbeing influences their cognitive development and learning as well as their social skills. (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnick, Taylor & Schellinger, 2014; Public Health England 2014). Evidence shows that work on emotional and social competence and wellbeing has a wide range of educational and social benefits, including greater educational and work success, improved behaviour, increased inclusion, improved learning, greater social cohesion, increased social capital, and improvements to mental health. (Weare and Gray, 2003).

Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Education Profession

Education Support Partnership (October 2017)

This is the first ever report on the Mental Health of Teachers

Thriving at Work: The Stevenson/Farmer Review of Mental Health and Employers

Oct 2017

(Independent report commissioned by the Prime Minister)

Retaining and Developing the Teaching Workforce

National Audit Office (Sept 2017)

Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators

Slideshare: OECD (Sept 2017)

Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. With more than 125 charts and 145 tables included in the publication and much more data available on the educational database, Education at a Glance 2017 provides key information on the output of educational institutions; the impact of learning across countries; the financial and human resources invested in education; access, participation and progression in education; and the learning environment and organisation of schools.

Teacher Workload Action Plan

DfE (2017)

Introduction

'On 26 March 2016, we published the reports from three independent review groups set up to address the biggest issues emerging from the Workload Challenge – ineffective marking, use of planning and resources, and data management. The groups set out clear principles and made recommendations to be taken at every level in the school system. We accepted all the recommendations for government and this action plan sets out what we are doing to meet these.

'Schools have been using the three reports, and Ofsted and teaching unions have been spreading their messages, but we know workload is still a major concern for teachers across the country. The Teacher Workload Survey 2016 (TWS) – a commitment from the 2014 Workload Challenge - suggests that we are right to focus on removing unnecessary workload related to marking, lesson planning and administration of data. However, the findings provide additional information about where we should be targeting workload reduction, and this plan sets out further steps we will take to do this. This includes an offer to schools of targeted support to help them remove unnecessary practice which does not improve pupils’ life chances.

'This plan shows our continued dedication to solving this problem. But we know that everyone involved in education has a role to play in relentlessly challenging and removing practices which add unnecessary burdens. Only then can teachers fully focus on providing the best education to their pupils, and have time to spend on their own development'.

How Teamwork Improves Wellbeing

What Works Wellbeing (2017)

What Works Wellbeing analysed 1400 research reports and found that creating supportive and effective teams was a common factor in promoting individual and organisational wellbeing.

Teacher Workload Survey 2016 DfE

(Feb 2017)

Read Pages 1-10 for the Executive Summary.

Click on the button below to download the 'Teacher Workload Survey' to your desktop

Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators

(2016)

Education at a Glance is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides key information on the output of educational institutions; the impact of learning across countries; the financial and human resources invested in education; access, participation and progression in education; and the learning environment and organisation of schools.

The 2016 edition introduces a new indicator on the completion rate of tertiary students and another one on school leaders. It provides more trend data and analysis on diverse topics, such as: teachers’ salaries; graduation rates; expenditure on education; enrolment rates; young adults who are neither employed nor in education or training; class size; and teaching hours. The publication examines gender imbalance in education and the profile of students who attend, and graduate from, vocational education.

The report covers all 35 OECD countries and a number of partner countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and South Africa).

This edition includes more than 125 figures and 145 tables. The Excel™ spreadsheets used to create them are available via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication. More data is available in the OECD Education Statistics database.

Protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to improve the mental health support and training available to secondary school teachers

The WISE (Wellbeing in Secondary Education) study: Kidger et al. (2016)

How can school-based support boost teachers' wellbeing?

Karen Salter - First published on SchoolWell (May 2016)

Karen Salter is an Educational Consultant working in Devon. She is currently carrying out training in coaching and is involved in a range of wellbeing projects. You can link with her on twitter @karensalter78 or LinkedIn.

Stress contagion in the classroom?

The link between classroom teacher burnout and

morning cortisol in elementary school students.

Eva Oberle; Kimberly A Schonert-Reichl. Social Science & Medicine 159: (2016) 30-37.

The first piece of research which links teacher stress with physiological stress responses in children. Teacher stress causes pupil stress which, in turn, causes more teacher stress.

Added Value: Mental Health as a Workplace Asset

Mental Health Foundation/UNUM (2016)

(Full report)

Shifting identities: a mixed-methods study of the experiences of teachers who are also parents

Submission for Degree of Doctor of Education

Dr Emma Kell (April 2016)

Dr Emma Kell is a secondary teacher of languages and English of 20 years. She leads an English department in North London and has experience as a Senior Leader and Head of Languages. She is wife to a journalist and mother to two girls, aged eight and six. I regularly publish articles and take part in TeachMeets and teacher conferences as a participant and seminar leader.

Emma Kell's research project, for a Doctorate in Education at Middlesex University, examines the experiences of teacher-parents in UK maintained schools, and poses the central question: What is the influence of parenthood on teacher identity, effectiveness, well-being and career aspirations?

The study examines the positive and negative influences at micro-, meso-, and macro-level on teacher identity, well-being and career aspirations and seeks to determine which policies and practices are effective when balancing parenting and teaching and how might these be developed further.

The thesis builds to the following overarching message:

Parenthood has a significant impact on teacher identity, with the vast majority of teachers questioned acknowledging a change in perspective with regard to their role in the classroom, their sense of professional vocation, and their relationships with colleagues.

Key features of role enrichment, or the positive influence of parenthood on teachers, include the following:

• An enhanced sense of moral purpose in their role as teacher or leader;
• Increased efficiency and improved time-management skills and an enhanced ability to prioritise tasks;
• An increased sense of empathy and understanding with colleagues, students and parents.

Where teacher-parents experience role conflict, or struggle to balance parenthood and teaching effectively, this includes the following key features:

• Feelings of guilt and regret at neglecting family, duties at home, or indeed duties at school;
• Feelings of exhaustion due to lack of time for sleep or relaxation and/or lack of time for oneself;
• Feelings of stress and frustration at juggling the two roles and feelings of ‘failure’ in one or both at different times.

The study concludes with a range of recommendations, on the clear understanding that each situation is unique and there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach.

The Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey

(2016)

(Executive Summary)

This survey explores the Health and Wellbeing of Principals (Headteachers) in Australia.

Eliminating unnecessary workload around marking

Report of the Independent Teacher Workload Review Group (March 2016)

Click on the button below to download 'Eliminating unnecessary workload around marking' to your desktop

Eliminating unnecessary workload associated with planning and teaching resources

Report of the Independent Teacher Workload Review Group (March 2016)

Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators

(2015)

This annual publication is the authoritative source for accurate and relevant information on the state of education around the world.
Featuring more than 150 charts, 300 tables, and over 100 000 figures, it provides data on the structure, finances, and performance of education systems in the OECD’s 34 member countries, as well as a number of partner countries.
It results from a long-standing, collaborative effort between OECD governments, the experts and institutions working within the framework of the OECD Indicators of Education Systems (INES) programme and the OECD Secretariat.

Teachers' Well-Being and Depressive Symptoms and Associated Risk Factors

Kidger et al. Journal of Affective Disorders (2015)

Results of Education Support Partnership's Health Survey into

teachers' wellbeing and mental health (Infographic)

(2015)

School Leadership and Student Outcomes

Identifying What Works and Why

Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration [BES]

Viviane Robinson, Margie Hohepa, and Claire Lloyd (2015) The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Teachers’ workload diary survey 2013

DfE Research report February 2014

Read Pages 1-7 for the Executive Summary showing average working hours per week of teachers in the UK and the tasks which they carry out.

Mental Health is Your Business

James's Story - The Business Case for a Workplace Policy

Equality and Human Rights Commission (Updated Jan 2014)

This article tells the story of James, a Primary School Teaching Assistant, who has been diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder. It compares side-by-side the personal and financial costs of supporting James as against

disciplining him for unacceptable performance.

Can Professional Environments in Schools Promote Teacher Development?

Explaining Heterogeneity in Returns to Teaching Experience

Matthew A. Kraft; John P. Papay (2014) Brown University, New Zealand

Aim This study tested whether the mediation model of burnout could predict nurses' turnover intentions.

Background A better understanding of what factors support a commitment to a nursing career could inform both policies and workplace practices. The mediation model of burnout provides a way of linking the quality of a nurseÕs worklife to various outcomes, such as turnover.

Method Data on areas of worklife, burnout, and turnover intentions were collected by surveying 667 Canadian nurses in the Atlantic Provinces.

Results The findings supported the mediation model of burnout, in which areas of worklife predicted burnout, which in turn predicted turnover intentions. Cynicism was the key burnout dimension for turnover, and the most critical areas of worklife were value conflicts and inadequate rewards.

Conclusions The results of this study provide some new insights into how the intention of nurses to leave their job is related to particular aspects of their worklife and to burnout.
Implications for nursing management These results suggest what may be the most appropriate areas to target for interventions to reduce the risk of nurses exiting early from their chosen career.

Keywords: burnout, quantitative methods, turnover intention, work environment

There is now a strong body of evidence (e.g. Hattie, 2009; Roorda et al., 2011) that confirms the value of positive teacher-student relationships for learning and behaviour. The quality of relationships in a school, however, also impacts on teacher wellbeing and their ability to cope well with the many and varied stresses that are the hallmarks of the profession. Teacher attrition is a major concern in the Western world – how teachers feel makes a difference to their ability to respond effectively to the challenges they face.

This article explores issues of social capital within the learning environment and how this impacts on all stakeholders within an ecological framework. It examines how teacher resilience might be enhanced by specific actions that promote positive feelings of belonging, respect, value, and trust. The article examines international research on these issues, including a specific qualitative study in six schools in Australia. Findings are confirmed and illustrated by an online survey on student wellbeing.

Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, and is defined by the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. The past 25 years of research has established the complexity of the construct, and places the individual stress experience within a larger organizational context of people’s relation to their work. Recently, the work on burnout has expanded internationally and has led to new conceptual models. The focus on engagement, the positive antithesis of burnout, promises to yield new perspectives on interventions to alleviate burnout. The social focus of burnout, the solid research basis concerning the syndrome, and its specific ties to the work domain make a distinct and valuable contribution to people’s health and well-being.