Ofsted inspections and targets harming teachers' mental health, finds survey
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Version 0 of 1. A relentless inspection regime and culture of target-setting is damaging teachers' mental health, with many reporting stress and exhaustion, a survey by a teaching union has found. More than half (55%) of those questioned by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) say work pressures are having a detrimental effect on their mental wellbeing, while almost four in 10 have noticed a rise in mental health problems among colleagues over the past two years. Of those teachers who did feel their job had damaged their mental health, many reported experiencing stress (80%), exhaustion (69%), disturbed sleep patterns (66%), anxiety (57%) and headaches (47%). Almost one in three said it had affected their appetite. The survey is released as the ATL begins its annual conference in Manchester, where the union's general secretary, Mary Bousted, will warn that teachers are juggling "unacceptable workloads". "Education professionals do more unpaid overtime than any other group and are put under constant intense pressure to meet targets, with excessive observation, changes in the curriculum and Ofsted inspections," she said over the weekend. "There are in-school pressures caused by Ofsted – pressures put upon teachers by school leaders to ensure that students demonstrate progress. There are demands for data, demands for lesson planning – it's as though nothing is done unless it's written down." The stigma attached to mental health issues means many are afraid to tell their schools, says the survey. More than two-thirds (68%) of teachers who reported experiencing mental health problems said they decided to hide it from their employers. Teachers will warn on Monday morning that one of the main causes of stress in schools – Ofsted – has lost almost all credibility. Robin Bevan, headteacher of Southend Boys' Grammar, will tell the conference that the organisation "is no longer just disliked, now disdained" and propose a motion calling for an inspection charter for the regulator, where all judgments are subject to a national programme of reliability sampling. "The whole discourse around Ofsted has changed," said Bousted, who is also expected to criticise Ofsted in her closing speech on Wednesday. "The agency can no longer sail through insouciantly pretending that there's no problem with the quality control of its inspections, nor with its methodology." The ATL did not take part in the most recent strike action but says morale among its members is low. A lecturer from a college in Manchester told the survey: "Work eats into every aspect of a teacher's life …Teachers are over-worked, stressed and unhappy. The profession is full of ill-health and tiredness." |