Last weekend The Guardian published a piece by John Harris about the teachers’ strike. As usual, he made some astute observations. He highlights the extent to which teachers’ pay has decreased in real terms (20% since 2010) and key data relating to the crisis in teacher retention. Of course the two are not unrelated – few people would happily accept a situation where their job description was regularly expanding whilst their pay decreased in real terms. John Harris also rightly recognises that the current teacher strikes are not primarily about pay for teachers, but about funding for schools.
However, there has been little to no reporting on the current situation which fully reflects what is happening. Across the team at SSAT, we see clear issues repeated in many schools, which do not seem to be getting enough attention. These issues are fundamental to understanding why many teachers and school leaders believe that the current situation is unsustainable.
- The impact of the pandemic is still very evident
Since schools reopened, many have seen considerably more issues with disruptive behaviour. This is something that is being consistently seen in all phases and all contexts. Schools which have never had to prioritise behaviour management are being forced to reconsider their approach. This includes schools with skilled and effective leaders and previously positive and engaged pupils. Where things were less stable pre-pandemic, these problems are often even more acute. Pupils lost positive habits and routines during the pandemic and these have been hard to re-establish.
Research, notably that of Professor Barry Carpenter, has shown that the experience of the pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health and wellbeing of young people. This reflects what school leaders say. Schools are struggling to support a dramatic increase in the number of pupils presenting with significant mental health issues, at a time when access to specialist services is extremely limited. Schools are trying to provide specialist support to young people in crisis at a time when those who previously provided expertise and additional capacity, such as school counsellors and nurses are no longer there due to funding cuts.
- Schools as the “fourth emergency service”
In the last couple of years I have heard numerous school leaders use this expression. Many headteachers describe how significantly the remit of their work has increased. Due to underfunding of social services and specialist outreach teams, notably CAMH, schools find themselves with nowhere to turn when dealing with a child and/or family in crisis. Unwilling to turn their backs on people in their community in need, teachers and school leaders are trying desperately to plug these gaps, at a time when many schools are under-staffed and significantly under-funded themselves.
It is not only that this adds to the workload of school staff – since schools don’t have the resources to meet this need, people are left feeling overwhelmed and anxious about not being able to provide the support that is needed. Dealing regularly with children and families in crisis takes a toll on the mental health and wellbeing on school staff. As one primary head puts it “we could provide wider support to our families; we would probably do a good job of it, but the reality is that we don’t have enough money in the budget to pay our staff, let alone provide that kind of outreach.”
- Schooling during a cost of living crisis
The current cost of living crisis is, not surprisingly, considerably increasing the number of families looking for additional help. As already mentioned, in the absence of access to support services, schools find themselves in the frontline again. Teachers have often paid for resources out of their own pocket or helped those pupils who regularly “forget” their lunch money. However, the current realities are seeing some schools installing washing machines to ensure that children are not being kept away from school because their family is unable to provide clean clothes and opening up the school canteen for evening meals to provide cheap food for their community. One senior leader explained how their staff had ended up having to take care of a young child for the day recently, when they learned that a year 11 student had failed to arrive for her GCSE exam because she was at home caring for a younger sibling. He had an INSET day and their parents couldn’t afford to take time off work.
School leaders and teachers are continually trying to remove barriers to learning and they often succeed against the odds. However, when many of these barriers stem from issues far beyond the control of the school, teachers can be left feeling that they are fighting an unwinnable battle. This is not helped, when instead of receiving recognition for all that they do, politicians and press are quick to paint a negative picture of the profession.
The teachers’ strikes are not really about teacher pay – although teachers have good reason to feel aggrieved on that front. They are about our young people. Teaching is an incredibly demanding job, but people commit to teaching and leading schools because they believe they can make a difference to young people. The current circumstances are making it more challenging to maintain that belief.
As things stand, teachers and school leaders are leaving the profession in droves. Applications for teacher training are down. This is not because of teacher pay, but because teachers and school leaders are overwhelmed.
Many headteachers feel that they are not able to succeed in their roles because they cannot recruit the teachers that they need. It is not unusual to hear of schools narrowing their curriculum simply because they cannot recruit any teachers with that specialism. School budgets are stretched yet further by the need to rely on costly recruitment agencies. School leaders also talk about the impossible choice of whether it is better to employ a teacher who is not of the standard they would expect, or to try and manage the gap with existing staff.
Many teachers feel that they are not able to succeed in their roles because they lack even the most basic resources – being forced to ask for donations from parents to fund paper and glue sticks. And that is before you add in the complexity of working with a generation of children who are in need of greater support and with families who are grappling with the profound effects of the cost of living crisis.
And yet, despite all of this, schools remain places of hope. Teachers and leaders remain positive about the potential of their pupils and committed to finding ways to improve their practice. As ever, young people bring a positive perspective to even the most challenging of circumstances.
Teachers should not and cannot be expected to address all of the issues that come into school. Much wider measures are needed to support young people and their families. But, teachers and school leaders should not be considered unreasonable when they make it clear that the current situation is not sustainable and that it is not good enough for our young people.
