Preparing newly qualified teachers (NQTs) for the realities of being a classroom teacher is a challenge I’ve been working on for years and have still to conquer. We’ve tried employing NQTs at the end of the summer term and where possible we train our own teachers and they’ve been with us for a year, but it seems nothing quite prepares them for doing the whole job, and each year it becomes a rising concern. Increased workload has become something of a ‘norm’ in the teaching profession and NQTs may find themselves in a ‘sink or swim’ position quite early on; suffice to say, that doesn’t mean it should go unchallenged or unrecognised.
On the contrary, it is the duty of the head and department leaders to ensure every teacher, (particularly NQTs who don’t have the benefit of years’ of experience), are adequately supported and that their workload is manageable.
Too many teachers seem to be marking class work and planning lessons in the evenings and at the weekends. In fact, reports of working 50-60 hours per week are not uncommon amongst the profession, something that may come as quite a shock to the unsuspecting NQT.
As leaders we must understand the drivers for increased pressure
Changes have meant that it’s no longer satisfactory for teachers or NQTs to simply deliver the curriculum, they need to design it too along with the assessment framework. Workloads quickly spiral even for experienced teachers (let alone one with limited teaching years behind them).
Aside from the greater numbers of children currently in mainstream education, there are a number of contributors to increased workloads on teachers today. The provision for SEND pupils, the complexity of individual needs of children, the lack of funding for that provision and of course, and the higher parental expectation that children’s needs are met to a high level, all have an impact on workload.
For teachers generally, this is exacerbated by the continual pressure on schools in terms of the diversity of issues they should be providing educationally, not to mention the increasing numbers of vulnerable pupils who need social and pastoral care. Pressures on other public sector services such as the NHS, social services etc. mean that gaps in provision and meeting the needs of families often fall to schools to be filled.