Promoting Teacher wellbeing in Wales

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    Promoting Teacherellbeing in Wales:W

    Happy healthy teachers equals happy healthy schoolsHappy healthy teachers equals happy healthy schools

    Promoting TeacherWellbeing in Wales

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    Healthy Minds at Work

    Healthy Minds at Work is an initiative which helps people who are experiencing sterss,anxiety or depression to stay in their jobs. It is a partnership of organisations in Wales thatare working together with support from EQUAL, part of the European Social Fund,provided through the Welsh Assembly Government and implemented by the WelshEuropean Funding Office.

    www.healthymindsatwork.org.uk

    Teacher Support Cymru

    Teacher Support Cymru is an independent charity providing professional and personalsupport to teachers in Wales. Our services are developed in response to the changingpolitical and educational scene in order to meet the needs of our teachers as effectively aspossible.

    Teacher Support Cymru is part of the Teacher Support Network, which was first formed in1877. It is a charity dedicated to providing vital support to teachers throughout the UK.Using its unique knowledge and expertise the charity works to improve the personalwellbeing and effectiveness of training, serving and retired teachers and in some cases thewhole school workforce.

    Teacher Support Cymru is a registered charity no. 1100771.

    Further copies of this report can be obtained from:

    Teacher Support CymruUnit 9, Cefn CoedNantgarwCardiffCF15 7QQ

    www.teachersupport.info/cymru

    This product has been part funded by the European Social Fund under theEqual Community Initiative Programme. The contents do not necessarilyreflect the opinion or position of the European Commission and/or the NationalAssembly for Wales.

    This product has been part funded by Healthy Minds at Work (with Supportfrom the Equal Community Initiative Programme). The contents do notnecessarily reflect the opinion or position of Healthy Minds at Work.

    http://www.teachersupport.info/abouthttp://www.teachersupport.info/cymruhttp://www.teachersupport.info/cymruhttp://www.teachersupport.info/about
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    Introduction

    In late 2006, Teacher Support Cymru began research on teacher wellbeing in Wales, withthe support of Healthy Minds at Work. The final report for this research was produced inDecember 2007.

    This report presents a summary of the research findings and looks at the implications forpolicy and practice to support teacher wellbeing in Wales.

    Why teacher wellbeing matters

    Employee wellbeing is not just a matter of health or duty of care.

    There is a tangible link between employee wellbeing and effectiveness in the workplace.Many employers now realise that promoting positive wellbeing in their workforce leads toconcrete business outcomes, for example improved productivity and performance.

    Excessive levels of stress can have a negative impact on wellbeing in the workplace. Theresults of this study show that teachers in Wales believe that they work in a high-stressenvironment and that this stress impacts on their general health and wellbeing. Thisperception is supported by evidence from the Health and Safety Executive and fromnumerous other studies.

    There is now a significant body of evidence that individual and organisational effectivenessare influenced by employee wellbeing, and in particular stress. The Health and SafetyExective set out what it described as the business case for tackling stress in theworkplace. Referring to research, they suggest that work-related stress affects anorganisation adversely in terms of:

    Commitment to work.

    Performance and productivity.

    Staff turnover and intention to leave.

    Attendance levels.

    Recruitment and retention.

    Customer satisfaction.

    Organisational image and reputation.

    Potential litigation.

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    Until recently, most of the evidence on the relationship between employee wellbeing andeffectiveness has not been specific to schools or teachers; however, research conductedby Briner and Dewberry in 2007 for Worklife Support found a significant relationshipbetween both primary and secondary school teacher wellbeing and pupil performance.The authors suggest the possiblity of a virtuous circle in which teacher wellbeing andpupil performance may be reciprocally related; in other words pupil performance may

    cause more positive teacher perceptions of wellbeing and vice versa.1

    A wealth of research identifies teachers as an at-risk group. The Health and SafetyExecutive recognises schools as high-stress environments. Research by psychologistMatt Jarvis2 explains why stress is so prevalent in teaching and why it affects teachers somuch. Based on a review of international research, he concluded that teacher stress is areal phenomenon and that high levels are reliably associated with a range of causalfactors. Jarvis divided these factors into three broad inter-related areas:

    Factors intrinsic to teaching.

    Cognitive factors affecting the individual vulnerability of teachers.

    Systemic factors that operate at an institutional and political level.

    In a comparative study into ill-health retirement for teachers and health care workers inScotland

    3, a greater proportion of teachers were found to suffer from circulatory, mental,

    respiratory and nervous system disorders. Evidence from otherresearch studies, notablythe Healthy Working Lives Group (HWLG) research in Scotland

    4and research by Hoel et

    al (1999)5, point to high levels of burn-out and early retirement due to psychologicalproblems, including depression.

    Clearly, developing a better understanding of teacher wellbeing and how to support it inWales is critical to improving the effectiveness of our schools.

    1Briner & Dewberry, Report for Worklife Support on the Relation between Well-Being and climate in Schools and

    Pupil Performance, Worklife Support, London, May 2007, p. 71.2 Matt Jarvis, Stress: a Critical Review, Stress News, volume 14, no. 1, International Stress Management Association,2002.3 J. Brown, W. Gilmour & E. Macdonald, Return to work after ill-health retirement in Scottish NHS staff and teachers,Occupational Medicine, Vol. 56, 2006, pp. 480-484.4 C. Dunlop and E. Macdonald, The teachers health and wellbeing study Scotland, NHS Health Scotland, 2004.5

    Hoel et al, Workplace Bullying,International review of ind ustrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 14,1999.

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    Research aims

    The Teacher Support Cymru study aimed to develop a better understanding of teacherstress and wellbeing in Wales. The study concentrated on three areas:

    The state of teachers health and wellbeing.

    The teaching climate.

    Support mechanisms for teacher wellbeing (both formal and informal).

    It is hoped that this understanding will assist in the design of effective support services anddevelopment of appropriate policies and practice.

    More specifically, the aims of the research were:

    1. To discover from teachers in Wales how they view their physical and emotionalwellbeing and its impact.

    2. To look at the current teaching climate (in particular workload and planning,preparation and assessment (PPA) time) and how teachers feel this has impactedon their wellbeing.

    3. To identify the nature and extent of local authority support services for teachers.

    4. To discover from teachers what formal and informal support structures they use or

    would use.

    5. To establish the level of awareness and utilisation of support services by teachers.

    In order to achieve these aims the study used a range of techniques, including:

    A phone survey of all 22 Local Authorities in Wales

    A postal questionnaire of teachers from across Wales, focussing on four selectedregions to represent inner city, rural, regenerative and Welsh-speaking areas. Ofthe 1200 questionnaires sent to teachers, 312 were returned, giving a responserate of over 25%.

    Interviews with 7 teachers from a range of backgrounds to further explore some ofthe subjects raised in the postal questionnaire.

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    Research Findings

    This section presents a summary of the key findings from the research report. Theimplications of these findings are explored in the following section.

    Teachers Wellbeing and the Teaching Climate

    Most teachers (86%) who responded to the questionnaire consider their health tobe good to excellent, despite 40% stating they have a health condition.

    However, 62% of respondents had considered leaving the profession due to stressor ill-health.

    Most teachers (89%) find their job at least moderately stressful, and moreimportantly, 58% consider that excessive stress is compromising their physical

    and/or mental wellbeing.

    80% of teachers feel that stress has increased in the past 5 years.

    The top cause of stress cited by teachers is disruptive pupil behaviour. Other keycauses are too much administration/paperwork, workload/working hours and poormanagement practices (see Figure 1 below).

    73%

    22%

    28%

    44%

    45%

    17%

    44%

    19%

    10%

    61%

    36%

    5%

    9%

    1%

    2%

    7%

    30%

    15%

    14%

    38%

    0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

    1

    Pressure of school inspections

    Changes to your job

    Parental behaviour

    Unnecessary bureaucracy

    Absences

    Poor relationships with pupils

    Bullying by pupils

    Bullying by staff

    Poor relationships with colleagues

    The demand of your job

    Too much administration

    Poor timetable combinations

    Bullying by management

    Poor management

    Providing cover for teacher shortages

    Increased workload

    Long working hours

    Deadlines

    Hard targets

    Disruptive pupil behaviour

    Figure 1: Causes of stress cited by questionnaire respondents

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    Teachers overwhelmingly support the concept of PPA time.

    Over half of respondents (54%) believe that the implementation of PPA time hasmade a difference to their work-life balance, while 38% think it hasnt.

    Evidence from the interviews suggests that there may be significant variations in the

    implementation of PPA time between schools and also between individual teachers(in particular it may be less available for teachers in more senior positions).

    From the interviews, it appears that wellbeing is still low on the agenda for manyschools and teachers; however almost all respondents to the questionnaire felt thatschools should actively support health and wellbeing and would welcome moreinformation, awareness and support.

    Local Authority Support Service Provision

    There has been a significant increase in the provision of support services by LocalAuthorities (LAs) in the past few years, probably due to the introduction of theCorporate Health Standards.

    Service provision is different for each LA and there doesnt appear to be any formalmechanisms for sharing good practice or services between authorities.

    All LAs in Wales have an occupational health service and offer face-to-faceindividual counselling. In all cases both services are confidential and staff can self-refer. Almost all (95%) are provided for all council staff and none are specifically

    targeted at teachers. Some services are provided in-house while others areoutsourced to external providers. None of the LAs have a separate EmployeeAssistance Programme.

    Two local authorities employ a Staff Welfare Officer for teachers, while some othershave a Link Officer dedicated to schools.

    60% of LAs have a Wellbeing Policy, while 45% have a Wellbeing Strategy toimprove health and wellbeing.

    Most services are monitored internally by personnel or through Corporate Health

    Standard audits and no data was available to this study hence no conclusions couldbe formed on the effectiveness of these services.

    Support Structures Used by Teachers

    Teachers are generally much more likely to turn to informal support networks, e.g.family, friends, colleagues, than to professional support (with the exception of theirGP).

    Teachers are more likely to consult their GP for a physical illness than for stress,

    whereas they are equally likely to use informal support networks for both stress anda physical illness.

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    Teachers are much more likely to turn to their colleagues for support than to theirheadteacher (60% compared to 20%).

    Most teachers (80%) feel supported by friends/family and colleagues, 60% feelsupported by their pupils, while less than half (46%) feel supported by their seniormanagement.

    Level of awareness and use of formal support systems

    While all LAs now provide Occupational Health (OH) and counselling services,awareness of these services among teachers is low. Almost three-quarters ofrespondents to the survey did not know whether their LA provided an OH service,while over 85% did not know whether their LA provided staff counselling. Evenmore respondents (89%) felt that the did not know enough about the occupationalhealth and support services available to them from their LA.

    This general lack of awareness was also evident in the teacher interviews.Interviewees also expressed a lack of trust in the confidentiality of services providedby their LA and voiced fears about potential adverse consequences to their careershould they use such services.

    Very few teachers had previously used any support service provided by their LA.The most widely used service was OH at 2.5% of respondents.

    Not many teachers had previously used any kind of formal support service (whetherprovided by their LA or independently) such as a phone help-line, occupational

    health services and counselling; however, they did express a high level of interest inthese kind of services. A majority of teachers would be interested in using any ofthe suggested services, with the highest level of interest being in an independentphone-line and training workshops (e.g. stress managements, healthier lifestyle),both at 77%.

    28% of respondents had heard of Teacher Support Cymru. Once given briefinformation about the service, 87% of respondents stated that they would eitherconsider or possibly consider using the service in the future.

    Almost three-quarters of respondents to the questionnaire felt that teachers have

    specific health and wellbeing needs which would be best served by a specialistsupport facility tailored for teachers.

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    Implications for Supporting Teacher Wellbeing

    Interventions to improve teacher wellbeing

    In view of this research project as well as an understanding of other studies into teacherstress and wellbeing, there are some recommendations for teachers, schools and policy

    makers to consider.

    It is helpful to use a framework of interventions when considering these recommendationsin support of teacher wellbeing.

    The Healthy Working Lives Group (HWLG) study of teacher wellbeing in Scotland providedsuch a framework, dividing intervention into three categories:

    1. Individual level interventions measures which are focussed upon the teacher asan individual with his of her own health needs

    2. Individual-Organisational Interface level interventions Interventions whose focus isthe workplace. These will seek to modify either the day-to-day work environment orto address staff relationships within schools

    3. Systemic level interventions initiatives which usually take the form of policy-related changes that influence health and wellbeing.

    1. Individual level interventions

    Local Authority Support ServicesThe introduction of the Corporate Health Standards (CHS) for Wales appears to have hada dramatic impact in raising awareness of the importance of health and wellbeing at workamong Local Authority employers. It is pleasing to see that the Local Authorities in Walesappear to be placing an increasing focus on supporting the wellbeing of their employees,and that this has in turn lead to the provision of more support services such as counsellingfor employees.

    Unfortunately, it appears that most teachers are unaware that these services are available.Even when they are aware of services, teachers may be reluctant to use them due toconcerns around confidentiality, despite all local authorities stating that their occupationalhealth and counselling services are confidential and that employees can self-refer intothem.

    Increasing the use of existing services could have significant effects on teacher wellbeingand effectiveness. For example, the comparative study of the ill-health retirement of NHSworkers and teachers in Scotland found that 36% of teachers taking early retirement due

    to ill health were able to return to work at a later date, while the figure for health workers

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    was 10%. Over 90% of health workers retiring due to ill health had used occupationalhealth services; the corresponding figure for teachers was 10%.

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    It is important to build on the momentum created by the introduction of the CHS to furtherimprove service provision for teachers. While very few teachers have currently used any

    type of formal support service (either provided by their employer or independent), theyappear to be willing as an overwhelming majority expressed interest in using services andwere receptive to their employer providing increased support for their wellbeing. The lackof awareness of services could be addressed by developing specific initiatives to promotethe services within schools. Any such initiatives would also need to address teachersperceptions of lack of confidentiality and related fears of negative career implications ofseeking help.

    Service uptake may also be improved by providing services targeted specifically atteachers. At present most services appear to be aimed at all local authority employees

    and only two out of the 22 local authorities in Wales employ a staff welfare officer forteachers, yet most teachers feel that they have specific health and wellbeing needs whichwould be served best by a specialist support facility tailored to teachers. The HWLG studyin Scotland found that teachers working in local authorities where a Teacher WelfareOfficer is present were more than twice as likely to be aware of services provided by theiremployer.7 The Teacher Support Cymru research found that three-quarters of teachersthink that teachers have specific health and wellbeing needs which would be best servedby a specialist support facility tailored to their needs. These perceptions are important asif teachers believe this to be the case then they are likely to be more receptive to, andhence to use, targeted services.

    There is still much variation in the support provided across different local authorities. Notall authorities have a wellbeing policy in place while less than half have in place wellbeingstrategies to improved health and wellbeing in the workplace. Some services are providedin-house while others are outsourced (particularly common for counselling). Most servicesare regulated and maintained in-house so no data on effectiveness was available. Thereappears to be no formal mechanism for sharing good practice across authorities or forcomparing the effectiveness of services. It would be beneficial to set standards of goodpractice for these services and to have a standard system of evaluation across localauthorities to encourage the sharing of good practice and to avoid duplication of

    resources.

    Teacher Support Line Cymru

    Teacher Support Line Cymru is an individual-level intervention established for teachers inWales in 2002. The bilingual service, part-funded by the Welsh Assembly Government,offers a telephone helpline with a confidential and free stress management and adviceservice. It provides information, counselling, coaching and referral to other agencies 24hours a day, 365 days a year through its helpline and website. In addition, a wide range

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    J. Brown, W. Gilmour & E. Macdonald, Return to work after ill-health retirement in Scottish NHS staff andteachers, Occupational Medicine, Vol. 56, 2006, pp. 480-484.7

    C. Dunlop and E. Macdonald, p. 48.

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    of factsheets are available to download from the website. More recently an onlinecoaching facility has been added to complement the phone line service.

    Over the past two years (2006 through to the end of November 2007), the phone linereceived over 500 calls from teachers in Wales. Many of these were from teachers

    experiencing the kinds of work stressors outlined in this report. For example, almost aquarter of calls related to working conditions such as legal issues, performance and pay orworkload. Approximately 16% of calls related to people skills, of which almost three-quarter were about relationships with adults at work or harassment, while 15% were aboutrelationships with pupils..

    The benefits of a national phone line, independent of local authority employers, may arisefrom teachers perceptions of its confidentiality and because it is specifically tailored toteachers. However, it also rests on the investment made in the service, includingadvertising and awareness raising. The TSC research found that 23% of teachers were

    aware of Teacher Support Cymru, so there are still significant opportunities to raiseawareness of the services the charity provides. 87% of respondents stated that theywould either consider or possibly consider using the service in the future, suggesting thatmany more teachers could be helped if they were aware of the services offered.Increasing knowledge and awareness of services is a common challenge in the field, ascan be seen by the similarly low awareness levels of local authority support services.

    2. Individual-Organisational Interface level interventions

    The Welsh research raises serious questions about the nature of schools culture,management and leadership and their effects on individual and organisationaleffectiveness.

    Poor management and lack of support and involvement were common themes throughoutthe research. Almost 44% of teachers cited poor management as a cause of unwantedstress, while almost one-fifth listed bullying by management (compared to 9% bullying bystaff and only 1% bullying by pupils). Less than half of teachers felt supported by seniormanagement, much lower than the percentage who felt supported by their colleagues(80%), and lower even than the number who felt supported by their pupils (60%). Almost

    40% of teachers feel that their efforts and skills are never or rarely appreciated by seniormanagement, slightly more (43%) feel that they are sometimes appreciated while only14% feel that they are always appreciated. A similar picture emerged for how involvedteachers feel in the decisions made at their school which affect them.

    These figures are concerning as previous research has found that stress and work-relatedillness can be heightened when teachers feel they are not appreciated or not involved indecision making.

    8Control and support

    9are two of the six key areas identified in the HSE

    8C. Dunlop and E. Macdonald, p. 71.

    9 In the standards, the HSE defines Control as how much say the person has in the way they do their work and Support

    as the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues.

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    stress management standards, as there is strong evidence linking these stressors tohealth outcomes.

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    Research from the United States that assessed teacher stress and leadership styles inthree different primary schools found that leadership style is a significant organisational

    factor affecting teachers wellbeing. Teachers had significantly lower stress in the schoolwhere the headteachers leadership style was particularly focused on building relationshipswith staff and balancing this with strategic vision for the whole school.

    A survey of teachers in England conducted in 1999 found that 35% had reported beingbullied by a manager in the last five years, as opposed to an average of 24% across alloccupational sectors. This was interpreted as managers failing to cope with workloadsand resorting to bullying in an attempt to ensure that tasks got completed. Lack ofappropriate management training and development for headteachers also seems to havebeen a contributory factor.

    The Teacher Support Cymru research found that teachers were most likely to turn toinformal support networks for both physical ailments and stress. This included colleaguesat their school as well as friends and family. This is not surprising as previous studieshave found that social support among colleagues had both a direct positive effect onhealth. Developing innovative interventions to encourage mutual support among teacherscould have a major impact on improving teacher wellbeing.

    The Teacher Support Cymru study failed to find examples of individual-organisationalinterface level interventions with a focus in the workplace which sought to modify either the

    day-to-day work environment or to address relationships and leadership within schools.Undoubtedly these types of initiatives will be taking place in Welsh schools on an ad-hocbasis, but it appears that no mechanisms are in place to evaluate such schemes or todisseminate effective practice. The research found only two examples of evaluatedinterventions at the individual-organisational and systemic levels in Britain. These werethe Well-being Programme, a school-centric initiative originally piloted in Norfolk and laterextended to over 2,600 schools in the UK by social enterprise Worklife Support, and theCreating the Conditions initiative piloted by Teacher Support Scotland in 2007.

    The Well-being Programmeaims to help schools and local authorities reach their potentialby focusing on their employees - concentrating not only on what causes stress, but also onwhat creates wellbeing. As part of the programme, all school staff complete a confidentialWell-being survey, based on the HSE Management Standards for Work-Related Stress.The resulting data is analysed and all staff are involved in planning and carrying outpositive actions. The survey is repeated one year later to enable schools to evaluate theirprogress.

    Evaluations of the programme suggest the value of organisational interface levelinterventions. An evaluation in 2002

    11gathered the views of headteachers and found that:

    10 C Mackay et al, Management Standards and work-related stress in the UK: policy background and science, Work

    & Stress, Vol. 18, pp. 91-112, April-June 2004, p. 104.

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    89% rated the overall school culture as having improved since joining the Norfolkprogramme

    70% rated the retention of existing staff as either better or much better since joining

    88% rated their staffs performance as being better or much better since joining the

    programme

    Another evaluation, a qualitative study by the University of East Anglias Centre for AppliedResearch in Education (CARE) was more robust. The researchers tracked the changes instaff views and experiences in four areas of most concern identified by staff before theWell-being Programme. A 4% improvement across the areas was found. 77% of staffsaid the Wellbeing philosophy and practice had closely matched the needs of theirschool.

    The further pilot of the Well-being Programme was carried out in London from 2003-2005.

    One London authority carried out an evaluation of the impact of the programme on staffsickness absence and its associated costs. They found that between 2003 and 2004:

    Sickness absence fell by 33% in primary schools participating in the Well-beingProgramme, saving each an average of 2,981.

    Sickness absence in primary schools that didnt join the programme went up by15% in the same period.

    Sickness absence fell by 36% in secondary schools participating in the programme,

    saving each an average of 11,025.

    Sickness absence in secondary schools that didnt join the programme fell by only5% over the same period.

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    The Creating the Conditions pilot aimed to develop a multi-faceted approach to improveteacher wellbeing by trialling a number of different measures to improve teacher efficacyand resilience. The project was designed in a way to encourage individual and schoolownership and to be integrated into mainstream activity. The pilot project commenced inSeptember 2005 and finished in July 2007 and involved 18 schools in Fife and

    Renfrewshire. The pilot used the Well-being Programme as a foundation, and trialled arange of different measures to improve teacher efficacy and resilience, includingappreciative enquiry and action learning sets.

    The evaluation of the pilot found that the project had a positive impact on schools, raisingthe awareness and profile of staff wellbeing and introducing wellbeing into schooldevelopment planning.

    13Benefits included improved morale and better communication

    within schools. The project had a greater impact on the primary sector than on thesecondary sector, probably due to the smaller size of primary schools making

    11Opinion Leader Research, 2002

    12 Well-being measuring the impact, Work Life Support, 2006, p. 3.13

    Creating the Conditions Evaluation by Consultancy World, forthcoming.

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    communication links easier and providing more opportunity for the whole school to cometogether. The evaluation was not able to assess whether the specific health, financial andeffectiveness outcomes envisaged were achieved due to the limited timeframe of thestudy. This is a common problem with the evaluation of workplace initiatives over a limitedtimeframe.

    3. Systemic level interventions

    Planning Preparation and Assessment (PPA) Time

    While the introduction of PPA time has had a positive impact on work-life balance for amajority of teachers, workload and too much administration/paperwork were still identifiedby teachers as two of the key stressors they face. This suggests that further work isneeded to address these issues. Steps need to be taken to ensure that PPA is beingconsistently implemented so that it is equally available to all teachers in Wales. Inaddition, it may be worth exploring other initiatives to try to decrease teacher workload and

    the administrative burden, or to help teachers cope with competing demands of their job.

    Disruptive Pupil Behaviour

    The number one source of stress identified by teachers was disruptive pupil behaviour.This result is consistent with other studies and the increasing attention that pupil behaviouris receiving in the media. Previous research, such as the review by Jarvis and the HWLGstudy in Scotland has focussed on individual factors, such as differences in coping stylesand how effective a teacher feels in the classroom.

    In this study however the high number of teachers who identify pupil behaviour as a keystressor suggests that while individual coping styles may play an important part in beingteacher, pupil behaviour is still an issue which affects an overwhelming majority ofteachers. Consequently there may be underlying systemic issues which also need to beaddressed.

    The general perception among teachers appears to be that pupil behaviour is a growingproblem. While it was beyond the scope of this Welsh study to identify the reasons for thisperceived increase, generational change appeared to be emerging as a common theme,linked to issues around respect for authority, and changes to society due to the rapid pace

    of change, the uptake of new technologies etc. Disruptive pupil behaviour is clearly anarea which needs to be addressed as a priority. More work is needed to understand thereasons for perceived increase in pupil disruption and to develop and trial new initiatives.It is likely that these initiatives will need to encompass the systemic, individual-organisational interface and individual levels.

    Recent Government legislation has clarified and enshrined in law a teachers right todiscipline pupils. This systemic level intervention will only be successful if it is effectivelyimplemented at a local level.

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    Conclusion

    It is clear from the research evidence that teachers work in a high-stress environment andneed support in order to maintain and improve their wellbeing. This support can comefrom both formal and informal support systems. Awareness of local authority and other

    support services (including those provided by Teacher Support Cymru) is low, but teacherswould generally consider using services if made aware of them. Schools and localauthorities have a responsibility to support teacher wellbeing, and thus to increaseawareness and accessibility of all support services.

    There are a range of factors within schools, including management culture, workload andpupil behaviour which contribute to teachers experiencing undue stress. Organisation-wide wellbeing programmes can tackle some of these issues and have been shown tohave very positive results. Some issues, however, will require systemic levelinterventions, such as the introduction of PPA time.

    Much is still unknown about the causes and impact of teacher stress and how to provideappropriate support to reduce stress and improve teacher wellbeing. Further research inthe area is needed to understand the issues and develop and evaluate appropriatesolutions.

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