Education Support have released their Teacher Wellbeing Index 2024. The index provides an insight into the mental health and wellbeing of teachers and education staff working in the UK.
Education Support share their 8th Annual survey of over 3000 education staff to report on the impact of pupil and parent behaviour on staff morale and wellbeing.
Key findings include:
- A reported increase in challenging behaviour from pupils, students and parents has negatively impacted teachers mental health.
- Verbal and physical abuse by pupils or students has increased due to the lack of provision for students’ physical, emotional, and mental health needs.
- Overall, there has been an improvement in some wellbeing data and perceptions of workplace culture and its impact on mental health and wellbeing.
Forward excerpt from the CEO of Education Support., Sinéad Mc Brearty:
“It is a rare and welcome pleasure to spot flashes of good news in this year’s Index. If this were a recipe book, the entire quantity of good news would be no more than a pinch. Nonetheless, these small, statistically significant movements bring much-needed hope. It would be foolish to get carried away. Until we have another year of improved data we won’t know if this represents a one-off finding, or a trend with momentum. The possibility that this may be the moment when the tide turns is an appealing prospect. Could this be the beginning of better?
Either way, a decisive policy response to improve the wellbeing and retention of education staff remains much needed. The stakes are high. Improving the experience of working in schools and colleges will undoubtedly improve staff retention. This in turn will make it easier, and actually credible, to sell the profession to the next generation of educators. Since we are losing around 10 per cent of the workforce each year, and failing to recruit at a sustainable replacement rate, the potential prize is invaluable. The future of high quality education systems across the UK will be built on successful workforce strategies, or not at all. This year’s change won’t be palpable on the ground, but if we can sustain this improvement for three, four, five years… the workforce will feel very different.
In the meantime, we still see disturbingly high rates of stress, anxiety, depression and burnout across the education workforce. This year’s report shines a light on the impact of pupil and parent behaviour on staff morale and mental health. We also explore how staff mental health is affected when they feel their pupils and young people are unsupported by wider public services. The extent of that impact is startling and points to societal dynamics that go way beyond our schools and colleges.
The mental health and wellbeing challenges in the workforce are chronic, and require urgent action. Children who were born during the isolation of the pandemic are now entering schools. More than ever, our children and young people need the very best quality of presence and attention that we are capable of offering them. We must make poor teacher wellbeing unacceptable. We must build on our small successes and continue to establish a new standard for educator wellbeing. By improving the health of our workforce, we give our children and young people the best classroom experience and
the greatest opportunity in life.
School and college leaders cannot continue this mission alone, however. They need the support, guidance, and – crucially – funds from central Government to maintain the positive momentum.”
Read Teacher Wellbeing Index 2024 full report here: https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/media/ftwl04cs/twix-2024.pdf
Want some stress relief? Read our blog post on some top tips to help you with your work place stress: https://amhie.com/top-tips-to-reduce-your-stress-levels/
Source: Education Support November 2024.