Half of the MBO teams suffer from a teacher shortage
Almost half of the education teams in MBO is struggling with a teacher shortage. Most often, managers then resort to a redistribution of tasks within the education team. MBO employees who suffer from the teacher shortage are less satisfied. “In MBO we often solve problems ourselves, but in the end this is at the expense of the quality of education,” says AObdriver Tamar van Gelder.
Picture: Type tank
That is one of the results from the AOb-report: 'Research into education teams, division of labor and professionalization within MBO institutions'. A survey covered by AOb-members has been deported and filled in by 928 MBO teachers, instructors, teaching assistants and managers.
Emergency solutions
In total, 46 percent of the respondents indicate that there is a teacher shortage. The most frequently chosen emergency solution in the event of a shortage is the redistribution of tasks, according to 48 percent. One of the consequences of redistribution is that some employees work overtime which, depending on the position, is not paid. 33 percent of the education teams open a vacancy to recruit new colleagues when there is a shortage. One of the respondents mentions in the open comments that a vacancy is not always distributed in the event of a shortage: 'No new colleagues are recruited for long-term sick colleagues. Hours are divided among colleagues. The workload is very high. ' Other emergency solutions are an adjustment of the curriculum (14 percent), the hiring of fewer students (4 percent) and the use of unauthorized persons in the classroom, such as a teaching assistant or trainees (3 percent).
Less satisfied
MBO personnel dealing with a teacher shortage are much less satisfied. For example, 61 percent indicated that there was insufficient time to properly distribute the work within the team and 55 percent believe that they had too little influence over the decision-making of the division of tasks. Colleagues who do not suffer from a shortage indicate this to a lesser extent.
Last summer, teams in MBO made agreements about the division of labor for the current school year 2019-2020. Only a narrow majority, 52 percent, is satisfied with the work agreements made. 33 percent are dissatisfied. Especially teachers who work in a large teaching team (41 to 50 people) are not happy with the agreements.
MBO employee: 'In the education team where I work, there is no consultation or division of labor within the team itself. Insight into each other's annual tasks is not done'
Often there is not enough time for the division of labour. Half of all teachers, instructors and teaching assistants - from larger and smaller teaching teams - indicate this. Moreover, many MBO teachers do not have a good overview of their colleagues' tasks, which makes it difficult to achieve a fair distribution. 'In the education team where I work, there is no consultation or division of labor within the team itself. Insight into each other's annual tasks is not done', writes an MBO teacher. Another employee reports: Fewer hours have been allocated for tasks. Where it was indicated that it was not possible within the set hours, nothing was done about it. This has led to considerable frustration within the team. The number of tasks also seems to increase every year. ' Managers are much more positive. For example, 60 percent of this group think that there was sufficient time to distribute the work properly and eight in ten managers are satisfied with the work agreements made for the team.
Size of team
The survey also specifically asked about the size of the teaching teams. * Size of MBO teams as shown in the survey:
42 percent: team of 11-20 people
23 percent: team of 2-10 people
22 percent: team of 21 - 30 people
3 percent: team of 41-50 people
3 percent: team of more than 50 people
Most teams in MBO consist of a maximum of 30 people. Yet teams of 40 or more employees are no exception. 54 percent of MBO employees are satisfied with this, they indicate. 16 percent think the team is too large and 19 percent too small. Lecturers who work in a team of between 11 and 20 people are most satisfied with the size. That satisfaction decreases as the team grows. For example, a majority of MBO employees who work in a team of more than 30 people indicate that this is too large. Employees who work in a team of 41 to 50 people are the least satisfied.
Training regularly falls short among MBO employees. Last school year, almost a quarter of the teachers did not follow any training that required consultation with the team. Replacement or lack of time are often the culprits. For example, an MBO employee writes: 'Would like to do more training with the team, but due to work pressure, the training that you have to arrange yourself as a team is pushed to the background and is therefore regularly cancelled. There are almost always urgent matters that take priority.'
'Would like to do more training with the team, but due to work pressure, the training that you have to arrange yourself as a team is pushed to the background'
Mentality
“This report shows that we often solve a lot ourselves in MBO: there is a shortage, we solve that in the team,” says AObdriver Tamar van Gelder. “That is a mentality that fits in with MBO, but which ultimately comes at the expense of educational quality. The same applies to professionalisation: then there must be consultations with a manager or the team and there is no replacement. The schooling usually fails. While: when you work in MBO, a lot is required of you. Teachers must be aware of developments in the profession and they must keep up to date with the latest knowledge of pedagogy and didactics. It means that you have to be very agile and be able to respond quickly to new developments. This requires time and space for training, the AOb therefore calls for an individual training budget that employees can fill in as they see fit. ”
