Teacher shortage causes general unrest in special education
The teacher shortage is greatest in (secondary) special education, where the pupils are most vulnerable. Education teams do what they can, but all the ingredients for chaos are there. 'The number of students per class has increased enormously.'
“I can only talk to you briefly, because I am doing three things at the same time,” deputy director Nanda van Hoek of the Berg en Bosch College begins the telephone conversation in a hurried but friendly manner. “That sounds like understaffing. We are about 3 or 4 fte short.” The school, which specializes in young people with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), has therefore approached the employment agency. “We now no longer have shortages, but it is an emergency measure. Nothing against these 'flyers' - I'm super glad they're here - but they're only there for a few months and it takes a lot longer before you can read and write with our students.”
Explode
In order to make things go as smoothly as possible for the substitutes and the students, the Berg en Bosch College does not put them directly in front of a class. “The whole thing would explode immediately and a teacher would run away screaming.” Invaders are first paid for a few days. This way they see what a predictable lesson looks like and get to know the class a bit. They are given time to read the student plans and have a conversation with the remedial educationalist who knows the care needs of the students well.
You can read this article for free from the Education magazine of December 2022. Want to stay informed of everything that is going on in education? Join the AOb! And receive the Education magazine ten times a year.
CHECK ALL THE BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
“Because of that preparation you can prevent a lot of misery”, says Van Hoek. “Even small tips can help enormously. Such as: talk a bit slower and sometimes take a break, because a student with ASD can slam into a lot of language. Also know that it will not immediately go well if you are in front of the class and then ask for help.” According to Van Hoek, her team is always ready for substitutes and the students, so that everything continues to run as smoothly as possible. "I'm grateful for that and it's nice when teachers say 'I'll catch this or add that for a while', but you do run the risk that teachers will go over their limits."
Today five classes were at home
General restlessness
Ellen Dalhuisen sees that colleagues cross borders every day. She is a coach and teacher of German at Altra College Bleichrodt in Amsterdam for secondary special education (vso). “We have a very high absenteeism because everyone is trying to keep the balls in the air. Today five classes were at home.”
She doesn't know exactly how many FTEs the school has, that varies. But every morning all teachers receive a day schedule that states where they have to fill in during their break time. “You don't know the names of those students, you don't know where they left off with the teaching material, they work at different levels and you don't have time to prepare anything. All ingredients for chaos, especially with our target group, cluster 4. You often go and watch a movie to keep the peace.”
This year the schedule has already changed three times
Last year, the school made use of Lukida, an organization that supplies subject teachers who teach creative subjects in the intermediate hours. Dalhuisen: “So if you are looking for ways to guarantee continuity to some extent, that helped a little bit. But to be honest, it is not really possible to guarantee continuity. Pupils get too few good lessons and there is general unrest. This year, the timetable has already been changed three times in order to solve the deficit puzzle as well as possible, which naturally causes a lot of unrest among students for whom a fixed structure is so important. We also don't have people to guide new colleagues well enough. The pressure is very high. I have seen many lecturers leave after a week.”
Confusion
Susanne van der Weel also demands a lot from the school team. She is a school coach and teaches at the Reijerwaard College in Rotterdam (pre-vocational secondary education with mainly ass problems, part of the Yulius organization). “We only have five classes, and one exam class has lost its core mentor who gives them almost all lessons in a fixed room. So that's quite a shortfall. Fortunately, because there are two exam classes at our school, we were able to make a complicated jigsaw puzzle.”
(the article continues below the illustration)
At the Reijerwaard, students can follow a two-year exam trajectory. “That's pretty unique. As a result, not all students follow the geography subject, for example, so that we can merge the two exam classes. This is not possible for all subjects, because sometimes the class is too large. We also check whether the students in question can handle the merging. Where merging is not possible, the internal supervisor spends extra hours in front of the class or a colleague who has a break because of gym, for example. This is how we try to cope with it together. It is in high demand from both teachers and students. Because of the many switching, which is especially difficult with students with ASD, you do notice confusion among them.”
Medical acts
Ellen Heerink, team leader and teacher at Mytyl School De Kleine Prins in Utrecht, also puts together a puzzle every day to ensure as much continuity as possible. “In theory, we have staffed all classes, but many people drop out every day due to illness and corona. My department has students with severe multiple disabilities, which makes it necessary to always have two people in front of the class: a teacher and a teaching assistant who do the medical procedures.”
It often comes down to teaching assistants replacing the teacher in case of illness
A fixed face and medical knowledge is necessary for the target group of the Little Prince and therefore raids are not possible. Heerink: “Fortunately, we have extra teaching assistants walking around and they often replace the teacher in case of illness, together with the regular teaching assistant in the class. So a lot is asked of our teaching assistants."
Heerink continues: "This means that things are left behind, such as walking with children who have movement disorders. Or the swimming lessons are cancelled, so that we can use the teaching assistant in the classroom. This prevents students from sitting at home too much, which is incredibly difficult. "It is disruptive for students and parents. Despite this, a class is at home for a day every two or three weeks. As long as there is no corona wave, this is manageable."
Remote teachers
Mohammed Mdaghri, VSO teacher at Eduvier Education Group, recognizes the problems and creative solutions. “A cosmetic solution that I see in many schools is that the number of students per class has increased enormously in recent years. With us, the number per class has almost doubled, to fifteen or more students. And that with fewer teachers. With consequences for quality and workload.”
Teachers also take on additional tasks. Mdaghri: “We don't have a concierge two days a week, which means that there are additional tasks. In our havo/vwo department, we solve the shortage of teachers in the science subjects with remote teachers who explain the lessons online and answer the questions of students. You need something. But the quality of the vso goes hand in hand with peace and structure. Of course, that is only possible with enough people.”
