Workload underexposed in secondary education research
Four out of five teachers in secondary education experience a high to very high workload. This has emerged from research commissioned by Voion, an organization that deals with the labor market in secondary education.
Picture: Type tank
It takes some searching before you come across the figures about work pressure in the documents. Voion does not mention it in its press release. And in the research itself, the outcome is also reasonably hidden halfway through the report. CAOP, the organization that carried out the research, explains that the data on work pressure could not be included in the analysis *Every two years CAOP carries out analyzes of the survey results of the national Personnel and Mobility Survey (Pomo) on behalf of Voion. This is a questionnaire that the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) issues to tens of thousands of employees in the public sector. The survey design changes almost every time, which makes it difficult to compare with previous years. What is also striking: since 2014 the presentation of the results has consistently been positive. Satisfaction, and the extent to which, is the starting point. Furthermore, the color scheme is confusing. For example, the group of people who indicate that they are (very) dissatisfied with something is given the color green in the bar charts. . Henrik de Moel, lecturer in history and social studies, works for the AOb. He thinks Voion would not benefit from putting the spotlight on workload. "They must ensure that secondary education is seen as an attractive work environment."
Voion announced the investigation in early March Results of the survey for job satisfaction of VO staff virtually unchanged. And that's right. Most of the findings hardly differ from before. Take workload. In 2012, 79 percent of teachers were already dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with this. Two years later, it was not literally asked about it, but 44 percent of teachers were faced with high or very high administrative burdens. The list of recommendations invariably states that secondary education institutions should do something about the workload.
Boarded up
The employers, represented by the VO Council, believe that the workload is high because all tasks including the associated hours have been recorded. This is called a task policy. According to the council, it is smart to deal with this a lot more flexibly. “With a less boarded-up and clock-based task policy, the division of tasks and roles can be more entrusted to self-responsible teams”, states the VO council in its plan Towards an attractive teaching profession in a strong sector from 2016.
To say that it is due to the task policy is far too easy
De Moel, of the AObsees little benefit in this way. “To say that it is up to the task policy system is way too easy. The reason for the high workload is simply that there is too much work. ” He gives some examples. "For example, you used to get a hundred hours a year to fulfill your mentor ration, now it is eighty." In addition, the surcharge factor has decreased at many schools: “The school where I work, for example, has a surcharge factor of 1,6. That means that on a 50-minute lesson, I have about 30 minutes to prepare for this lesson, mark homework, take a test, and so on. Sometimes you come across a factor of 1,8, but usually schools work with a lower add-on factor. ” In addition, according to De Moel, more tasks have often been put into such an add-on: “Then, for example, you should also do parent evenings or report meetings within that time. Much too much. Moreover, we see that classes are on average getting bigger, while students have more and more complicated problems. ”
It is the most beautiful profession that I never want to do again
Young teachers
Susan Scholten (30) experiences this work pressure on a daily basis. She spends many more evenings behind her laptop than she likes. She has now been teaching full-time at two different schools for four years. “I read more and more blogs and opinion posts *Don't shit like that, thought Sip Markink when it was about the high workload again until he 'sat to check again until late in the evening, during a party with a cocktail at my waffle, thinking about the lesson for Monday and could not sleep because I was too involved in a student with problems'. Read why Markink said goodbye to education NRC (November 2017).
Then Claudia Young, ex-teacher of French, wondered whether the extra meetings in connection with a difficult group were given a place in her normal annual task, followed the derisive laughter of her colleagues 'Nééééééé… welcome to education !!!' She wrote the blog last December Hello dear students.
Mike de Lange, she was a secondary school teacher of Dutch for two years, asks herself at the beginning of this month Parool wonder whether only starting teachers have the courage to stop again 'simply because they realize they do not want to embitter'.
Teaching is mainly burnout management, writes John Fisher end of 2016 for the Match. Plus: all the civil servants who say that teachers 'make a difference every day' are happy that they don't have to be in front of the classroom every day, says Vermeer.
One third of teachers under the age of thirty will stop teaching within five years. Aafke Roman, a former teacher herself, officially worked eleven hours over two days a week, but was often present at the school on four days. Almost two years ago she talked about it extensively Free Netherlands. of young, enthusiastic teachers who no longer accept the pressure of work and who leave education. A great pity, I would have liked them as colleagues. ” She herself climbed in early February in the pen and describes the frustration of not being able to do the job properly in the time she has to do it. “I was hesitant to post it for a while, because I think my work is also very enjoyable and important. And I don't want to throw in my own glasses. I am an art teacher, there are no shortages in that. But the workload is a real stumbling block. One of those young, once highly motivated ex-teachers emailed me: 'It's the best course I never want to do again'. ”
People know it, but too little is happening
The Voion survey also shows that teachers are indeed satisfied with their jobs (82 percent in 2016). This is mainly due to the degree of independence, the content of the work and the cooperation with colleagues. But the workload also plays a role. In her blog, Scholten suggests working the hours that teachers are actually paid for. But as far as she is concerned, this remains a fictional experiment. “Ultimately I'm there for the students, they shouldn't be victimized," she says. "And I feel bad about it, because if I don't prepare a lesson properly, I'm less confident in front of the class. And that ultimately affects the students. I also think that people really know, the boards, the government, but too little is happening, especially for starting teachers.”
Actions
The AOb and that's why she calls on secondary school staff to share their workload experiences with the hashtag #VOsuppression. In addition, promotions start this month. First, a protest at the annual conference of the VO council, next Thursday, March 29. Henrik de Moel: "I invite teachers to make their voices heard there." More information about the AObactions in secondary education, read: First actions for good collective agreement for secondary education. At the bottom of that message is practical information about next Thursday.
Other striking conclusions from the job satisfaction survey:
- Educational support staff (oop) suffer less from work pressure than teaching staff. In 2016, 63 percent of OOP employees indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the amount of work. Teaching staff endorsed this statement much less often: 33 percent.
- Almost one in five lecturers (18 percent) is not or absolutely not satisfied with their direct supervisor.
- In 65 (the year prior to the last survey), 2015 percent of staff in secondary education - which includes OOP and management staff - followed an education or training course. 9 percent did not, but would like to. A quarter say they have not followed any training and do not want to.
- In 2015, one third of OOP employees did not have a formal conversation with their manager. This applies to slightly more than one in five teachers.
View all results here.
