Working in the school system is hugely rewarding but comes with challenges. This year’s 2024 Teacher Wellbeing Index published by Education Support shows some positive cultural shifts but the education workforce continues to experience a wellbeing significantly lower than that of the general population.
Here are the key takeaways from 2024’s Teacher Wellbeing Index.
Stress Levels Are High!
The intensity and constant human interaction of the job coupled with increasing demands associated with the legacy of the Covid 19 pandemic means that stress levels continue to be high. A worrying 78% of teachers and 84% of school leaders experience stress. The figure for leaders has actually decreased from last year’s survey. Classroom teacher stress levels remain stable and in some sectors such as sixth form, vocational and college settings stress levels have increased by 26%. When we consider that 49% of all workplace ill health is attributed to stress, depression and anxiety this has serious implications for staffing in schools.
A poor organisational culture has been identified as one of the leading causes of stress. Positively there has been a decrease of 5% in the number of staff who feel their organisational culture has a negative impact on stress but still half of all teachers feel it is a problem. Teachers working in schools where organisational culture is strong cite good leadership, positive staff and students relationships, autonomy and support as being the things that help the most.
Poor Mental Health & Symptoms
Sadly 35% of the teachers have experienced a mental health issue in the last academic year which represents a 4% decrease on last year. Poor mental health can manifest itself in a number of symptoms. 77% of school staff have experienced psychological and behavioral symptoms due to their work. The most common for educational professionals are insomnia, irritability, a lack of concentration, tearfulness and forgetfulness. Adults require between 7- 9 hours of sleep per night and it is clear that large numbers of teachers and particularly school leaders are not getting an adequate amount.
Of the staff who reported issues with their mental health 45% had symptoms associated with anxiety and 28% with depression.
The report uses the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale to assess the wellbeing of teachers. On the scale a higher score indicates a better wellbeing. The average score for UK teachers is 43.90. Although this represents a slight improvement on last year this figure sits between the 41 to 45 threshold which is considered a high risk of psychological distress and increased risk of depression. To put this into context the average wellbeing score for the adult population in the UK is 54.4!! More worrying still; over a third of the workforce score below 40 on scale. This places them at risk of major depression.
Issues With Pupils & Parents Take Their Toll
It is clear that there is increasing complexity when it comes to effectively dealing with the needs of pupils and that teachers who act as an interface between students and parents are very much on the frontline. 57% teachers feel that students have become more disruptive with 63% actually experiencing a rise in challenging behaviour. What this means is that teachers are reporting an impact on their mental health with 82% feeling their mental health has suffered as a consequence of these escalations. What is clear from the survey is that many of these issues would be alleviated if the emotional, basic and mental health needs of pupils could be adequately met. 43% of teachers and 50% of school leaders feel vexatious complaints from parents and guardians have increased. This calls for more priority being placed on behaviour management and pastoral care.
Support From Public Bodies Or Lack Of It!
Many teachers have to work with outside agencies to ensure the needs of pupils are met. For many the lack of perceived support from these organisations has a major impact on their wellbeing. 69% feel they receive little or no support compounding their inability to switch off from work with a drastic reduction in their job satisfaction. Interestingly there is a correlation between the support of public bodies and teacher wellbeing with those that receive considerable support reporting a wellbeing score of 47.2 which places them out of the high risk zone. It is likely that the remedy to this situation would be partly met by an increase in investment in public services and without this the lack of public service support is a significant impediment for self efficacy.
Overall there needs to be a collective approach to improving the mental health of the education profession in the UK. As mentioned in the report “familiarity with such data should not breed compliancy”.
Did Teach—Those Who Can champions teachers’ skills and works to achieve more synergy between the world of work and education. If you are experiencing problems with your mental health and wellbeing, please visit Education Support.
Read our blog on What Is Teacher Burnout to recognise the warning signs for yourself and your colleagues or our blog on Teacher Burnout – Prevention & Management
