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Wellington, December 11, 2021
An Education Review Office (ERO) study has found that teachers and principals are increasingly struggling with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
ERO Head of Education Evaluation Centre Ruth Shinoda said that Covid-19 has had a big impact on teachers and principals.
“They have had to react quickly and adapt the way they work. This research has found many examples of how teachers and principals have innovated to meet the needs of students and communities. But this has come at a cost. Teachers’ and principals’ enjoyment in their work is low and declining, and they are finding workloads increasingly unmanageable,” she said.
Ms Shinoda said that only half of the teachers reported being happy at work.
This was a short drop by two-thirds since September 2020.
Younger teachers struggling
Younger teachers are struggling more. For example, teachers under 35 years old were three times as likely to say that they were not happy at work compared to those over 46 years old.
“Teachers and principals are increasingly struggling with workloads. In June and July only a third of teachers and a fifth of principals felt their workload was manageable. This had worsened from September 2020. Principals of very small schools were nearly twice as likely to report that their workload was unmanageable compared to principals of very large schools,” the study said.
Teachers’ workload has also been impacted by the support that they need to provide for students’ learning and engagement and the need to address growing behaviour concerns.
In June and July, around one-third of principals reported that student behaviour was worse than they would have expected for that time of the year.
More disruption in Auckland
Auckland has experienced more disruption than any other area, impacting particularly on Auckland teachers’ and principals’ wellbeing. This was clear even before the most recent lockdown and is likely to have worsened.
“Looking forward, we know that our teachers and principals will need to continue to deal with ongoing disruptions as we live with Covid-19. Many schools are already changing their teaching practices to meet these challenges and our report sets out examples of how schools can prepare for 2022. But teachers and principals cannot be left to meet these challenges alone. Our report also sets out what supports we think will be needed for teachers and principals, including through stronger networks,” Ms Shinoda said.
She said that teaching in a Covid-19 world is staffing-intensive and that the ERO expects to see an increase in staff absences as Covid-19 becomes more widespread in our communities.
Schools must have in place contingency plans to deal with staff absences and there may be opportunities to pool staffing across schools, she said.
“ERO hopes that schools and the wider education sector find these findings helpful for understanding the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on teachers and principals and how we can prepare for 2022,” Ms Shinoda said.
Please read the report at www.ero.govt.nz
