ANXIETY AND BURN-OUT: CONFERENCE HEARS IT’S THE TEACHERS’ DISEASES

Anxiety and burn-out have become the ‘teachers’ diseases’, it was claimed today.

Yet a healthy workforce is central to delivering healthy outcomes for pupils, according to Avril Hall Callaghan, General Secretary of the UTU, Northern Ireland’s only locally-based teaching union.

She was speaking as members were meeting for the annual conference this year (March 18 and 19) in Newcastle’s Slieve Donard Hotel and voting on a resolution deploring the lack of progress on a Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the profession.

“Anxiety and burn-out have become the teachers' diseases, although they often remain hidden. Much is unreported or is in the guise of a physical ailment as teachers are reluctant to admit they're not coping,” said Ms Hall Callaghan.

“Teaching is now widely recognised as one of the most stressful occupations and as such teachers need access to support, counselling and specific health interventions.

“Long hours, insufficient support, disruptive pupils and overcrowded classrooms are causing severe stress in teachers and damaging their mental health. A recent survey by another union found that these issues had led half of all teachers to consider leaving the profession.

“If that happens, where does it leave our pupils. If we can’t look after our teachers, who will look after our students.

“It is now 10 years since the Teacher Health and Wellbeing Review which took place in Northern Ireland and still we have no strategy. Its results will be long out of date and the situation has only become more urgent in the intervening decade as the pace and scale of change teachers are expected to embrace has accelerated.”

More recent surveys elsewhere in the UK reveal that:

* more than seven out of 10 teachers feel their working hours are excessive and a similar proportion think that they have insufficient time to spend with family and friends

• 6 out of 10 wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep because they are thinking about work.

Although lower proportions identified the following areas of stress, they can represent a serious problem for those who do:

• 1 in 3 struggle to deal with disruptive pupils.
• 1 in 4 are afraid of violence from pupils or parents.
• 1 in 3 feel they have no control over their job
• 1 in 3 resort to alcohol, smoking, unhealthy eating or other substances to help them cope.
• 1 in 15 take prescribed medication to help them cope.

“There is little reason to expect that the experience of teachers in Northern Ireland is much different. However, the good news from these surveys is that most teachers still enjoy the core activity of teaching pupils – the problem is that this is being squeezed out by other demands,” continued Ms Hall Callaghan.

“The unique role of teachers and support staff and the influence they have on the development of young minds means that their motivation, commitment and emotional well being are vital elements of the learning experience.

“The culture and well being of the school community provides a backdrop to effective teaching and learning.

“The well being of teachers and support staff affects sickness and absence rates, levels of early retirement, quality and standards of teaching and ultimately the educational experience and emotional well being of young people.”