“Our children and young people deserve so much more from us. It is time to invest in the workforce and remove the well-documented drivers of significant stress in the system. – Sinead Mc Brearty, CEO of Education Support
Teachers are paramount for the future of students and society but the demands on them have become unrealistic. They’re tasked with imparting knowledge and nurturing their students’ social and emotional development while also serving as guides to help cultivate growth and success. These demands on teachers lead to burnout, negatively impacting their mental and physical wellbeing.
Because of the increasing challenges facing teachers today, many are leaving to follow other career paths. Overloading teachers can affect the student’s success. When teachers are overwhelmed with administrative tasks, standardised testing pressure and other non-teaching responsibilities, they can struggle with creativity, energy and self-care.
This is confirmed by Schools Week’s recent report, where they uncovered a DfE survey that will shock you, citing:
- 72% of teachers and leaders say their workload is unacceptable
- 62% of teachers say they have no control over their workload
- And an Education Support Organisation survey found that 48% report experiences of insomnia and difficulty sleeping.
“High workload is endemic, it is driving talented people out of the profession to find better-paid work elsewhere, and the government is not doing enough to fix things.” – Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union.
How the Department for Education is Working to Address the Issue
It’s encouraging the Department for Education (DfE) has been focusing on safeguarding students, as it’s crucial to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment. However, they are aware that it’s equally important to address the wellbeing of teachers, ensuring they can effectively provide quality education to students while keeping them safe.
The DfE wants to make sure teaching is an attractive career choice. To support this, they’ve created the Workload Reduction Taskforce with standards to be met within three years and include:
- Five-hour reduction per week
- Streamlining administrative tasks
- Providing more resources and support
- Encouraging a better work-life balance.
The launch of the Workload Reduction Taskforce followed a 6.5% pay award for teachers and leaders. This is the highest pay award in more than three decades. To retain and attract talented educators, governments and educational institutions need to recognise the value of teachers and the importance of their health and wellbeing. Reducing workload, offering professional development opportunities and providing a supportive work environment are critical factors in addressing teachers’ challenges and preventing them from seeking other career paths.
High teacher workload is a complex issue, with various factors contributing to the burden. From accountability pressures to behaviour and safeguarding concerns, topped with administrative tasks, it’s no wonder teachers often find themselves burned out.
How Impero Technology Can Help Reduce Teacher Workload
At Impero, we know first-hand how innovative products can make a difference and add value for educators. When schools and trusts implement technology in the classroom, like Impero Classroom, teachers can manage their responsibilities more productively and effectively.
Impero Classroom provides many benefits that enhance teaching and learning, making it an invaluable tool for educators. Some key features of Classroom that improve efficiency include:
- Blank Screen and Disable Internet allow teachers to eliminate distractions and focus the entire class quickly.
- Launch website allows teachers to get all students to the same place at the same time. No more writing something on the whiteboard and waiting for everyone to get to the same page
- Website lists allow for classroom-based control over student online activity. Create enable and disable lists in advance to quickly guide students to appropriate materials.
When teachers have the right technology on their side, they can focus more on the classroom and less on distractions that take away from learning. Even a few minutes saved in each class adds up to hundreds of hours through a school year. Trust Impero’s technology as you look for new and innovative ways to support teachers and comply with the Department for Education’s Workplace Reduction Act.
Impero offers a comprehensive Best in Class, award-winning web filtering, security, classroom management, and student well-being software suite. Our solutions enable schools to take a proactive approach to student-centered learning, increasing productivity, success, and safety. We prioritize student protection and teacher effectiveness by offering tools that can be used anywhere and on any device.
Our student safety monitoring provides both granular and high-level analytics and reporting. Additionally, our solutions seamlessly integrate with industry directory and SIS systems, ensuring that schools have the most effective tools to maximize learning potential and ensure student success. To address effectiveness, safety and well-being as a whole, Impero offers:
ContentKeeper – a powerful tool for your IT team to manage and filter harmful content while allowing valuable content to be accessed anywhere and from any device.
Classroom – helps teachers effectively manage instructional time by monitoring devices in real-time, launching websites, and creating website lists while keeping students on a productive and equal learning path.
Wellbeing – helps staff monitor students’ online activity for indicators of distress, harm or inappropriate behavior based on triggered keywords.
Safeguard - to record, manage, and track concerns about student online and offline behaviour.
Discover how Impero’s umbrella of products empower teachers to be successful and happy in educating our future leaders and book a demo today. Also, make sure you stay up to date on industry trends and product news by following us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.