Over the past 2 decades the education system has become obsessed with trying to measure every aspect of performance. We measure outcomes, quality of teaching and learning, the impact of interventions, student progress, quality of marking and feedback and the list goes on.
In January 2018 figures compiled by the Liberal Democrats found that "altogether 1.3 million days have been taken off by teachers for stress and mental health reasons in the last four years, including around 312,000 in 2016-17" (The Guardian 'Epidemic of stress' blamed for 3,750 teachers on long-term sick leave' 11/01/2018). One of the key reasons teacher's feel under pressure within the work place is the constant scrutiny they find themselves under as schools strive to measure all aspects of performance.
Even the idea that you can measure students progress during a 30 minute observation would have been laughed out of school staff rooms 30 years ago, but these days we find this to be the norm. Schools have continued to devise ways of measuring every single aspect of their performance for the main purpose of providing evidence for inspections. Dr Mar Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, states that one of the main causes of stress is "the pressures of a punitive and non-productive accountability system".
So why do schools insist on attempting to measure everything? Put simply, it's due to the belief that if you can measure it, you can improve it. If we can measure student progress, we can implement interventions to improve this progress. If we can judge how effectively a member of staff is using the marking policy we can improve written feedback in all lessons. If we can grade teacher performance we can implement a CPD programme and then see a tangible difference in teacher performance etc, etc.
The problem with this is that a schools success is built upon something that can't be measured: culture. Schools should be focusing on building a supportive and collaborative culture instead of attempting to monitor and measure aspects of student and teacher performance. Teachers should be responsible for what happens in their lessons, but they should not be held to account over every aspect of it. If that statement seems shocking to you then think about it in this way. If you were educated before the early 90s, you're the product of an education system that focused on responsibility and not accountability and you seemed to have done OK by it.
I am not saying that schools should abandon everything they are doing to ensure that student receive an excellent education, but I am suggesting that we reevaluate what we use to measure the success of a school and how we go about collecting that information.
Below are some suggestions about how to reduce pressure on your teachers and still be able to gain an insight into the quality of education within your school:
- Scrap written feedback policies and work scrutinies and instead use supportive (not judgmental) learning walks to see how students are using feedback. There is no set amount of feedback that students should receive, but there is a correct amount. This can't always be seen through looking at books- it needs to be seen live and verbal feedback is as good (if not better) than written feedback a lot of the time.
- Stop expecting students to make rapid progress in a matter of hours or minutes. Ensure that staff and students know that the learning process is not linear and it takes time to learn a skill and be able to apply it to a given scenario. Create a culture of patience within your school.
- Allow staff to design policies and procedures that take into account their stress levels and workload. Never stop focusing on whats best for the students, but ensure that it's best for your staff and then allow a level of compromise. No one said teaching was easy, but they did tell us it should be fun!
For too long now schools have been trying to build evidence portfolios ready for the dreaded day when they are visited by inspectors. This is not a productive use of time for senior and middle leaders and it creates an environment where staff become anxious and unwell. The attitude of 'what do you know and how do you show' totally detracts from the point of monitoring standards which is 'what do you do with the knowledge you've gained. Only measure something in order to gain knowledge of how to further support staff and students progressing.
If you truly want a school that really caters for students then create a culture where staff feel valued and allowed to make the odd mistake without being scrutinised for it.
I'd love to know how if your school has any additional strategies for reducing the pressure staff feel from accountability measure so please share in the comments below.
In January 2018 figures compiled by the Liberal Democrats found that "altogether 1.3 million days have been taken off by teachers for stress and mental health reasons in the last four years, including around 312,000 in 2016-17" (The Guardian 'Epidemic of stress' blamed for 3,750 teachers on long-term sick leave' 11/01/2018). One of the key reasons teacher's feel under pressure within the work place is the constant scrutiny they find themselves under as schools strive to measure all aspects of performance.
Even the idea that you can measure students progress during a 30 minute observation would have been laughed out of school staff rooms 30 years ago, but these days we find this to be the norm. Schools have continued to devise ways of measuring every single aspect of their performance for the main purpose of providing evidence for inspections. Dr Mar Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, states that one of the main causes of stress is "the pressures of a punitive and non-productive accountability system".
So why do schools insist on attempting to measure everything? Put simply, it's due to the belief that if you can measure it, you can improve it. If we can measure student progress, we can implement interventions to improve this progress. If we can judge how effectively a member of staff is using the marking policy we can improve written feedback in all lessons. If we can grade teacher performance we can implement a CPD programme and then see a tangible difference in teacher performance etc, etc.
The problem with this is that a schools success is built upon something that can't be measured: culture. Schools should be focusing on building a supportive and collaborative culture instead of attempting to monitor and measure aspects of student and teacher performance. Teachers should be responsible for what happens in their lessons, but they should not be held to account over every aspect of it. If that statement seems shocking to you then think about it in this way. If you were educated before the early 90s, you're the product of an education system that focused on responsibility and not accountability and you seemed to have done OK by it.
I am not saying that schools should abandon everything they are doing to ensure that student receive an excellent education, but I am suggesting that we reevaluate what we use to measure the success of a school and how we go about collecting that information.
Below are some suggestions about how to reduce pressure on your teachers and still be able to gain an insight into the quality of education within your school:
- Scrap written feedback policies and work scrutinies and instead use supportive (not judgmental) learning walks to see how students are using feedback. There is no set amount of feedback that students should receive, but there is a correct amount. This can't always be seen through looking at books- it needs to be seen live and verbal feedback is as good (if not better) than written feedback a lot of the time.
- Stop expecting students to make rapid progress in a matter of hours or minutes. Ensure that staff and students know that the learning process is not linear and it takes time to learn a skill and be able to apply it to a given scenario. Create a culture of patience within your school.
- Allow staff to design policies and procedures that take into account their stress levels and workload. Never stop focusing on whats best for the students, but ensure that it's best for your staff and then allow a level of compromise. No one said teaching was easy, but they did tell us it should be fun!
For too long now schools have been trying to build evidence portfolios ready for the dreaded day when they are visited by inspectors. This is not a productive use of time for senior and middle leaders and it creates an environment where staff become anxious and unwell. The attitude of 'what do you know and how do you show' totally detracts from the point of monitoring standards which is 'what do you do with the knowledge you've gained. Only measure something in order to gain knowledge of how to further support staff and students progressing.
If you truly want a school that really caters for students then create a culture where staff feel valued and allowed to make the odd mistake without being scrutinised for it.
I'd love to know how if your school has any additional strategies for reducing the pressure staff feel from accountability measure so please share in the comments below.
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