Background

This report is the outcome of a large-scale survey of teachers working in Australia's public primary and secondary schools. The survey was designed to capture the way teachers have experienced the transformation of public education in the 1990s. Given that 70 per cent of the teaching workforce is female and that working women are still largely expected to carry the major burden of unpaid domestic responsibilities, the survey sought not only to gauge how teachers have coped with the pressures of a profession undergoing major change, but also how these changes have affected their family lives.

The report provides important data that should be widely used in an evaluation of the impact of recent education policy changes. The research findings reported here also provide the Australian Education Union with rich data about the members of their union and their priorities, and this should be used to inform the Union's work in developing strategies to improve the working lives of teachers.

The survey was designed after a number of focus groups had been held with teachers around Australia, in metropolitan, rural and remote schools. It was distributed to a 5 per cent random sample of all women members of the Australian Education Union (including principals and assistant principals) with an overall response rate of 33 per cent. A smaller sample (100 from each state) of men was included to allow us to monitor gender differences. As well as filling in the 8 page survey form, many, many teachers added lengthy comments and descriptions using extra pages, providing us with a remarkably vivid account of their experiences and feelings.

Teachers age, professional experience and family circumstances (Page 10)

The average age of women teachers in Australian State schools is 42. They have worked as teachers for an average of 19 years, and for the vast majority (87.4 per cent) this is their first career. Over two thirds of them are still classroom teachers, 12.4 per cent are leading/senior teachers, while only 6 per cent are principals or assistant principals.

Over three-quarters of the women teachers live with a partner, and almost as many have children. Of those women who have children, 70 per cent have one or more under 18 years of age. Over 40 per cent of women have taken periods of extended leave at some time, and over three-quarters of these have done so for family reasons. Forty per cent of female teachers report that they are the primary caregiver in their house. Half say that this work is shared equally with their partners. Almost a quarter of teachers of both sexes have caring responsibilities for elderly family members.

Changes in teachers work (Page 11)

The hours now worked by teachers are very long indeed (48 hours on average a week which is significantly greater than the notional 38 hours per week or less, for which they are paid). For principals the picture is worse, with an average of over 54 hours a week. Among teachers who worked extra hours, over 88 per cent of women said these extra hours were devoted to preparation and correction, followed by curriculum development (57.8 per cent) and administration (32.3 per cent). For women principals/assistant principals the extra workload came from administration (81.2 per cent), special responsibilities (50.3 per cent) and preparation (36.1 per cent).

Asked what were the three greatest changes that had affected their work in recent years, teachers (male and female alike) overwhelmingly nominated increases in reporting and accountability (66 per cent), curriculum changes (almost 60 per cent), and issues of behaviour management (53 per cent). Primary school teachers were significantly more likely to nominate reporting and accountability (almost 73 per cent). Other often mentioned changes were cuts to school support, taking up specialist roles, increased class sizes and changes in mode of delivery.

Asked about the impact of these changes on their professional lives, almost 37 per cent of women claimed some decline in their ability to meet professional standards (5.7 per cent claiming a significant decline). Those from Victoria NSW and ACT were more likely than others to claim this. Only about 10 per cent reported any improvement.

Asked about the impact of these changes on their experience of stress at work 41.2 per cent cited a significant increase, while 46 per cent cited a slight increase. In relation to workload, over half of teachers claimed a significant increase, and a further 40 per cent claimed a slight increase. Principals and assistant principals were the group most likely to feel their workload had grown significantly (over 60 per cent).

Looked at by state/territory, it was again teachers in the ACT, Victoria and NSW who were the most ill affected. Very few teachers thought stress or workload had decreased in any way. Thirty per cent of teachers also saw some deterioration in relations between staff as a result of workload increases. Not surprisingly, over 44 per cent of teachers (male and female) thought these changes had damaged their family life, particularly those with dependent children. The group whose family lives were most badly affected were older (41-49) teachers, and those with children under 18.

Not all teachers have an accurate understanding of the family friendly work provisions available to them. However, 30 per cent of women surveyed had used paid maternity leave provisions, and over 18 per cent had used unpaid extended family leave. Many women commented very favourably on the value of these provisions. Some, however, experienced difficulty when they sought to return to work, and it is clear from teachers' comments that a critical factor is the supportiveness or unsupportiveness of principals in relation to family friendly policies.

Over 30 per cent of the women surveyed have worked part-time at some time, and a further 12.7 per cent have used job sharing (compared to 8.1 and 2.3 per cent of men respectively). Again, many women commented very favourably on this experience. Criticisms generally concerned the way part-time jobs are often structured over every day of the week making balancing work and caring responsibilities difficult and contributing to significant amounts of lost time/unpaid work, and individual principals who did not believe in part-time work.

Overall teachers were very positive about their experience of family friendly provision such as maternity leave and carer's leave, with 57 per cent finding them adequate to their needs, and a further 27 per cent describing them as very satisfactory or excellent. (It should be noted that this is not the case for WA, TAS or SA who do not have any paid maternity leave provisions.)

Despite these attitudes to family friendly employment provisions, teachers describe high levels of concern about the impact of their work on their family lives on a daily basis. The data suggests that the problems teachers face are so all-pervasive and central to the practice of teaching today that specific measures to address the birth of children, their care or sickness are of very limited assistance. Asked what would help in balancing work and family life by far the most common response (45.2 per cent of women) was 'lower workload'.

Teachers' career plans (Page 27)

Almost 90 per cent of teachers undertook professional development during the previous term, 44.5 per cent outside schools hours and a further 40 per cent both in school hours and outside. This represents a substantial commitment to accessing professional development in teachers' own time another contributor to workload pressures.

In addition, 15.7 per cent of women staff were enrolled in external study, 90 per cent of which was related to their work as teachers.

Teachers in this survey generally believe that the promotion process is fair, but over half of the women surveyed had never applied for promotion. By far the most common reason for not applying related to workload or stress associated with these positions, followed by family reasons, particularly perceptions that promotional positions are incompatible with family responsibilities.

It is disturbing, but perhaps understandable, that 18 per cent of women teachers plan to develop their careers outside teaching, while another 25 per cent are either unsure about their future or have no career plans. These figures are of concern particularly in light of predictions of teacher shortages and the impact of the potential loss of large numbers of skilled and experienced teaching staff.

Teaching as a profession (Page 29)

Teachers in this research revealed themselves as not only pessimistic about their own working lives, but also pessimistic about public support for their profession. When asked about community perceptions of teachers, 46 per cent of women reported that the community holds them in little regard. Only 7 per cent believe the community has a positive regard for teachers, and younger teachers are even more likely to be pessimistic than older ones.

Asked what could be done to improve the standing of the profession teachers overwhelmingly believe in good media and publicity, followed by increased pay and government support and funding.

The most common reason given for joining a union was for professional identity (38 per cent), followed by legal protection (18 per cent), although men were more likely to cite this than women. More than half of the teachers surveyed said they attended union meetings, and over a third had held some kind of unpaid position. Twenty three per cent had attended a union training or development program, and the vast majority (97 per cent) found it useful.

Asked about priorities for union action, the most common responses concerned better conditions (smaller class sizes and improved facilities), higher salary, reduced workload, and advocacy. Women were also particularly likely to nominate increased support for special needs students as a priority. Women also nominated support for professional development or training and better publicity (of teaching and public education) as high priorities.

In terms of helping to balance work and family, the overwhelming priority for women and men was a lower workload.

Conclusions and Recommendations (Page 55)

It is clear from this research that the levels of stress and over-work being experienced by so many public school teachers are the result of major increases in professional demands at a time when school resources have been reduced. By far the strongest theme to emerge from this large-scale survey is the existence of extremely high and demanding workloads, and the damage caused by these, both to teachers' ability to carry out their professional duties, and to their family lives.

This report was commissioned by the AEU and the Union needs urgently to devise strategies to respond to the problem of excessive workloads. This problem is, however, one that must ultimately be addressed by the employers, who need to understand the nature and extent of the long-term damage being done to the teaching profession in Australia. Recent employer policies which have focussed on increasing teacher 'productivity' by cutting funding to public schools would appear to be counterproductive if any broader measure of outcomes is used.

Contrary to teachers' perceptions, other survey evidence concludes that the community at large sees teachers as dedicated professionals who are justified in taking industrial action to stop cuts to education funding. This suggests that campaigns in support of better conditions should be framed in terms of the need to protect and enhance teachers' professional standing and development. This is what teachers expect of their union, but it also appears to be an argument that will resonate in the wider community.

More specifically, given the strong endorsement given by many teachers of family friendly provisions, the union should seek to inform all members of their entitlements, and campaign to bring all state/territory provisions up to the highest levels of entitlement. Given the spread of contract and temporary employment for teachers, it is particularly important that these entitlements be made available to all teachers regardless of employment status.

Future strategies for union action will also depend on a significant improvement in the union's national database or the collation of data across states and territories on a nationally consistent basis. Without such data, based on employment status and type of school, it is difficult to see how the union can effectively target recruitment resources, or respond adequately to members' concerns.