Quitting The Classroom: Pandemic having 'extreme' impact on teacher mental health
Half of UK teachers say their mental health has declined
Our 'Quitting the Classroom' investigation's exposing the extreme impact the pandemic's having on the mental health of teachers.
We've already found record numbers could leave and heard from more former teachers who say it was the "best job in the world" but still decided to leave.
Today (17 March) we're looking at the mental health impact of the pandemic on teachers.
Research from Education Support, based on findings from a YouGov survey, shows half of the UK's school teachers (52%) say their mental health declined during the first stage of the Covid-19 crisis.
In July 2020, in a survey of 3034 education professionals, they found:
- 52% said they had suffered from insomnia in the last year (compared to 37% in the last 2 years)
- 41% tearfulness (compared to 26% in the last 2 years)
- 40% had difficulty concentrating (compared to 23% in the last 2 years)
Former teacher Laura McInerney runs the Teacher Tapp app, which allows around 8,500 teachers to share thoughts and opinions by answering three short multiple choice questions sent to their phone at 3:30 pm each day:
"Since October 2019, we've been asking teachers about their work-related anxiety.
"What we found before the pandemic, most school leaders (about 10%) had really high work-related anxiety, but since the pandemic, that's shot up.
"Back in the first lockdown, it was running at around 30% of school leaders with very high levels of work-related anxiety.
"Now, by Christmas it was getting to 50% and that's getting unsustainable, that means those headteachers and school leaders have been under immense pressure for a very long period of time.
"We know teachers have been drinking more during the pandemic, we know their sleep is worse this year and we've seen, when you ask about levels of burn-out, they are twice as high now, than before the pandemic.
"My big concern is teaching is a difficult enough job already, without these additional pressures.
"If what we end up with is, a whole profession who are struggling, they won't be delivering the best for the young people, at a time that those young people are behind."
Former headteacher Suneta Bagri from Coventry, who worked in Birmingham, set up the 'Every Teacher Matters' project which provides well being support to schools and staff:
"In 2019, I launched the Every Teacher Matters project, because there is simply not enough focus on the mental health and well being of our teachers and school leaders.
"We have far too many good teachers who are retiring early, or leaving the profession too soon.
"The impact of the pandemic is deep and profound, there is a real sense of confusion and fear.
"There is a sense of jubilation from teachers around pupils and students returning, that's characteristic of our teachers, that's who they are.
"But we can't ignore the stress and anxiety at every level, that have increased, after the sudden announcement that schools are opening again on March 8th."
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