An article said that the views of both classroom teachers and headteachers (in England and Wales) towards performance-related pay had changed considerably over time, from initial general scepticism and opposition towards a more positive view, especially among headteachers.
Source: David Marsden and Richard Belfield, 'Pay for performance where output is hard to measure: the case of performance pay for school teachers', Advances in Industrial and Labor Relations, Volume 15
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Nov
A survey of teachers workloads in England and Wales in 2006 found 'no statistically significant changes' in full-time teachers' hours since the previous year.
Source: BMRB Social Research, Teachers' Workloads Diary Survey: March 2006, Office of Manpower Economics (020 7215 8253)
Links: Report | ASCL press release | BBC report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2006-Oct
The number of full-time equivalent regular teachers in the local authority maintained sector rose by 3,700 (0.9 per cent) in the year to January 2006, to reach 435,600. The overall pupil:teacher ratio was 17.2 in January 2006, compared to 17.4 in January 2005.
Source: School Workforce in England (Including Pupil: Teacher Ratios and Pupil: Adult Ratios), January 2006 (Revised), Statistical First Release /2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that schools faced increasing difficulties finding headteachers, with only 4 per cent of teachers wanting to do the job within the next five years.
Source: Merryn Hutchings, Sarah Smart, Kathy James and Katya Williams, GTC Survey of Teachers 2006, General Teaching Council for England (0870 001 0308)
Links: Report | GTC press release | NASUWT press release | PAT press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
A report said that racism had a major impact on the everyday experiences of black teachers in London. Black teachers were isolated, maligned, and robbed of proper pay and status.
Source: Uvanney Maylor, Alistair Ross, Nicola Rollock and Katya Williams, Black Teachers in London, Mayor of London/Greater London Authority (020 7983 4100)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Sep
A survey found that more than 1 in 5 secondary, 1 in 4 primary, and almost 1 in 3 special schools that had advertised for a head during the previous school year failed to make an appointment.
Source: John Howson, The State of the Labour Market for Senior Staff in Schools in England and Wales: 2005-2006, Association of School and College Leaders (0116 299 1122) and National Association of Head Teachers
Links: Summary | ASCL press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Sep
The education inspectorate said that arrangements for continuous professional development of teachers were inadequate in one-third of primary school subjects inspected, and that this impeded improvements in learning.
Source: The Logical Chain: Continuing professional development in effective schools, HMI 2639, Office for Standards in Education (07002 637833)
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | GTC press release | NAHT press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
An article examined primary school teachers' perspectives on, and experiences of, New Labour's education policies. There had been more changes in teaching methods in the space of five years than in the previous two decades.
Source: Rosemary Webb and Graham Vulliamy, 'The impact of New Labour's education policy on teachers and teaching at key stage 2', FORUM: for promoting 3-19 comprehensive education, Volume 48 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jul
A literature review found that teaching assistants had an increasingly important pedagogic role, under the formal guidance of teachers and senior managers in schools.
Source: Wasyl Cajkler et al., A Systematic Literature Review on the Perceptions of Ways in which Support Staff Work to Support Pupils Social and Academic Engagement in Primary Classrooms (1988 2003), EPPI-Centre/Social Science Research Unit/Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: Report | Summary | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jun
A report examined data on the characteristics, recruitment, deployment, management and development of supply teachers in England. It was estimated that there were over 40,000 teachers who did supply teaching at some point in a year.
Source: Merryn Hutchings, Kathy James, Uvanney Maylor, Ian Menter and Sarah Smart, The Recruitment, Deployment and Management of Supply Teachers in England, Research Report 738, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-May
A report examined the status of teachers and the teaching profession in England. 50 per cent of participants in a 2003 survey thought teaching was an attractive career, and cited 'working with children' and 'interesting work' as the attractions.
Source: Linda Hargreaves et al., The Status of Teachers and the Teaching Profession: Views from inside and outside the profession - Interim findings from the Teacher Status Project, Research Report 755, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-May
A report examined the factors contributing to variations in teachers' effectiveness at different stages of their careers.
Source: Christopher Day et al., Variations in Teachers? Work, Lives and Effectiveness, Research Report 743, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Date: 2006-May
An audit report said that an agreement in Scotland on teachers? duties had brought benefits for the teaching profession: but a lack of performance measures made it difficult to assess the wider impact of the ?2.15 billion investment involved.
Source: A First Stage Review of the Cost and Implementation of the Teachers? Agreement - 'A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century', Audit Scotland for Accounts Commission and Auditor General (0131 477 1234)
Links: Report | Audit Scotland press release | SE press release | COSLA press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-May
The number of teaching posts (full-time equivalent) in England rose by 3,500 to 435,400 in the year to January 2006.
Source: School Workforce in England (Including Pupil: Teacher Ratios And Pupil: Adult Ratios), January 2006 (Provisional), Statistical First Release 18/2006, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: SFR | DfES press release | BBC report
Date: 2006-Apr
A report highlighted the need to prioritize teacher well-being; and for support services to work together to boost the physical and mental health of teachers, so improving their effectiveness in the classroom.
Source: School Wellbeing Report, Teacher Support Network (020 7554 5244)
Links: Report | TSN press release
Date: 2006-Apr
A new book examined the role of teachers in the knowledge-based economy. It said that they were being presented with an impossible task: they were expected to educate youth as the future of society within organizational structures that were outdated and frustrating.
Source: Sandra Leaton Gray, Teachers Under Siege, Trentham Books (01782 745567)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Feb
A report examined local authorities' good practice in school workforce remodelling, based on an analysis of seven councils' applications for 'beacon' status.
Source: Rosalind Morton, Transforming the School Workforce - A New Professional Respect?, National Foundation for Educational Research (01753 747281)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan
The government announced that new regulations would be introduced, as a matter of urgency, to ensure that any individual working with children who had been convicted or cautioned for sex offences against children would be automatically barred from working in schools. The announcement followed an internal review, prompted by revelations that a small number of such people had been permitted to work with children.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 19 January 2006, columns 966-981, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Review of the List 99 Decision Making Process and Policy Implications, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Hansard | Review | DfES press release | Barnardo's press release | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Jan
A survey found that 62 per cent of secondary school teachers considered that performance league tables had a negative effect on their well-being.
Source: Press release 19 January 2006, Teacher Support Network (020 7554 5244)
Links: TSN press release
Date: 2006-Jan
