Management/leadership

The main problem I have encountered in my career is weak and ineffective management and leadership. Most leaders I have encountered have been task orientated and have not considered the individuals work load and the need to build effective teams. There is still too much rigid hierarchy and stagnation in most schools.

The problem with a culture that is driven by statistics is that the main role of senior management is now to massage the figures. For example, in my school if a pupil swears at or threatens a teacher they get a detention. Two years ago they would have had a short term (two day) exclusion which would have been recorded. So our new headteacher can boast to the local education authority that he has dramatically reduced exclusions and that this shows discipline has improved. However the reality is that pupils now threaten and swear at teachers more often than they did in the past. For the classroom teacher indiscipline has got worse. Now the Local Authority know what is happening but they like the new improved statistics as they can send parents a newsletter saying how much better things are now and the councillors of all political parties know better than to argue with statistics that show improvement. Not only that, those who are most adept at massaging the figures are the ones who receive promotion. So we have ended up with a layer of senior education managers who owe their positions to a culture of essentially falsifying evidence. They have conferences were they boast of their 'improvements' while those who are actually educating our pupils see a system in decline. This Soviet-style disconnect between the top managers and their workforce breeds resentment and a culture of bullying where anyone who complains about falling standards is immediately targeted as a 'weak' teacher or a troublemaker. Because no-one wants this particular can of worms opened. Politicians fear a backlash and top education managers owe their jobs to this culture and everyone else knows that pointing out the Emperor's nakedness is tantamount to career suicide. Instead we all talks about statistics and how important they are and no-one, and I mean no-one, ever admits the truth. That we all know that they are lies.

Target setting used to measure teacher's performance is frequently used in an unintelligent way and certainly does not always take into consideration context. Senior management, in my experience, are frequently lazy, bullish and ineffective in building teams.

Having changed my career from solicitor to teacher, I have found that there is a profound lack of respect by senior staff and parents for the quality of work and quantity of work undertaken by teachers. I have never worked in a workplace where I have not been treated as a professional, as I have in this role. My every move is monitored and I am not trusted to do the job I have trained and gained qualifications to do. It has had a great impact on my self confidence to do the job. As a solicitor I was trusted to do my job once I had the necessary qualifications and experience, why is this not the case in teaching? I understand the need for quality control but to be observed and criticised at least once a term, if not more, has a damaging effect on my ability to do my job. The children come out at the end of the year having achieved or exceeded the expectations and are happy. Does that make me a bad teacher? I think not. It has soured my experience in teaching and I am seriously considering my next career move.

In primary education Headship roles are given to too many women, who might be good teachers, but who are poor managers. Once in position too few checks are made on management and during Ofsted inspections very rarely are staff given the opportunity to comment on management.
Teachers require the freedom to respond to the needs of the children that they teach. Professional confidence has been so undermined that few feel able to do this for fear of Ofsted, senior management etc who maintain a 'blanket treatment' approach to learning.

There seems to be a great deal of egos that don't seem to be able to enjoy or like children within senior management. It is quite shocking how a head teacher can be literally a hermit as far as the rest of the staff are concerned - this is my experience of a number of school scenarios I've seen. The HT role has become an extraordinarily well paid desk job (undeniably stressful). HTs should have to teach at least one period a week, otherwise their position is untenable as 'Head Teacher'. There are some excellent TAs but there are also many who possess a poor level of literacy and knowledge of the basics eg. pure sounds for phonics. I think interventions by people who 'don't know what they don't know' (and this includes many teachers I've met) are creating confusion for our pupils.

It's the best job in the world when things go well. However, I sometimes feel that managers believe that the school would run more smoothly without teachers. Also paperwork is tiresome - there'd be plenty of time to do it if we did not have lessons using up our time!

A school can only ever be as good as its head, whose vision and rationale dictate a school's overall philosophy. If that head is soft on instilling discipline, teaching respect and punishing lack of effort or manners, then pity the poor teaching staff under him/her. Their efforts -without SMT support - are futile. This, for me as a high achieving, aspirational professional, is the most dismaying aspect of my job. I doubt that in many other industries that the valid opinion and experience of those at the real coal face is ignored to such an extent.

Senior management, driven by FFTs and residuals, has placed increasing pressure on staff to meet or exceed expectations. As the Head of a very good English Faculty, I still found myself being loaded with yet more to do each year. Having taught since the 70s, I have stepped down to point 5 to get some work/life balance. The pension situation is also very depressing, given my age and the proposed changes. The breadth of curriculum has diminished and many pupils at KS5 are opting for 'softer' subjects rather than the demands of literature. Many very experienced staff at my age in my school are actively planning their 'escape' from the profession. While there are many dynamic younger members of staff, they have not got the breadth of experience. Some also do not have the intellectual rigour (or literacy/ ability to write accurately) that I would expect. Morale is affected by the money problems as the prospect of redundancy has been raised and staff are being expected to agree to work on Saturday to promote the school and safeguard their jobs. Mine is a very successful school in terms of results, so what it is like for staff in schools where this is not the case, is a worrying thought. I will not be teaching for much longer which saddens me as I love my subject and enjoy teaching it. It is all of the hassle/ pressure from above and constant initiatives that have burned me out!

I feel that education is impacted by staff; if you have a good headteacher and therefore a good senior team who create the right ethos for the school it makes all the difference. I feel it is very sad that all around the country there are staff, pupils and parents who are having a difficult time in education and it is through incompetent headteachers. I am very lucky that I work in a school that has an excellent headteacher who most teachers have a great respect for in how she runs the school. I feel that if there is bullying happening in a school it is because of incompetency as stated before. Bullying can be tackled through improving the standards for headteachers and through also providing training for staff. Anybody who is bullied is usually bullied because they personally are feeling weak, have low self-esteem or low confidence at that time in their life. They need support to develop their confidence and self-esteem; if you have good self-esteem you cannot be bullied. People's self-esteem can change depending on their life circumstances. I am a confident person who generally has good self-esteem, but I had a period in my life where I was experiencing difficulties in my personal life and as a result did not have the emotional resilience to deal with something that turned into bulllying. Teachers are the most expensive and important asset in teaching and I think it is incredibly important that the government invests in their self-esteem and emotional resilience as it is these two aspects of a persons make up that will help them be the best that they can to model good emotional health for our pupils.

I think I have said it all. There are great schools - the majority and every child wants to succeed. I have come from one of the most successful schools with excellent colleagues, poor management, excellent children and excellent parents despite the management. Thank God next term new staff are on board.

One issue I do feel strongly about is that as a result of workplace reforms, there are now many more non-teachers in schools. These include behaviour managers, NTAs, business managers etc. They were supposed to lighten teachers' loads, but often can be peremptory and demanding of teachers' time. While some do very useful work well, others cause extra work for teachers and can be stubborn and unresponsive. As an experienced teacher, I expect some autonomy in my classroom and rather resent much less qualified and specialist non-teachers feeling that they can tell me how to teach, arrange a room, what equipment I should or should not use etc.