Department for Education and Skills (UK) August 2001
Seeking to end a labor dispute that forced some schools to adopt a four-day schedule, the British government hired consultants from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to analyze the workload of teachers and head teachers (principals) and suggest ways to improve their efficiency. In an interim report for the Department for Education and Skills, PwC explained their findings, which are based on fieldwork in 48 schools. Among the consultants' observations: teachers and head teachers work longer hours than many other occupations, though the volume of work is comparable to other professions when spread out over a year (adjusting for the typical 9 month school calendar); teachers welcome efforts to professionalize their field through greater accountability and higher expectations, yet they feel they are not given the support needed to meet those challenges (despite higher spending per pupil); and teachers' workloads are made excessive by having to perform tasks that could be carried out by other staff, by having inadequate technical support, and by wide variations in head teachers' and managers' effectiveness in managing workload. Nearly absent from the study, which contains all sorts of statistics and measurements relating to teachers' current working conditions and practices, is analysis of how these variables are affecting student achievement. Perhaps PwC's final report, to be released in November with recommended solutions for lessening teachers' workload, will shed some light on this most crucial element of the academic equation. In the meantime, if you'd like to read the interim report, request a free copy by emailing [email protected]
