Appendix List of Questions in the Survey

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April 2010 Background

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) commissioned YouGov Plc to undertake a survey of teachers in England and Wales ahead of the forthcoming general election. The teachers surveyed are members of the YouGov Plc GB panel of 200,000+ individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys.

The survey asked teachers:

 about the pressures they face in their job;  to what extent a variety of stakeholders trust teachers in their work;  to identify the improvements and failures that have been made in education over the last decade; and  what they believe the next government’s priorities should be for education.

A list of the questions in the survey is attached at Appendix 2.

All figures in this report are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 714 teachers. Fieldwork was undertaken between 19 - 23 March 2010. The survey was carried out online.

Key findings

Do teachers feel trusted to get on with their job?

Teachers were asked to what extent they felt a range of organisations or bodies have trust in them to do their job as a teacher.

The most striking finding was that a clear majority of teachers feel that the Government/Department for Children, Schools and Families and Ofsted/Estyn does not trust teachers. Conversely, teachers feel that their local authority, governing body, parents and head teacher trusts them to do their job. These findings are outlined below:

Question: To what extent, if at all, do you think each of the following have trust in you to do your job? All figures in %. Trust Don’t trust Ofsted/Estyn 34 60 Government/DCSF 35 54 Local authority 63 28 Governing body 82 13 Parents 83 16 Head teachers 86 13 The pressures and problems teachers face

Teachers were asked to give a spontaneous answer to the question of the pressures and/or problems they face in their job.

The top five answers were:

 Paperwork (identified by 34% of respondents)  Lack of support from parents (26%)  Disruptive pupils (25%)  Meeting targets (23%)  Government initiatives (22%)

Teachers were then asked the same question but on this occasion they were given some suggested prompted answers.

The top five answers were:

 Pupil behaviour (identified by 47% of respondents)  Excessive administration/paperwork (46%)  Constant changes (46%)  Excessive workload (43%)  Ofsted/Estyn inspections (39%)

Who can solve these problems?

Teachers were then asked which organisations or bodies could most help alleviate the problems facing the profession.

Over two-thirds (69%) answered ‘the Government’.

Local authorities, parents and trade unions were next - all on 29%.

What are the failures in education over the last decade which teachers would want to remove?

The top three failures identified by teachers were:

 OFSTED (22%)  League tables (18%)  SATs (14%)

What are the improvements in education over the last decade which teachers would want to preserve?

The top three improvements identified by teachers were:

 New curriculum (10%)  Planning, Preparation and Assessment time (10%)  Funding increases (8%)

Satisfaction with teaching as a career

Over three-fifths of teachers are satisfied with teaching as career.

 71% of teachers are satisfied (21% are very satisfied and 50% are fairly satisfied).  20% of teachers are dissatisfied.  Satisfaction levels are lowest amongst supply teachers (62% are satisfied and 31% are dissatisfied)

The priorities for the next government

A majority of respondents identified ‘reducing class size’ (59%) and ‘removing school league tables’ (55%) as the highest priorities for the next government.

Teachers also regard ‘increasing funding for education’ as important, with almost half (49%) identifying this. 44% of teachers think that ‘ensuring inspections support schools’ should be a high priority of the next government. Appendix 1 – selection of responses by teachers

On pressures/problems faced by teachers

‘….The pressures to teach to a 'government model' that is too prescriptive with regards to content but, above all, with regard to teaching methods.

The need to constantly monitor pupils' performance: "you don't make a pig fatter by weighing it". So much time can be taken up with assessment that there is not enough time to teach!

The need to record all planning in more detail than is necessary solely for the benefit of third parties such as Ofsted.

The narrowing of the academic curriculum to make way for subjects that are introduced as a 'knee-jerk' reaction to society's problems and, in many cases, to make up for poor parenting.

The decline in standards of pupils' behaviour, and children who come in to school less well prepared than formerly in terms of language and social skills…’

‘…Admin....too much of it keeps me from my real job: teaching!’

‘…Too many initiatives - many are started and most are not completed….’

‘…Problem behaviour - there is a lack of respect towards teachers from both parents and children - parenting style has changed over the last decade or so, whereby many parents feel they are being cruel to their child if they try to control their impulses or just simply say 'no' and stick to it. This leads to many children finding it very hard to behave appropriately in a class room setting…’

‘….Main pressures relate to widening of expectations, especially from parents, who expect their children to be 'brought up' at school rather than taught - this additional responsibility detracts from specific teaching, as does all the red tape/paperwork…’

‘….Relentless ill advised government interference by ministers and civil servants who are never held to account in any meaningful sense for their bad decisions, short termism, headline grabbing and self profiling. Cynical manipulation of data confuses issues further. How about 5 years of steady state?...’

‘…Too much change and insecurity due to politicians having to be seen to be 'doing something' Nothing is ever allowed to bed down….’

‘…The goalposts are constantly moving and no initiative is embedded before something new is introduced. Money is wasted on the publication of documents which rapidly become obsolete and when new initiatives involve money there is never adequate provision in the school budget. Assessment requirements are unreasonable, especially within the Foundation Stage, and there is no time for a life outside work. Ofsted marches to a different drum from the government and inspectors have varying standards….’

Priority for next government

‘….Be an initiative free zone for three years - let the teachers teach without any new gimmicks etc - and so deliver improvements in the quality of teaching, learning, assessment and behaviour…’

‘…Start from "how do children learn' and build on that. Allow teachers and heads to concentrate on learning and not new initiatives and guidelines. Reduce paperwork…’.

‘…Do not allow further curriculum reinventions of the wheel when the last ten changes have not yet been evaluated or assessed against any real professional or practical criteria…’

‘…change Ofsted from a "fault Finding" to a "Support providing" exercise….’ Appendix 2 – list of questions in the survey

[D1] Which of these BEST describes your current professional role? <1> Supply Teacher <2> Classroom or Subject Teacher <3> Class teacher with special curricular or noncurricular responsibilities <4> Cross-school responsibilities without a class teaching role <5> Deputy/Assistant Head of Department, or Deputy/Assistant Curriculum Co-ordinator <6> Head of Department or subject, or Curriculum Co-ordinator <7> Advanced Skills Teacher <8> Deputy/Assistant Head of Year, or Deputy/Assistant Key Stage Co-ordinator <9> Head of Year, or Key Stage Co-ordinator <10> Deputy/Assistant Headteacher/Principal (including acting) <11> Headteacher/Principal (including acting) <12> Other

[D3] How long have you been a teacher? (Please write your answer below in years, using numbers not words)

[D2] And how long have you been in your current role? (Please write your answer below in years, using numbers not words)

[q1a] Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the job of teaching as a career? <1> Very satisfied <2> Fairly satisfied <3> Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied <4> Fairly dissatisfied <5> Very dissatisfied <6> Don’t know

[q1b] Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with your current job? <1> Very satisfied <2> Fairly satisfied <3> Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied <4> Fairly dissatisfied <5> Very dissatisfied <6> Don’t know

[q2] In your opinion, what pressures and/ or problems do teachers face nowadays? (Please write your answer in the box below. If you cannot think of any then please write “DK”.)

[q3] Which two or three, if any, of the following do you believe are the biggest pressures or problems which teachers face nowadays? (Please select no more than 3 options and include any that you may have mentioned in the previous question.) <1> Excessive administration/ paperwork <2> Lack of preparation time <3> Constant changes <4> National Curriculum <5> Government/ political interference <6> Testing and assessment <7> Pupil behaviour <8> Unreasonable management <9> Ofsted/ Estyn inspections <10> Aggressive parents <11> Lack of support for teachers <12> Work-life balance <13> Low pay <14> Excessive workload <15 fixed> Other <16 fixed xor> Not applicable, I do not believe teachers face any pressures and/ or problems nowadays <17 fixed xor> Don’t know

[q4] Which two or three, if any, of the organisations or bodies listed below do you believe can do MOST to help alleviate problems facing teachers? (Please select no more than 3.) <1> The Government <2> Your union <3> Individual teachers <4> Parents <5> The general public <6> The local authority <7> The governing body <8> School inspectors <9 fixed> Other [q6o] {open} <10 fixed xor> Not applicable, I do not believe any organisation/ body can help alleviate problems faced by teachers <11 fixed xor> Not applicable, I do not believe teachers face any problems <12 foxed xor> Don’t know

[q5] Please write in below up to three changes to the education service you would want introduced by a new government. (If you cannot think of any change please type DK.)

[q6] Which two or three, if any, of the following do you believe should be the highest priority for a new government? (Please select no more than 3.) <1> Reducing class size <2> Repairing crumbling school buildings <3> Increasing funding for education <4> Removing school league tables <5> Increasing early years provision <6> Ensuring inspections support schools <7> Promoting a free non-selective system <8 fixed xor> None of these <9 fixed xor> Don’t know

[q7a] Please identify up to three improvements in education over the last decade which you would want to preserve? (Please write you answer in the box below, separating them with a semi-colon “;” If you cannot think of any please write “DK”.)

[q7b] Please identify up to three failures in education over the last decade which you would want to remove? (Please write you answer in the box below, separating them with a semi-colon “;” If you cannot think of any please write “DK”.)

[q8grid] To what extent, if at all, do you think each of the following have trust in you to do your job? -[q8a]Government/DCSF -[q8b]Local authority -[q8c]Governing body -[q8d]Ofsted/ Estyn -[q8e]Parents -[q8f]Head teacher <1> Complete trust <2> Some trust <3> Not much trust <4> No trust at all <5> Don’t know