'We're fighting a losing battle': An education workforce in crisis

This symposium takes a feminist research approach to listening to, and valuing, the voices of those that are rarely heard. Our social welfare and education systems in the UK have, historically, given instruction to their workforce than listening to those who bear the burden of carrying those services out. In a socio-economical environment of cuts and increasing austerity demands on practitioners continue to rise whilst working, and living conditions continue to decline. In these presentations we listen those who are bearing the brunt of stark and often uncaring social and educational systems.
This research, exploring the health and well-being of education professionals in primary and early years settings, was initiated by a Multi-Academy Trust of five primary schools. The original intention was that we assess the needs of this group of educators, before designing a programme to support their wellbeing. However, having designed the wellbeing survey we took the opportunity to collect data from a far wider sample, making the survey available to schools and settings on our contact lists and across social media. The survey, based upon existing wellbeing measures but also including more open-ended questions, collated extensive data from 59 early years and 244 primary school educators.
Prior to our research literature indicated high anxiety in schools and early years settings, with 58% of primary teachers sharing that work impacted negatively upon their mental health (DfE, 2023), and over half of early years practitioners considering leaving the profession due to excessive levels of stress (Oppenheim, 2023). Likewise, our surveys identified an education landscape of ‘ever decreasing funding and ever increasing demands’ (Solvason et al, 2023, p13). Our research paints a clear picture of a workforce in crisis, where significant policy changes need to be made if we are to protect the wellbeing of our educators and the children that they teach.
This research obtained full ethical approval from the University of Worcester’s ethics committee.