Teachers must stop complaining that their job is stressful and “roll up their sleeves” to get on with their work, the head of Ofsted said today.
Sir Michael Wilshaw said teachers are better off than they have ever been, yet some still make excuses for poor performance, saying the children are too difficult, families are too unsupportive and the job is far too stressful.
Speaking to headteachers at Brighton College today Sir Michael said the job has improved dramatically since he started as a headteacher in 1985.
In those days, he said he had to do lunch duty on his own for three years because colleagues were working to rule, and teachers were walking out of class at a moment’s notice.
He recalled covering five classes in the sports hall because there was nobody to teach them, and writing to local authorities asking for more money to build a wall in the playground and not receiving a reply for weeks.
He said: “Let me tell you about stress. ‘Stress’ is what my father felt, who struggled to find a job in the fifties and sixties and who often had to work long hours in three different jobs and at weekends to support a growing family.
“’Stress’ is, I’m sure, what many of the million and a half unemployed young people today feel- unable to get a job because they’ve had a poor experience of school and lack the necessary skills and qualifications to find employment.
“’Stress’ is what I was under when I started as a head in 1985, in the context of widespread industrial action.”
He added that teachers are now better paid than ever before, have more independence, more autonomy, more power and more resources than they’ve ever had. He said: “They are now, even with the cuts, in a better position than I was 26 years ago.
“We need heads who know what a privileged position they are in now and who can use their new found independence well – people who roll up their sleeves and get on with improving their schools, even in the most difficult circumstances.”
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Teachers’ unions criticised Sir Michael’s comments, saying they undermine schools. Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “Teachers coping with the minority of pupils who display persistent unruly behaviour need the support of their colleagues and leadership teams, not thinly veiled threats from a punitive inspection system.
“Teachers are only too well aware of the massive problems that many of their students will face as youth unemployment and child poverty levels continue to soar. However, policy by personal anecdote and putdowns does not appear to be the best way to interfere in the education service.”
