Ann Lance

Teacher Job Satisfaction: Lessons from the TSW Pathfinder Project.

Government policy assumes that modernization and remodelling will be effective as external intervention mechanisms to improve job satisfaction. Based on data collected as part of the evaluation of the ‘Transforming the School Workforce Pathfinder Project’, an argument is presented here which suggests that internal management models may be more effective in improving teacher job satisfaction. By comparing the responses of teachers within primary and special schools with those from secondary schools, internal factors are identified which may be more relevant than externally imposed measures.

Secondary Teacher Workload and Job Satisfaction: Do Successful Strategies for Change Exist?.

This article analyses the views of secondary school teachers involved in the Transforming the School Workforce: Pathfinder Project—a project designed to address issues of teacher workload and job satisfaction. The initiative was launched in 2002 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to enable 32 pilot schools to explore ways in which they might restructure their working practices and reduce teacher workload. Funding was provided for schools to benefit from consultancy support, the training of headteachers, the employment of additional teaching assistants, the provision of ICT hardware and software, the training of bursars/school managers and for capital build projects. Here we concentrate on the evaluation of the Pathfinder Project with particular reference to possible changes in workload and job satisfaction of secondary teachers in the 12 secondary schools involved in the project. The reported weekly and holiday hours worked by secondary teachers are analysed across the duration of the project, as are patterns of evening and weekend work. Teachers’ views on job satisfaction are also analysed in conjunction with their perspectives on workload, culminating in a discussion of their solutions to the problems of excessive workload. The relationship between teacher workload, job satisfaction and work-life balance is explored within the context of the future modernization of the entire school workforce.

Modernizing the Roles of Support Staff in Primary Schools: Changing Focus, Changing Function.

In this article we describe the ways in which primary schools involved in the ‘Transforming the School Workforce: Pathfinder Project’ in England addressed the opportunity to restructure their working practices. The Project was established in 2002 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) primarily to help fund pilot schools to make interventions into the ways in which they were resourced, managed and organized—interventions that have often affected the whole schools workforce, and in particular the focus and function of the work of their support staff. Here we concentrate on the evaluation of the Pathfinder Project with particular reference to the changing roles of teaching assistants in primary schools, although we draw upon evidence gathered from all the schools involved in the Project. The range of different initiatives introduced to change the work of support staff is explored, as well as the resultant impact on the workloads of teachers within the schools. We discuss how the Project has facilitated innovative practice in remodelling the work of support staff and place this within the context of the changing policy agenda on workload in English schools.

Teachers, time and work: findings from the Evaluation of the Transforming the School Workforce Pathfinder Project

Teachers work and workload have been major factors in the recruitment, retention and revitalization of the profession. In January 2003 the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) launched a major reform known as remodelling, by which the work–life balance would be improved by freeing teachers up to teach, and using other members of the workforce (teaching and learning support assistants, administrators and bursars, technicians and welfare and counselling staff) to take on work that teachers need no longer do. This reform is in progress, and while there is anecdotal evidence of both the benefits and concerns of remodelling, there is no formal research evidence. However, prior to this initiative the DfES trialled these changes in 32 pilot schools, and a team from the University of Birmingham evaluated it. In this paper we examine this data with regard to the possibilities and opportunities afforded by remodelling and we consider how the pilot data generates important questions and illuminates contradictions in the modernization project.

‘I am not the teacher!’: some effects of remodelling the roles of teaching assistants in English primary schools

Remodelling the roles, responsibilities and working practices of all school staff has been central to the governments modernisation agenda for English state schools. This is typified by a determination to review and change the distribution of tasks undertaken by teachers and teaching assistants (TAs). Whilst there has been a substantial increase in the numbers of TAs employed in schools there is still a lack of clarity about their roles and about the impact of remodelling on the working lives of both teachers and assistants. Evidence from the Transforming the School Workforce: Pathfinder Project, conducted immediately prior to the launch of the National Agreement in 2003, indicates that initial concerns about the ways in which TAs were being deployed are still very apparent. Here the authors focus on management and professional development issues arising from TAs adopting more pedagogical roles in schools.

Power to innovate? A study of how primary practitioners are negotiating the modernisation agenda

Although standards and accountability continue to be at the centre of education policy in England, there has been a shift in emphasis encouraging practitioners to take ownership of and deliver a broader curriculum. This article explores specific projects in one primary school that highlight the way in which staff are embracing, extending and appropriating policy within their own setting. While standards and accountability are still firmly controlled by government policy-makers, the case study demonstrates that practitioners can use their agency to make innovative input into the curriculum and its delivery at grass-roots level.

A case study of two schools: identifying core values conducive to the building of a positive school culture

This article is based on a case study of two ethnically diverse urban primary schools in England. Both schools have been recognised locally and nationally for their engagement in projects which exemplify innovative practice. The article traces the impact of school effectiveness and improvement theory on primary schools in England, identifying an ethical approach to leadership as a critical factor. It seeks to explore evidence of the values which underpinned the practice within the two case study schools. The commitment of the headteachers to their individual schools, their respect for the pupils and their families and their attention to providing a breadth of learning experience are identified as being key factors. Further research into the critical role which positive values play in pedagogical reform is suggested.

Transforming the School Workforce: Remodelling Experiences in the Special School.

and retention of teachers in the English school system; and secondly, to a publicly stated commitment to reform the teaching profession (see Morris, 2001). Constructed as a pilot exercise, its purpose was to ’trail blaze’ or ’path find’ innovatory change in schools, as part of an exercise in targeting reform of the teaching profession, reducing teacher workload and improving working practices in the school workforce. The particular context for the special school, however, is one of managing a strategic lead and change that embraces both workforce-remodelling as well as the broader government agenda for modernisation of the educational system in England. This article concludes by arguing that the special school is a unique form of provision and that its place in the educational system is particularly vulnerable. Arguably it is caught in a nexus of political reform and an ideology of educational inclusion. In leadership terms, it is clear that the immediate future will involve the challenge