Headlined today in the Independent:
‘Teachers in England have lowest job satisfaction of all English-speaking countries, study finds’
The Independent tends to be quite careful and inclusive when it comes to virtually any minority but seems to have forgotten that we do try to speak the Inglis – ‘woht err yoo twyin to zay, Johk?
Anyhoo, here’s what the researchers found:
‘Teachers in England have lowest job satisfaction of all English-speaking countries, new study finds. Of 22 comparable countries, none have a lower level of job satisfaction among teachers than in England, according to UCL Institute of Education (IoE) research. Teachers in English-speaking countries – such as New Zealand, Canada, Australia and America – are more satisfied. Only Latvia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic had job satisfaction as low as England, the report finds.’
Can’t seem to access the full report to check whether the Welsh and the Irish were allowed in.
Ah, but are they comparatively happy?
I used to be a teacher, then a teacher educator (Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach teachers?) for decades. I was then part of the most-moany profession there is, incubating their woes in the staff room every day. So, I think I can be allowed to be a bit skeptical especially when there’s research to back me up. See this from University College London, in March 2018:
‘The study, presented at the Royal Economic Society’s annual conference at the University of Sussex in Brighton today (28 March 2018), analyses data collected in the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys for 2004 and 2011. It finds that school staff are more satisfied and more content with their jobs than comparable employees in other workplaces, a difference that is accounted for in large part by the perception of higher job quality in schools.’
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news-events/news-pub/mar-2018/school-staff-more-satisfied-jobs
And this from the Daily Telegraph in 2013:
‘Teachers are the happiest workers in Britain, says survey’
Top 10 happiest professions:
- Teacher
- Secretary
- Engineer
- Accountant
- Driver
- Shop Assistant
- Caterer
- Tradesman e.g. builder, plumber, carpenter
- Lawyer / solicitor
- Customer care / call centre
Aye but, what about Scottish teachers? Ooor bairns are tough
See this on probationary (beginner) teachers:
83% satisfied or very satisfied! Try that with any other occupation.
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/163230.pdf
See this for more experienced Scottish teachers:
Only about 25% not to happy and, within that, only about 5% really pissed sir.
https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/uploads/assets/uploaded/c5738dce-f321-424c-911e45b25112aaf0.pdf
So, are Scottish teachers more content/satisfied/happy than English ones? Probably but even if we werenae, we’re no whinging poms, but, ken?
Talking-up Scotland 
Having teachers in my family I have to agree with the biggest moaners bit , not only that , the cup is always half empty . Today all the Britnat party’s (and Green’s ) are going to put John Swinney through the mill on P1 assesments , of all the statements I have heard they are coming from polititians . Where is Larry Flannigan , his union is saying teachers don’t want them ,tell us why not , where are the teachers , if you don’t want them , what is wrong with them , tell us your alternative . One thing is for sure , our future generations will be the losers if these malcontents don’t come up with a way of keeping track of our children’s progess and addressing probems at an early age .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Going back a bit. At Ochiltree Primary, no one ever got the belt—then we went to Cumnock Academy—argh!
In our “above average” class of 49, belting was apparently obligatory to keep a modicum of control. We had a competition to see who got belted the most every week.
Then after a while it became obvious that it was bad teachers who used the belt the most—some teachers never used it at all, and managed by simply being good teachers who could interest their class.
A bit of a simplification, but smaller classes and good teaching methods are what children AND teachers need.
I couldn’t be a teacher if I tried, and have the greatest respect for those who do a good job in their classrooms.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I visited Ochiltree PS in early 90s to see students. Head teacher was wife of Scotland legend Ian Ure.
LikeLike
There is quite a strong anti-academic ethos in most Scottish school staffrooms. The ‘information’ garnered by the EIS about any initiative – which they always oppose – is all anecdotal, but is presented as if it were rigorous research. The cry is always ‘trust teachers’, but the media seldom ask ‘why?’ They KNOW what their children are capable of. “How do they know?”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes and copies of the Sun lying about.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The report can be downloaded from this link. https://samsims.education/teacher-job-satisfaction-working-paper/
The data that the report is based on was from a survey conducted in 2013 by the OECD “Teaching and Learning International Survey” I believe that the results were from England only, http://www.oecd.org/education/school/talis-2013-results.htm
LikeLike
Thanks very much.
LikeLike
No mention of Scotland at all.
LikeLike
As Mr Corbyn says, “Scotland is part of England” and “we don’t have separate legal systems in different parts of the country.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
What about doctors and nurses?
LikeLike
11th and 12th maybe?
LikeLike