Further evidence of poor morale comes from a survey of GP workloads:
An overworked, overstretched GP workforce is being buried under an avalanche of workload including pointless paperwork. Poor morale affects a majority of GPs who report that their services have worsened in the past year. From a survey of 2, 837 GPs 55% expressed the view that there has been a deterioration of service in the past year claiming ‘workload as unmanageable’ or being ‘starved of resources and staff’ meaning that many patients can’t get the appointments, treatment and services they deserve. (Campbell, 2015)
‘If anyone says to you that staff morale is at an all‑time low, you know you are doing something right’ is an alleged claim made by the now retired Chief Inspector of Schools, Michael Wilshaw. Doubts were subsequently expressed about the extent to which Michael Wilshaw had been responsible for the alleged ‘improvement’ in Ofsted; but there had been none when it came to his reported role in ‘the demoralisation of the teaching profession. His attributions of the improved rating of primary schools to ‘Ofsted’s hard work’ were claimed as both too generalised and insulting to teachers; and that Ofsted was ’wasting about £150 million annually of taxpayers’ money by creating a climate of fear in schools and colleges’ (guardian. [email protected] 23rd December 2016). Teachers have begun to make a case for proportionate inspections based on dialogue and mutual trust to promote school improvement as opposed to the current audit‑style approach of 18 criteria for judging leadership, nine for governance, nine for teaching, learning and assessment, and three for learning outcomes from 20 different groups of learners (boys, girls, ethnic groups and so on). Additionally the lengthy Ofsted inspection handbook contains criteria for evaluating provision for pupils’ ‘spiritual‘, ‘moral‘, ‘social’ and ‘cultural’ development. Certainly the burdensome and ever‑changing demands that some inspections have imposed on teachers continue to play their part in lowering morale. A survey conducted of teachers in schools showed that nearly half of teachers plan to leave in the next five years as a result of ‘reaching breaking‑point’ over their workload (Lightfoot, 2016):
We are in the midst of a teacher recruitment and retention crisis brought on in large part by a culture of unmanageable workload. The biggest generator of workload, say teachers, is constant change caused by government policy.
Also demonstrated was a widening gulf between teacher morale within the two sectors, state and independent, with teachers in the latter much more likely to say they are happy in their work and much less likely to complain of unmanageable workloads. For instance class size was viewed as an important factor.
I was teaching classes of 31, now I have 11. That makes a big difference but it isn’t the main reason why I am much happier now. In the state schools I was coming to
see children as data walking round, they no longer seemed human. Here the teachers are nurturing each individual child and developing them not just academically but as people. You’re doing everything for the sake of the child, not to tick a box for the school. I’m treated as a professional, my opinions are listened to and I feel much more appreciated. Here you gets thanks all the time.
An industrial strike carried out by teaching assistants in 2016 evidenced that many felt undervalued. The given reason was not only about low pay and job insecurity but about their nebulous status within schools and about their too varied workload where they were expected to respond without any further training (Harris, 2016). Their role would seem varied and they are required for many different purposes, for example shadowing teachers, working on specified structured programmes, helping less able students keep up with their peers; however there is no common definition of what their job involves. The Government claims that it spends around £4bn on teaching assistants – approximately 10% of the overall educational budget – and each junior and secondary school has on average 10‑15 teaching assistants. Nonetheless many claim that, in policy terms, they are neglected as needing extra staff training in order to support students with dyslexia and autism. Available Department for Education statistics show that the majority of teaching assistants are graduates; and that some schools cannot pay them enough to retain them, also that they lack a formalised qualification. There exists no overall national picture of the current work of teaching assistants as regards attitudes to workload and as one head teacher in the above survey asserted: ‘We’re not getting our best value yet’.
Summary:
Recent governments increasingly seek to shift power away from the professions and to give them restricted access.
De-professionalisation as displacement
Lack of funding for ‘professional’ social care services is symbolic of commodification, the fragmentation of the care relationship into standardised tasks that objectify the client
The Conservative government’s approach to ‘Troubled Families’ tended to use family support workers, family intervention workers or key workers from a range of backgrounds such as teachers, police officers, housing officers, youth workers
De-professionalisation as reducing self-esteem
De‑professionalisation encompasses a lowering recognition of performance within an organisation’s workforce often contrasting with previous valuations
changes to school curricula, health service ‘modernisation’ plans; and particularly when professionals see their views /voice being relatively ignored
De-professionalisation as an attack on social status or position
Perceptions of too much ‘political’ intervention – for instance a long‑standing confrontation has arisen between the Secretary of State for Health and doctors which has a rather different nuance to that evidenced between health service managers and doctors – seemingly to have resulted in an attack on the morale of junior doctors De‑professionalisation as embodied in increasing workloads, loss of autonomy in the practice of a profession and subordination to external supervision coupled with unreasonable expectations
Take the case of foster parents who have experienced devaluing of status, no legal rights as such; and cannot challenge decisions to cut their fees or change their working conditions because they have no official employment status – they have no employment rights and therefore cannot claim unfair dismissal
A gender difference?
Feminisation of parts of the workforce, for example home care services, residential care workers, nursing auxiliaries over a long period have experienced poor working conditions, leads to low morale
Many women have been forced to take poorly‑paid jobs in the social care sector and this is tantamount to a waste of women’s skills and experience
Need for an industrial strategy to encourage innovation, higher productivity and better wages?
De-professionalisation as evidenced by unfilled vacancies and poor recruitment
The ‘5 Cs’ are instilled in nurses during their training ‑commitment, conscience, competence, compassion and confidence, but how can you show compassion when you’re doing the work of several other people?
High number of vacancies reflected throughout the nursing workforce; also in the case of social workers there is an impact of unfilled vacancies and rising caseloads and challenges to work‑life balance such as unpaid overtime
Morale related to an ability to empathise
Risks of being emotionally over‑involved with others in terms of compassion and burnout, and empathetic distress may impact on a professional’s own well‑being Demoralised feelings may be addressed through professional development and reflective practice and seen as a key component of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in social work training
Demoralisation and workload