By Gavin Mackintosh-
An education leader has lashed out at a “surveillance” culture in the classroom that he said is hindering teachers’ lives.
NASUWT union president Dan McCarthy said teaching had “become more stressful” in recent years, highlighting increased levels of “observation”.
Addressing the union’s annual conference in Birmingham, Mr McCarthy said constant monitoring added another pressure to those already weighed down by the workload.
The 64-year-old English teacher from Ashingdon in Essex said: “Intrinsically, teaching is a stressful profession, but it has become more stressful as the challenges of poverty and inequality have worsened.
“But, instead of supporting teachers, teachers are being subject to more monitoring and more ‘surveillance’ – surveillance that is punitive and crushing.
“Support programs designed not to support but to crush, surveillance programs designed to dismiss teachers on the basis of competency rather than redundancy because the cost to the school is cheaper.
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“What of the human cost? I have been told by colleagues that they are not just thinking of quitting teaching but that they have considered taking their own lives.”
Mr McCarthy said he had experienced being recommended for observation less than a month after receiving an “outstanding” report – something he refused to do. He insisted that such frequent observations had a negative impact on teachers’ mental health. Surveillance in the classroom has made the teaching profession in the UK more difficult, despite the fact many British children in public schools are unruly and lack discipline. Instead, disruptive children prevent others from learning and are an increasing problem for teachers, who are under enough stress. The demand to meet high standards in schools is a further stress when difficult pupils are considered. Most schools have had to raise their standard in the last 12 months after the government raised the level of G.C.S.E exams to prepare pupils better for University.
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