Balancing the workload equation in English primary schools: a continuing story?

Abstract

This article traces the gradual increase in primary teachers' workloads over several decades to the point where workforce reform was introduced to ameliorate the problem. A central feature of the reform was the use of teaching assistants to undertake various duties, so that time should be available for primary teachers to plan and prepare future lessons. Although official sources have described this initiative as a success, recent research that examines the consequences of these changes, from both the teachers' and the teaching assistants' viewpoints, would challenge these claims. This research is described in the article and shows that primary schools in England have increasingly come to rely on poorly paid untrained assistants to teach classes. The article concludes by looking at the implications for the future status of the profession as a result of this practice.

Keywords:

• agreement
• assistant teachers
• primary
• teaching
• workforce
• workloads

Acknowledgements

We thank the National Union of Teachers (NUT) for providing the funds that made this research possible.

Notes

1. This article is a synopsis of a longer treatment of these issues in Galton and MacBeath (2008).

2. For those unfamiliar with the English primary system, children enter the reception class between ages 4 and 5 years. Year 1 is ages 5–6 years, up to Year 6, which is ages 11–12 years. Key Stage 1 runs to the end of Year 3 and Key Stage 2 goes from Years 4–6.