Nicky Morgan misses the point about teachers’ workload - ATL
ATL
| Association of Teachers and Lecturers
Commenting on Nicky Morgan saying teachers should not be expected to spend hours marking schoolwork or answering emails after 5pm, Anne Heavey, education policy adviser at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:
“Nicky Morgan has entirely missed the point about teachers’ workloads. Marking work to provide feedback to children and planning high quality lessons are core tasks for every teacher.
“It is her Government which has created the perfect storm of major changes to the national curriculum, qualifications and assessment which have added considerably to teachers’ workloads. And this Government has made the situation worse with an increasingly high stakes accountability system which has led many school leaders to believe Ofsted needs to see proof that teachers mark well, give high quality feedback and plan excellent lessons, so make them spend hours doing so.
“It is this Government’s obsession with gathering unnecessary evidence that causes a needlessly high workload. The Department for Education should get its head out of the sand and create a supportive accountability system that treats teachers as professionals, and allows them to get on with the job without having to cover their backs. Suggesting unnecessary workload can be prevented by sharing lesson plans and stopping marking after 5pm reflects how poorly Nicky Morgan understands the work that our teachers do.”
