During 2007, Dr Dan Riley of the University of New England and Professor Deidre Duncan from the Australian Catholic University surveyed more than 800 teachers in government, Catholic and independent schools.
The most serious findings were:
99.8% of teachers reported that they had been bullied at school by fellow teachers, principals or parents.
More than 90% of teachers reported that they had been bullied by colleagues.
83% of teachers said their concerns about unfair treatment, bullying and harassment had been dismissed.
91% of teachers said their mental or physical health had suffered.
90% of teachers said they had been forced to deal with unmanageable workloads.
90% of teachers said they had been frozen out, ignored or excluded from decision-making.
88% of teachers said that their integrity had been undermined.
87% of teachers said they had lost or gained responsibilities without consultation.
Teachers also complained about superiors who frequently -
questioned their decisions and judgements,
set tasks with unreasonable or impossible targets and deadlines
attempt to belittle or undermine their work.
A growing number of experts believe bullying is now more common between staff in schools than it is between students.
According to survey responses the bullies - in order - are -
school executive staff,
colleagues,
principals
parents.
One in five teachers said they had had personal property attacked, such as their car or their office, and a similar number complain about physical abuse or threats of violence.
Survey boss Dan Riley of the University of New England described the results as "frightening".
"We didn't expect to find what we did - we have a problem - teachers are not happy and we believe this is very serious," he said.
Preliminary findings from the survey suggested that teachers at government schools are bullied more frequently than their colleagues in the independent and Catholic sectors.
And that workplace bullying is rife in schools in Western Australia and Queensland.
"Government schools are not very attentive to bullying," Dan Riley said.
"Claims made (by bullied teachers) often take a long time to be investigated or are ignored altogether."
In earlier research, Deidre Duncan and Dan Riley surveyed two hundred Catholic school teachers.
97.5% reported that they had been bullied.
Duncan, D.J. and Riley, D., Staff Bullying in Catholic Schools, 1327-7634 Vol 10, No 1, 2005, pp.47-58 Australia & New Zealand Journal of Law & Education
93% of 1351 "beginning" teachers - those in their first three years of service - either "like" or "love" their choice of career.
but almost 25% believe they will leave the profession within the first five years.
Beginning Teacher Survey commissioned by the Australian Joint Principals Association, released March 2007. Reported in Let us teach, The Courier-Mail, 15/03/2007
30% of Queensland teachers do leave teaching within their first three years.
(Dr Nan Bahr, University of Queensland director of teacher education)
Up to 50% of Queensland teachers leave teaching within their first five years.
(Leonie Shaw, Queensland Board of Teacher Registration)
Almost 50% of Queensland trainee teachers are mature-age students.
(Leonie Shaw, Queensland Board of Teacher Registration,)
32.5 years was the average age of first-time Queensland teachers in 2006.
(Queensland College of Teachers)
Only 18% of 4700 Queensland trainee teachers came directly from Year 12.
(full time equivalent education students at the Queensland University of Technology)
Morale drives teacher exodus, Elizabeth Allen, The Courier-Mail, 13/07/2005,
First-time teachers older, Tess Livingstone, The Courier-Mail, 11/03/2007
33% of Australian teachers intend leaving the profession within the next three years.
7% are planning to retire.
26% want to leave the profession.
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report into the education sector.)
Teacher exodus spells trouble, Suzanna Clarke, p.5, The Courier-Mail, 20/06/2005.
367,000 Australians have teaching qualifications.
117,000 - about 31.8% - of them are working outside the profession
Education Minister Dr Brendan Nelson quoted in ALP's teacher promise, The Daily Telegraph, 14 July, 2003
Applications for teaching places had plunged by 30% per cent over two years (2005-2007) in Queensland.
Western Australia is unlikely to fill places for 2008.
A leading educator, University of Queensland academic Ken Wiltshire, said teaching wasn't "attracting enough ... intelligent people".
"It's a crisis. The tertiary entrance ranks are too low. The status of the profession is too low."
Latest figures for Queensland show applications this year were down almost 23% on 2006.
This was on top of a 7% to 8% drop the previous year, adding up to a total drop of 30%.
In Victoria, applications for entry in 2007 and 2008 were down 12%, after increasing by 2.5 per cent the previous year.
The numbers in WA fell by 15% between 2006 and this year, and there is a further 2 per cent decline in entrants for next year, which means the available places cannot be filled.
At the University of Western Australia, teaching is reportedly at 75% capacity.
UWA education dean Bill Louden said key research had shown that the proportion of women from the top 40% of ability entering teaching had halved during the past two decades as they chose other professions.
And the proportion from the second lowest 20% going into the profession had doubled.
Entry scores for future teachers are predicted to fall despite criticism they are already too low.
Cut-off scores for teaching courses, both primary and secondary, fell to as low as OP16 and 17 in 2005.
This takes in the lowest performing one-third of high school graduates. Vets need an OP1. Pharmacists, optometrists, physiotherapists an OP1 or 2. Podiatrists an OP4.
University of Queensland vice-chancellor John Hay said it was "totally inappropriate" for teachers to be drawn from the bottom third of students with scores like 15,16 and 17.
Cut-off scores for teaching dropped to OP19 for some courses at the University of Southern Queensland in 2006.
Under the OP system, no student "fails" outright, but scores in the range of 16 to 19 would suggest students scored in the low to middle ranges (low achievement and satisfactory achievement ) in their Year 12 subjects.
Universities lower the bar for teaching, Should parents be worried if their child's teacher left high school with an OP16 or 17? Tess Livingstone, The Courier-Mail, 30/03/2005.
Time to face teaching problem, P.3, The Courier-Mail, 22/03/2006.
Standard of future teachers slipping, Jane Fynes-Clinton, Tess Livingstone, P.1, The Courier-Mail, 22/03/2006.
Teaching to smarten up, Tess Livingstone, P. 7, The Courier-Mail, 23/03/2006.
In 1983 students entering teaching degrees tended to be in the 74th percentile - meaning they had better literacy and numeracy standards than 74 per cent of their age group.
By 2003, the average rank of new student teachers was 61 per cent.
Research by Dr Andrew Leigh and Dr Chris Ryan, Australian National University.
Standard of teachers is falling: study, p.16, The Cairns Post, 28/08/2006.
96% of Queensland state school teachers are members of the Queensland teachers' Union.
Be afraid : Your Rights at Work Information Wraparound, Queensland Teachers' Journal, 30 August 2007
73.32% of Queensland teachers are women.
80.29% of Queensland primary teachers are women.
44.01% of Queensland primary principals are women.
58.68% of Queensland secondary teachers are women.
31.42% of Queensland secondary principals are women.
Statistics provided by Department of Education and the Arts - Women represented in the teaching workforce in Queensland state schools, Quarter 2, 2005 data, (quoted in) New leadership program launched, Leah Mertens, QTU Women's Coordinator, p. 8, Queensland Teacher's Journal, 23/11/2006.
90% of the 139,000 new teaching jobs over the last decade have gone to women (census results).
Queensland has the highest rate of "underpromoted" women teachers,
according to Catherine Davis the federal Women's officer for the Australian Education Union. That is -
in proportion to the teaching workforce numbers, the gap between non-promoted women teachers and promoted women principals is the highest in Australia at 34.3% (the national average is 27.85%).
Catherine ... also highlighted the fact that Queensland has the lowest percentage of female secondary principals in the education workforce (only 31.42%).
Good news, bad news: AEU Women's Conference examines leadership, Paige Bousen, p.8 Queensland teacher's Journal, 23/11/2006.
141 secondary school teachers in rural and suburban areas of south-east Queensland were studied to ascertain perceived stress levels.
37.6% reported stress caused by excessive workload and lack of time.
21.3% reported stress caused by lack of support from Administration (Management).
18.4% reported stress caused by lack of communication and poor relationships.
17% reported stress caused by student misbehaviour and amotivation (No dictionary definition. I presume it means lack of motivation).
15.6% reported stress caused by bureaucratic changes from Education Quensland.
10.6% reported stress caused by large class size.
7.1% reported stress caused by lack of resources and poor physical environment.
12.5% reported that they had used alcohol to reduce stress.
a quarter (approximately) of the teachers stated that they had taken some stress leave,
one third had sought professional assistance to deal with stress.
... the health effects (including physical, psychological and social negative effects of stress) have been well documented in many studies: social implications alone include declining job satisfaction and teacher-withdrawal-resignation intentions, teacher-reduction in ability to assess and meet the needs of students, increase in days absent, and deterioration in work performance and interpersonal relationships both within and outside the school environment. ...
... it may be concluded that teachers are no more stressed in general than are other professional groups or the general population - except especially in relation to Role Overload. ... This area has ... been identified for more than 25 years as being a source of stress among teachers. ...
Stress among secondary school teachers: teacher-perceptions and questionnaire assessments of occupational stress, Daisuke Fujiwara and Richard Hicks, published in The Organisational Psychologist, The Newsletter of The College of Organisational Psychologists, December 2006. http://www.psychology.org.au/aps/default.asp Enquiries about the article can be addressed to Doctor Richard Hicks, Bond University rhicks@staff.bond.edu.au
A survey of almost 1100 public and private schools has found that one in five principals are worried about the way they are using alcohol to manage stress.
43% feel overwhelmed by their workload or don't feel like they can maintain it for much longer.
82% are stressed by the quantity of work.
70% are stressed by the expectations of their employers.
57% are stressed by parent-related issues.
Teacher shortages were also a worry for at least 50% of principals.
A third of principals reported having a diagnosed medical problem — such as cardiac or mental health issues — that was caused or exacerbated by their job.
Principals reported that dealing with endless paperwork, abuse or grievances from angry parents, and the lack of administrative support in schools, were taking their toll.
The survey was conducted at the end of last year by the National Joint Secondary Principals Associations, which represent independent, Catholic and Government schools.
Principals turn to booze to cope: report, Farrah Tomazin, The Melbourne Age, 04 February, 2008: http://www.quattro.com/id258.htm
Teachers feel sad.
James Cook University, Cairns research by Timms, Graham and Cottrell found that teachers ... sought to establish relationships between workload ..., burnout ... , and engagement with work ... .
High workload correlated negatively with vigour, indicating that this area of worklife impacted on individuals' capacity for resiliance.
However there was also a positive relationship between high workload and absorbtion, indicating perhaps that respondents find their work so intrinsically interesting that they do not notice the passage of time, despite a reported mismatch in workload.
Predicted positive relationships between high workload and the burnout dimensions of exhaustion and disengagement were also supported by significant correlations. ... Consequently it is noted that respondents found that workload constituted the major source of dissatisfaction with their work environment. ...
Participants spoke of their workloads as inexorably and continually increasing ... several participants suggested that in addition to work intensification they also felt pressure to be involved in co-curricular activites ...
Conclusion
While most respondents reported high dedication and absorbtion in their work consistent with a powerful sense of a meaningful and important career, they also revealed a deep and profound sadness.
For many teachers in the current study, their work has assumed (and continues to assume) numerous responsibilities which, of necessity, have to be performed within their own time, thereby severely impacting on their private lives.
Respondents in the current study reported heavy workloads, high exhaustion and low vigour which are indicative of extreme pressure within their workplaces. ...Such findings do not augur well for the continued sustainablity of the profession ...
Pushing the "teachers' work wheelbarrow" : Queensland Independent school teachers and their workload Carolyn Timms, Deborah Graham and David Cottrell (Psychology, School of Arts and Social Sciences, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, 4870, Australia)
123 Queensland teachers made successful stress-related claims for leave during 2002-2003.
125 Queensland teachers made successful stress-related claims for leave during 2003-2004.
122 Queensland teacher stress compensation claims were accepted during 2005-2006. (96 were denied.)
But during 2006-2007 there was a dramatic decrease in the number of state school teachers who were given compensation for work-related stress.
94 Queensland teacher stress compensation claims were accepted during 2006-2007. (123 were denied.)
Opposition education spokesman Stuart Copeland said the Government figures also showed compensation payouts dropped from-
$4 million in 2005-06
to
$1.9 million in 2006-07.
Tony McGruther, of the Queensland Association of State School Principals, said stress was a serious welfare issue for teachers, with some suffering serious mental and physical breakdowns.
Teachers said that they were stressed by conflict with other teachers, students and supervising staff.
"Teachers I have spoken to are gravely concerned about the growing lack of respect from students and the difficulties enforcing discipline in their classrooms," said Opposition education spokesman Stuart Copeland.
And teachers may not be advised by the union or staff welfare oficer to apply for WorkCover when they take sick leave because of stress.
So these figures will significantly understate the problem.
Up to 3% of the Australian population is psychopathic, according to Sydney-based psychotherapist and author John Clarke.
About 40,000 Queensland teachers are now members of the QTU.
(Report by John Battams to the QTU conference, June 2007.)
So up to 1200 Queensland teachers and administrators may be workplace psychopaths.
Warning over workplace psychopaths, Jade Bilowol, AAP, June 14, 2007
On May 27 2007 an Education Queensland spokesperson stated that there was a backlog of-
414 cases involving allegations (presumably both true and false) of official misconduct by Education Queensland staff.
And that some of the cases had dragged on for a number of years, stalled by a lack of staff in the Ethical Standards unit.
5 temporary investigators had recently been appointed to the Ethical Standards unit. These positions will be made permanent "next year".
82 sex offence inquiries, Darrell Giles, May 27, 2007, The Sunday Mail.
180 Queensland teachers were assaulted during 2004-2006.
Teachers reported being threatened with weapons, stabbed with pencils, punched in the face, spat on, having bones broken, furniture thrown at them and being verbally assaulted by students. One teacher reported being headbutted in the face and having hair torn out. Another suffered burns after a student threw boiling water at the teacher and two students. A teacher reported being injured after a student threw a chair. When a teacher tried to stop a student chasing another with a pair of scissors, the student charged at the teacher. A teacher reported being kicked in the face by a student who refused to follow directions. A principal reported suffering mental stress after an altercation with a student armed with an iron bar. A teacher reported a shoulder injury after an irate student picked up a table and threw it.
They were also being physically and verbally assaulted by parents. One teacher was hit in the throat and knocked over by a parent; an irate parent pushed a teacher over and then punched the teacher in the jaw; a principal was punched in the mouth and threatened by a female parent; a teacher claimed to have suffered mental distress after a student pointed a replica gun and pulled the trigger several times.
One student at Albany Creek State High was expelled in February 2005 over a vicious attack in which a maths teacher's head was smashed into a window. Witnesses said the Year 9 student ... attacked the teacher after being reprimanded for not completing his homework. A school insider described the attack as brutal. The student "beat the crap out of the teacher", the source said.
15,000 Queensland students were suspended or expelled for violent behaviour in only 12 months, the latest Education Queensland (2006-2007) annual report shows.
35,000 more Queensland students were suspended or expelled for other reasons, including absences, disruptive behaviour, drugs and "physical misconduct".
During 2006-2007, Queensland public schools have endured one of the most violent years on record.
Students have attacked both their peers and their teachers.
Teacher bashed, Jessica Lawrence and Kate Patterson, The Sunday Mail, 13/03/2005.
Stressed teachers paid to stay out of class, Mark Alexander, The Sunday Mail, 17/04/2005.
Class wars! Jessica Lawrence, The Sunday Mail, 04/09/2005.
Act up and you're out, Tess Livingstone, The Courier-Mail, 12/11/2006.
220,000 prescriptions for Prozac and similar drugs - selective serotonin inhibitors (SSRI) - were issued to children and adolescents in Australia in 2002.
250,000 were issued in 2003.
15,000 (approx) were issued to children under 10.
In August 2005 the other popular ADHD drug Ritalin was added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, reducing the cost from $49 to as little as $4.70 for concession card-holders. Over the next six months, the number of Ritalin scripts issued soared from 523 a month to more than 5800, with no apparent decrease in other medications.
Queensland prescription numbers have grown at a rate second only to that in Western Australia.
Dr George Halasz, a Melbourne-based psychiatrist, warns there have not yet been any long-term follow-up studies of the effects.
"There could be a sleeper effect. In 20 years we could have a whole generation acting differently."
Out of control, Daryl Passmore, The Courier-Mail 13/01/07
Half of all Australians lack the minimum reading, writing and problem-solving skills to cope with life in the modern world.
A new survey of almost 9000 Australians by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that -
46% of the population, or seven million people, would struggle to understand the meaning of newspaper and magazine articles or documentation such as maps and payslips.
53% reached just the second of five levels in a practical numeracy test.
70% reached just the second level in a series of problem-solving exercises.
Management consultant and social commentator Wendy McCarthy said that a decade of neglect of the public education system was to blame.
"We will look back over the last 10 years and realise with some horror how much we overemphasised the value of the individual and overlooked the common denominators in our society."
2007-08 State Budget figures show many Queensland students failed to meet national benchmarks for reading, writing and maths from Years 2 to 7.
In 17 of 24 areas scores were down compared with 2006-07.
The worst results were for 11 and 12-year-olds in Year 7.
93.1% of Year 7 students achieved the national benchmark in reading in 2004-05.
81.7% of Year 7 students achieved the national benchmark in reading in 2007-08, a fall of 11.4%.
82.3% of Year 7 students reached the national benchmark in maths in 2004-05.
73.1% of Year 7 students reached the national benchmark in maths in 2007-08, a fall of 9.2%.
"You can't get much lower than those benchmarks and in reality, somewhere between 40 and 60% of students entering high school from government, Catholic and independent schools lack sufficient skills to engage with the secondary curriculum," said the Australian Council for Educational Research's Ken Rowe .
"I am also concerned that we are starting to see the effects of falling OP scores for entry to the teaching profession," Opposition Education spokesman Stuart Copeland said.
Our kids can't add-up, Tess Livingstone, The Courier-Mail, June 08, 2007
Results fall at primary schools, Darrell Giles, The Sunday Mail, Sunday June 15, 2008, 12:00am.
22% of Australian children attended non-government schools in the 80's.
According to the 2006 national census -
66.8% of primary and secondary students now go to government schools.
20.1% of primary and secondary students now go to Catholic schools
13.1% of primary and secondary students now go to independent schools.
But these figures are somewhat misleading because there is a lack of independent schools in most country areas, so the numbers of non-government students in urban areas are higher -
44% of all Sydney secondary students attend a non-government school.
45% of Melbourne secondary students attend a non-government school.
Campaign out of class, Kevin Donnelly, The Australian, 24 August, 2005
$6 billion in education funding was announced in the Queensland budget on Tuesday June 3 2008.
But Opposition spokesman for education and training Stuart Copeland said much of the education budget was reallocated from cuts to last year's projects.
For example:
$600,000 was allocated to Tully State High School in 2007.
$200,000 of that $600,000 was spent in 2007.
$400,000 was re-announced for exactly the same project (in 2008) ," Mr Copeland said.
$10,000 is the average recurrent cost of educating a student in a government school, based on the Productivity Commission's 2005 Report on Government services.
$5595 (approx) in government funding is what non-government school students receive.
$4400 is the saving to government per child being educated in a non-government school.
Freedom of choice can only make it better, Kevin Donnelly, Inquirer, P. 22, The Weekend Australian, 02/09/2006.
Two female Queensland teachers have been confirmed to have died from asbestos-related conditions.
One male cleaner has made a successful WorkCover claim for asbestos exposure but continues to work.
One female teacher from Townsville died in Brisbane in October 2004 from the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma. Her asbestos contamination occurred when asbestos dust blew from the school's roof cavity on to her desk on a windy day.
Teachers living in remote areas of the state may find that their houses and flats are also on the statewide central asbestos register.
36 out of 60 tested schools have now proved positive for asbestos dust over the four months to July 2005.
1171 of Queensland's 1300 state schools are on the Government's asbestos register because they contain asbestos materials.
More than 1100 roofs in more than 370 state schools are going to be replaced over the next ten years.
up to 3000 Queensland school buildings have asbestos-backed vinyl flooring that may have to be ripped up in a massive two-year (March 2007-2009) project which could cost $100 million.
11 schools have asbestos flooring that is in "poor condition". This flooring will be replaced during the April 2007 Easter school holidays.
Another 70 schools had old asbestos-backed flooring in only "fair" condition in March 2007. It will be prioritised for replacement as quickly as possible.
Minister admits asbestos slip-up, Elizabeth Allen, The Courier-Mail, 26/07/2005,
Asbestos rush repair, Kay Dibben, The Courier-Mail, 17/03/2007
There was a 10 per cent fall in average teacher pay compared to non-teachers with a degree, over the period 1983 to 2003.
Research by Dr Andrew Leigh, Australian National University.
Standard of teachers is falling: study, P. 16, The Cairns Post, 28/08/2006
40% of 1,960 Australian workers have been victims of workplace bullying.
In almost three-quarters of cases, the bully is their boss.
48% of public sector workers have experienced workplace bullying.
Public sector workers were the group most likely to have experienced workplace bullying. They were followed by HR (47%) and legal (40%).
50% of Queensland and ACT workers have been victims of bullying.
Queensland and the ACT have the highest rates of bullying in the country, followed by SA (41%), NSW (38%), NSW (38%), WA (35%), Victoria (33%) and Tasmania (20%).
WorkplaceOHS report on a national survey undertaken by the Talent@ Corporation, reported in OHS REPS SafetyNetJournal, 15/12/06. www.ohsrep.org.au
13,200 public sector workers in Victoria participated in the People Matters 2006 survey conducted by the State Services Authority.
21% claimed to have been harassed or bullied.
Over one third of respondents said they had witnessed harassment and bullying within their workplace.
Female employees were more likely to have experienced bullying or harassment than men but were less likely to make a formal complaint.
Karen Batt, the Victorian secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union said the report showed that leaving individual departments and organisations to manage their own affairs was not working.
"It's clear the internal grievance processes should be taken off individual departments and agencies with the State services Authority given the necessary power to change practices rather than just report on them," Ms Batt said.
Claims of bullying in Vic public service, The Age, 24/01/2007
1000 confidential surveys on workplace bullying were sent to teachers by the NSW Teacher's Federation.
250 responses were received.
The overwhelming majority of teachers who returned the survey reported that they had been bullied at work.
Half reported that they were being bullied on at least a monthly basis.
One third reported that they were being bullied on a weekly basis.
Many teachers who have reported or challenged bad language and behaviour say they have received little support.
Most victims were older women working in a primary school and many work on a "casual" basis.
"This seems to be an endemic problem and we have to find a solution to it," said NSW Teacher's Federation president Maree O'Halloran.
Teachers set bad example by bullying each other, The Daily Telegraph, 14/12/2006
37% of people who have reported bullying in the workplace were terminated.
33% end up leaving voluntarily.
17% of people are transferred.
in 13% of cases the bully was censored, transferred or terminated.
This research is from Ontario. Comments made to Dealing With the Mob by QTU organisers suggest that Queensland teachers who make grievances about abuse by administrators are usually driven into ill health retirement - and that the QTU regards this as the best outcome possible.
37 per cent of bullying victims are terminated, Stoney Creek News, Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada. 22/09/2006
81% of bullies are bosses.
41% of bullied individuals were diagnosed with depression.
over 80% reported health effects such as severe anxiety, lost concentration, sleeplessness.
31% of female and 21% of male victims suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.
82% of bullied individuals lost their jobs (44% involuntary departure, 38% voluntary).
in 51% of cases Human Resources did nothing to help the victim despite requests.
in 32% of cases Human Resources supported the bully by reacting negatively to the victim.
$1.5 million was spent in the 2004 federal election across 28 marginal seats by the Australian Education Union (AEU) in an attempt to have Mark Latham elected as prime minister.
Campaign out of class, Kevin Donnelly, The Australian, 24th August, 2005
