From the Teacher Support Network, www.teachersupport.info.
From the introduction: It is widely accepted that health and wellbeing problems are prevalent in the UK education workforce in particular among the teaching profession. However, there has been considerable debate over the best solutions to these problems.
As a result, Teacher Support Network has undertaken research and stakeholder consultation in order to make informed recommendations in this debate. Our fi ndings are presented in this document.
We conducted a nationwide wellbeing survey of the workforce between October and November 2008, asking the professionals themselves for their views. The survey – completed by 777 people via our website and e-newsletter - also developed a snapshot of the current state of health and wellbeing in the workforce. The answers backed up what Teacher Support Network sees day after day through its free, confi dential support services:
87 per cent of teachers had suffered from stress in the last two years. Two-thirds also said that they had experienced anxiety and 42 per cent had suffered from depression in the same period.
Over 60 per cent of respondents said that issues in their workplace were responsible for these feelings.