Summary

Ninety-one percent of teachers enjoyed teaching at their current school and 86 percent were satisfied with teaching ‘all in all’. Only one third of teachers felt that the teaching profession was valued in society, a decrease of 12 percentage points from 46 percent in 2014.

Teachers’ confidence in their teaching skills and ability was high, and this was the area of wellbeing that showed the greatest difference between novice and experienced teachers.^[1] Almost all teachers consider relationships between teachers and students at their school to be very positive. Ninety percent of teachers felt that they could rely on their colleagues.

A quarter of teachers reported that teaching negatively impacts their mental health ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot’. A fifth reported that teaching negatively impacts their physical health ‘quite a bit’ or ‘a lot’. Seventeen percent of teachers reported experiencing both.

While the majority of teachers reported positive wellbeing outcomes for work stress and motivation to remain in teaching, about a quarter of teachers did not. Over a quarter of teachers reported experiencing ‘a lot’ of occupational stress and a fifth of under 50-year-olds reported that they intended to leave teaching in the next 5 years. Having too much administrative work or too much marking were the two most common sources of high levels of stress for teachers.

This survey was conducted in Term 4 of 2017. It preceded an intensive phase of collective bargaining by teaching unions on behalf of their members. Since then there has been a significant investment in the teaching workforce including the 2019 pay settlements, and other initiatives that have sought to address teacher workload and wellbeing.

Footnote

1. Novice teachers are defined by the OECD as those in their first 5 years of teaching.