Teachers: What To Do When You Have Too Much Paperwork
ByI’m being crushed by unnecessary paperwork — how can I stop it?
Description
Some bureaucracy is essential. Without it you’d have no salary, no capitation no idea how many pupils are expected in which class for which course. And of course, you would be without a job, and that is no good.
Yet sometimes the weight of paperwork can seem to be overwhelming the teaching. Fortunately workforce reform has been agreed and a National Remodelling Team (NRT) has the job of carrying this out. Visit www.remodening.org for more information.
Cause
Accountability is at the core of much of the paperwork teachers receive. Schools have to show parents and government they are doing a good job; local authorities have to demonstrate the community charge is being well spent and their employees are working effectively; government has to show its funding is being used wisely and its policies are effective. Teachers usually end up having to provide the answers.
But are teachers the best people to do this? If it takes them away from teaching, this may be counterproductive; but on the other hand they may be the best people to provide the answers ‘direct from the chalkface’.
Action
First identify the burden. The NRT identifies four areas of administrative activity:
- those which seem not to relate directly to effective education;
- those which are carried out more often than necessary, inefficiently or in too much detail;
- those carried out by teachers but which could better be done by support staff;
- those which could benefit from the effective use of ICT.
Visit www.remodelling.org for more information and search for Toolkit. Then implement the most appropriate strategy for each type of activity:
- stop doing unnecessary things;
- redesign the way you do things to be efficient and effective;
- match personnel to activities — ‘the best staff for the job’;
- make best use of ICT.
Often the solution will be to employ or redeploy an administrative assistant.
Priorities
Do what is best for pupils.
Continue doing what is legally required.
Minimize inefficient use of resources.
Leave sufficient time within the school day for preparation, planning, marking and recording (PPMR).
Alternatives
Urge your Head to use support staff for specific tasks. Collecting money, entering and collating data and invigilating examinations can all be done by non-teachers more effectively.
Avoid
Irrelevant and burdensome tasks.
Letting the tail (bureaucracy) wag the dog (education).
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