Naming workload woes

We asked, and you told us. When the QTU asked members what they believed were the biggest time wasters in their professional lives – the activities that add significantly to workload but have little or no apparent educational benefit ­– nearly 500 feedback forms were submitted via the QTU website.

Feedback came from classroom and specialist teachers and school leaders in primary, secondary, combined and special schools. Across all groups, the issues were remarkably similar.

The number one time waster was data for data’s sake – the excessive gathering and reporting of data, including standardised testing (particularly NAPLAN). Five-week data cycles were often noted to be unnecessary and unrealistic, as were data walls and placemats. Respondents were clear that data could be useful in their complex professional lives, but only when there is also time to reflect, plan and have collegial conversations, and then have the resources to put plans into action.

Members' comments:

“Pre-tests on topics you haven’t taught to kids who don’t know how to do something, all for the sake of data gathering. Of course they can’t do something we haven’t taught them to do! A perfect way to make a class full of five year olds cry and feel like failures.” Primary classroom teacher

“Compiling data in a way that suits others but is not user friendly for teachers and school staff to use to inform teaching and learning in their classrooms.” School leader
“Once upon a time, conversation between staff members enabled teachers to discuss their students and get support on how best to work with them. Data is not a conversation!” Secondary classroom teacher

Members nominated administrative processes and record-keeping as another top time waster. OneSchool requirements were named as a particular burden, especially when combined with unreliable ICT and making multiple information entries on different platforms; for example, logging student attendance on class rolls and then having to enter the same information onto OneSchool. Repetitive risk assessments and VET paperwork were also mentioned, as were unreasonable expectations about recording minor parent contacts and positive behaviour.

Members' comments:

“Being expected to give administrative tasks priority over tasks that directly affect students, such as providing feedback on work or preparing lessons, is having the worst impact on student outcomes.” Secondary classroom teacher

“Risk assessments and excursion planning. I would spend an average three hours a week with such paperwork. I’m a PE teacher.” Specialist teacher

“Continually being given more and more little jobs that apparently only take a few minutes each but added together become hours of extra work each week.” Primary classroom teacher

The third biggest time waster, across all groups of respondents, was meetings, and meetings, and more meetings. Most problematic were meetings with no agenda, or with content not relevant to those attending.

Members' comments:

“Meetings are a huge issue when there is no direct action that directly benefits students.” School leader

“I don’t mind meetings we either learn something in or discuss things that are relevant and meaningful, but just to ensure that we ‘have a staff meeting’ is annoying.” P-10/12 classroom teacher

A range of professional issues were also raised, including irrelevant, mandatory PD (such as code of conduct training, even when the code has not changed), prescriptive and ever-changing planning formats, excessive differentiation, and micro-management at all levels.
Thank you to all the QTU members who took the time to tell us exactly what wastes their time.

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 120 No 6, 21 August 2015, p10