The Great Handover - Schools can no longer run on sweat equity
We all love a workforce trend. You must admit they are exciting. Bold headlines and sweeping projections of an impending doom coming down the track. Currently the hottest topic at conferences is the rise of AI and presenters scare us to death about how it’s going to turn our lives upside down. Post-COVID, we witnessed countless articles on "The Great Resignation", where people, after experiencing flexible working conditions, decided their inflexible jobs were no longer for them. Alongside this, another phenomenon emerged - "quiet quitting", which means employees are prioritising their personal lives more and just doing the bare minimum amount of work required to keep their jobs, rather than going above and beyond. While I have been hearing about this in the corporate world for some time now, it is something that has been coming up a lot in my recent interactions with educators.
We’ve been fortunate through our work in "The Flourish Movement" to work closely with educational leaders. What this means is we’ve been able to not only study these school leaders as individuals, but also examine the culture of their schools and the challenges they face when leading their staff. In our research interviews, leaders are saying that one of the biggest challenges they are facing is that the new generation of staff don’t want to put in extra discretionary effort. They have a mindset of ‘It is unreasonable to ask me to sacrifice my wellbeing and quality of life for my job”. The question now is, how is this new trend going to change the education model. In contrast to most work force trends, this one does not exist into the future, it is something that is happening now. So, it is not a matter of ‘if’ it will affect us, but rather ‘how’ it will affect us.
The Current Educational Landscape
Education, like several other professions, currently operates on sweat equity. What this means is that for a school to function, educators must work beyond their regular hours and sacrifice significant portions of their personal lives in order to get their work done (many even spend their own money on resources due to inadequate school funding). Twenty years ago, I presented at an education conference where the focus was on reducing educators' workloads. Since then, feedback from educators indicates that, not only have their workloads not decreased, but rather have increased significantly. Consequently, school staff are compelled to go above and beyond reasonable expectations to ensure the schools operate effectively. However, it seems that this goodwill is quickly running out.
The Rise of Quiet Quitting
Current school leaders report that the new generation in the profession are pushing back against the trend of working yourself to within an inch of your life. Don’t get us wrong, they are committed to their roles, find great meaning and purpose in their work, and deeply care about making a positive impact on students. However, they are unwilling to sacrifice their wellbeing and personal lives to meet the escalating demands of the profession. They say no to attending events outside of school, excessive reporting, and extreme working hours. Many are even requesting to work from home ‘like their partner does’.
Possible future educators are hesitant to step up into the next level of leadership because they observe the impact the role has on their current leaders. Specifically, they witness the chronic levels of stress and the devastating impact on their health and personal lives, and they think ‘No thanks’. They would rather stay in their role than experience the collateral damage that comes with being a school leader. In addition, another thing we are observing is that the more experienced educators who have the mentality of ‘I have to get it all done’, are picking up the extra tasks and responsibilities that staff are saying no to.
What’s driving this trend in the education sector I hear you ask? From the hundreds of interactions we have had with educators, we believe it comes down to the following factors:
The rise of individualism.
Globally, we have seen a rise in the level of individualism – put simply, where we see ourselves being more important than the collective group. Between 1941 and 1945 over six million men and women volunteered to fight in the second world war. I wonder how many would volunteer today. Individualism has changed our attitudes toward work. More people are prioritising work-life balance and are less willing to accept the notion of sacrificing their personal lives for their job. This cultural shift leads to a reduction in discretionary effort, as they seek to maintain boundaries between their professional and personal lives.
The job has become nearly impossible to complete.
Many educators say, ‘I could work 24/7 and still not get it all done’. The job has become so broad and there is so much reporting and compliance that there is less and less time to focus on the core aspects of their role.
Becoming cynical.
Many people are losing faith in the system. All too often, decisions are made at a system level that make it harder for educators to work on a day-to-day basis. This misalignment between rhetoric and action, leads to a breakdown in trust and a rise in cynicism.
High Levels of Burnout and Stress.
It’s not news to anyone that levels of burnout and stress among educators are extremely high, especially when compared to those of the general population. There is no doubt in our minds that burnout is one of the factors driving quiet quitting in education. The toll that high workloads and emotional demands have on the mental and physical health of educators is no longer seen as a badge of honour, in fact, it’s everything that new educators don’t want to take on. What also doesn’t help is the rising levels of poor behaviour and abuse towards teachers by both students and parents. After all, who wants to go to work only to be yelled at or even physically hit?!
The Transition
It’s important to note that this article is not judging one group or another. We admire the dedication of existing educators who sacrifice so much, and we respect the newer breed of educators establishing and holding clear boundaries. Ideally, we would like to see a blend of both approaches, as many educators are working in an unsustainable way. We are simply reporting a noticeable shift in mindset that has appeared in our research. We will continue to research educators, and it will be interesting to see whether this new generation of educators follow in the footsteps of the current leaders, or will they hold firm on their boundaries and keep prioritising their wellbeing and personal lives. If they do hold firm, the operational model of schools will need to evolve significantly, as it can no longer rely on sweat equity.
A Call for Change
As the education sector continues to evolve, the trend of quiet quitting or lack of discretionary effort among educators highlights the need for systemic change. It is time to dramatically rethink school operations and take concrete actions to address workload issues, protect educators from threats within the school community, provide practical funding levels, and support educators’ wellbeing. Over the past 20 years, school leaders have received countless strategy documents, blueprints, and working groups. What they need now is tangible action that makes their daily lives as school leaders easier. While current leaders may tolerate inaction, future leaders will not. Without real change, we’re afraid that the education model as we know it will come crashing down.