State of Education Report 2017 state-of-education-booklet-Final-WEB | Page 36
How is the teaching profession perceived?
Which of the following, in your opinion, has contributed
most to the perception of the profession getting worse?*
Readers of this report might not be surprised to learn that nearly
seven in 10 (68%) school leaders think the perception of the teaching
profession has got worse over the last five years. Of these, more than six
in 10 (62%) say that the national and trade media are one of the factors
most responsible. This is perhaps not surprising, given the high-profile
nature of the proposed national funding reallocations, the domination
62%
Portrayal in national
and trade media
of school budget-related headlines in education news in recent months
and ongoing reports about teacher recruitment and retention issues.
The focus on league tables and negative comments on social
media are also among the top three most-cited reasons, believed
to be to blame by 54% and 52% of school leaders respectively. The
government’s policy on sponsored/compulsory academisation is a
key factor for more than a quarter (28%) of school leaders who think
the perception has worsened.
In general, do you think the perception of the
teaching profession has got better, worse or stayed
the same over the past five years?
54%
Focus on
league
tables
52%
Negative
comments on
social media
28%
National
policy on
sponsored/
compulsory
academisation
24%
Increased transparency/
publicity about poorly
performing schools
14%
The impression
the profession
itself gives
27%
3%
Got better
Stayed the
same
Union activity
10%
68%
Got worse
Don’t know – 2%
10%
Other
<1% None of these
<1% Don’t know
*Of the 68% of school leaders who think it has got worse
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