![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
This article describes a study which investigated the motivations behind why teachers dedicate non-directed time to school-related tasks and the extent to which managers understand and harness these motivations. Data were collected through three case studies within one secondary school. Three heads of department (HoDs) and three teachers were interviewed, and questionnaires were given to all the teachers in the three departments. A questionnaire was developed using ideas from the voluntary sector with the premise that teachers give their time out of their ‘own free will’. This was used to assess what motivates teachers to dedicate their non-directed time to school-focused tasks and the attitudes of their managers towards this. A common finding from all case studies was that teachers are motivated by the idea that they are ‘doing it for the students’. At the same time, it was reported that ‘motivators’ such as performance-related pay had little effect on teachers’ motivation to dedicate their non-directed time to school-focused activities but could increase teachers’ work pressure and stress. The implications for educational managers from this research is that an understanding of teachers’ motivation is imperative if they are to be managed well, especially in terms of the monitoring of non-directed time, and that a reduction of pressure from extrinsic motivators may be of benefit to teachers’ well-being and job satisfaction. One way in which this could be achieved is through a more collaborative style of management and shared departmental goals.
Introduction
It is well known that teachers dedicate a substantial amount of non-directed time to the completion of school-focused tasks and targets. If the definition of volunteerism is ‘one who enlists or offers their services to the organisation of their own free will, and without expecting remuneration’ (Getz, 1997: 198), then this can apply to teaching, as teachers often work over their contracted 1265 hours of directed time (School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document, STPCD: Department for Education, 2015). In the teachers’ contract for the focus school, this non-directed time is referred to as ‘additional hours as may be needed to discharge effectively a teacher’s professional duties’ (STPCD: Department for Education, 2015: 52). This means that the number of non-directed hours that a teacher dedicates to their job does not have a specific boundary. Therefore, it is up to the teacher’s own discretion as to how that time is used and to a manager’s own interpretation as to what constitutes a teacher working ‘effectively’. This is set in the context of the introduction of performance-related pay (PRP) (Department for Education, 2013), where schools can now link teachers’ pay to their performance, and, as a result, need a teacher to do whatever is necessary in order to complete work and fulfil targets.
There has recently been much debate in the media about the impact of the use of non-directed time on teachers’ stress levels and their ability to maintain a healthy work–life balance. A report of a survey by the Department for Education (DfE) of teachers’ working hours in 2013 stated that secondary school teachers work an average of 55.7 hours per week and that 21.4 per cent of these hours are worked outside of the school day (BBC, 2014). Therefore, as most teachers work far beyond their contracted hours, this ‘additional’ work might be considered ‘volunteering’, and how this additional work is monitored is crucial to the effective discharge of teachers’ duties. The importance of this can be linked to the national context whereby teachers are suffering increasing levels of stress because of their workload (National Union of Teachers, NUT, n.d.). Effective monitoring of the use of this time may help reduce stress and increase teacher retention.
Theories of the management of volunteerism in other fields indicate that an understanding of motivation is essential if managers are to find appropriate rewards and methods of encouragement to sustain the enthusiasm of their volunteers (Deery et al., 1998; McKee and McKee, 2007). Moreover, understanding and harnessing the extrinsic motivators for why people volunteer often brings about more positive outcomes and role satisfaction (Ryan and Deci, 2000). It is therefore important for managers within schools to recognize when extrinsic pressure (e.g. performance management targets) acts as the main motivator for teachers to complete work, as this will be detrimental to their enthusiasm and job satisfaction.
The particular relevance of this is underlined by recent reports into the state of teacher morale and attitudes to work. For example: the NUT published a report into the recruitment and retention of teachers (NUT, 2016) which states that, ‘Teachers…are leaving the profession due to stress, workload and punitive accountability measures’. This highlights tension between the ‘additional hours as may be needed to discharge effectively a teacher’s professional duties’, the need to reach performance management (PM) targets, and the avoidance of situations which are detrimental to teachers’ health and morale. For this reason, how to manage, or indeed ‘monitor’, this tension was a key focus of this study.
The study
The study was carried out in a West Midlands secondary school which was rated as ‘outstanding’ in all areas by Ofsted in March 2015 (Ofsted, 2015). The school is a mixed community comprehensive with students from varying socio-economic backgrounds; the age range of pupils is 11–18 and there are approximately 1250 students. The student population is almost entirely in the category ‘White British’, the number of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above the national average, and those eligible for free school meals is below the national average – the demographic of the school should mean that progress made is good.
In order to examine the management of teachers’ non-directed time, the perceptions of both managers and teachers towards how this time is used and managed were compared. Data were collected through case studies in three departments. Each case study comprised a questionnaire survey of teachers (total 24) plus semi-structured interviews with three teachers and the respective HoDs (total 3). The departments involved with the case studies were chosen as they represented departments of different sizes and included both core and optional subjects. There was a gender bias, with slightly more female teachers taking part than male (55% female).
Findings and discussion
Getz’s definition of a volunteer as ‘one who enlists or offers their services to the organisation of their own free will, and without expecting remuneration’ (Getz, 1997: 198) poses interesting questions in terms of whether the use of non-directed time towards school-focused targets can be considered as volunteering. Although, in this study, responses regarding the nature of the use of non-directed time were fairly similar in all case studies, the responses did reveal a measure of uncertainty. There was general agreement that the use of non-directed time dedicated to school-focused activities can be considered to be volunteering. Yet there was also agreement that, whilst teachers gave this time ‘of their own freewill’, there was an element of inherent ‘expectation’ to do so, as highlighted through teacher and HoD interviews. This expectation was defined as coming mainly from the students, other teachers and the need to reach PM targets. In interview, one HoD said the expectation was there because, ‘This is an outstanding school’. Another HoD stated that there was ‘a grey line between expectation and volunteering’ but that the use of non-directed time was ‘an essential part of the job…if they are to be an effective teacher’. This attitude was corroborated by a teacher who said that ‘There is an underlying expectation to do this. It is portrayed as being voluntary but you are judged if you don’t by colleagues and students’.
Referring back to Getz’s definition (Getz, 1997: 198), there are aspects of volunteerism because there is no expectation of specific remuneration for the tasks completed by teachers outside of their contracted time, and there is also a belief that this time is given of their ‘own free will’. Therefore, a significant factor in the monitoring of this time in schools is that, regardless of the extent to which it can be considered as genuinely volunteering, there is an element of choice regarding how much time teachers give to these tasks. As a consequence, this may need to be treated sensitively by managers, otherwise people may not be willing to give so much their time in this way.
Analysis of teacher motivation to give this time paints an interesting picture: when asked about where the pressure to dedicate this time comes from, in all three departments, the highest motivating factor identified in the survey was ‘to help the students’ – ranking above ‘for the department’, ‘for the school’ or ‘for personal gain’. All three teacher interviewees agreed with this; for example, one teacher stated, ‘An element of this comes from the students, who ask for extra support’. In addition, all HoDs acknowledged this as a highly motivating factor; in the words of one HoD, ‘…where a teacher has a desire for seeing their students achieve.’ Another factor identified by teachers was that other teachers provide this support and so expectation is raised further.
In this school, the motivation for staff to provide this ‘extra support’ for students has particular implications for the management of staff because student performance is explicitly linked to teachers’ PM through a system of ‘minimum expected grades’ (MEG) and ‘target grades’ – aspirational grades extrapolated from the MEGs. Teachers’ performance is judged on the basis of students reaching these aspirational grades. Consequently, if these grades are aspirational for students then they are also aspirational for teachers. This in turn increases the extrinsic pressure on them to perform and can be considered to be an extrinsic motivating factor in terms of the use of non-directed time.
It is recognized in the literature that an understanding of what motivates volunteers is essential for their effective management (Holmes and Smith, 2012). The study showed that HoDs understand that teachers’ main motivation is to support students. HoDs also indicated that a ‘team ethic’ and ‘collaborative working’ are important in attempting to motivate their staff. This was not reflected in the teacher interviews. However, in the questionnaires, ‘Reaching departmental targets’ was ranked equal to or higher than ‘Reaching personal PM targets’. This indicates that the notion of ‘team’ is important to teachers and that shared departmental goals have a positive impact on how teachers ‘volunteer’ their non-contracted time. Therefore, perhaps the collective management of extrinsic pressures may allow teachers to act to a greater extent according to their intrinsic motivation.
There were further links to methods used in volunteerism (McKee and McKee, 2007): when HoDs use more direct forms of motivation to encourage the giving of non-directed time such as giving teachers ‘thank you notes’ and/or free food as rewards: as evidenced by the HoD interviews in which all three stated how important it was to thank and congratulate staff. They also added that they encourage staff to share ideas in department meetings, which in itself provides motivation through the public recognition of their good work. McKee and McKee (2007) recommend giving positive feedback to ‘volunteers’ for their efforts, and Ferreira et al. (2014: 6) recommend that managers ensure that volunteering is not seen as a ‘gift’ for which nothing is required in return. Indeed, a key finding of this research was that, in the department where a more collaborative approach was taken, the average amount of non-directed time spent completing work tasks was less than in a department where the management style was more formal.
Interestingly, the impact of these rewards was not mentioned by the teacher interviewees, who gave much more personal and intrinsic reasons for dedicating their non-directed time to school activities. It seems that this element of the manager’s role may not be recognized by their staff, perhaps because the giving of non-directed time is seen by them as ‘part of the job’.
There was some indication that intrinsic motivation played a part in how a teacher uses their non-directed time. Teacher interviewees acknowledged that an important motivator was an affirmation that they are effective teachers through good student results and meeting PM targets. This means that the ‘affirmation’ of them being a good teacher through the generation of good results and the effect that this has on their students is a highly motivating factor; the survey showed that ‘Doing it for the students’ was the primary reason for working in non-directed time. Consequently, it is important for managers to appropriately support their staff in reaching their targets if this form of motivation is to be harnessed; a more collaborative style of management allows a sharing of the burden of extrinsic motivators.
Contrastingly, in this study it seems that there is a separation between the motivator of reaching PM targets and the introduction of PRP. In all interviews, both teachers and HoDs agreed that PRP had not impacted on how much non-directed time was dedicated to supporting students. The prospect of losing out on pay does not seem to be a motivating factor; however, the prospect of students not meeting results targets is. This correlates with the idea that volunteerism is where someone does not expect remuneration for what they do (Getz, 1997).
This study has shown that teachers in this school are predominantly working for their students in their non-directed time. Perhaps more of a focus by managers on the intrinsic reasons for why teachers teach, rather than creating extrinsic pressures, may be a positive move for the health and well-being of teachers.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Professor Bob Smith for providing much appreciated advice, help and support. I would also like to thank my husband, Dr Ben Holmes, for his patience with me.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication during the drafting of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
References
|
BBC (2014) How many hours do teachers in England work? Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-27087942 (accessed 5 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Deery, M, Jago, L, Shaw, R (1998) Profiling satisfied volunteers at a tourist attraction. Journal of Tourism Studies 8(2):18–25. Google Scholar | |
|
Department for Education (2013) New advice to help schools set performance-related pay. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-advice-to-help-schools-set-performance-related-pay (accessed 5 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Department for Education (2015) School teachers’ pay and conditions document. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/451908/School-teachers_-pay-and-conditions-document-2015.pdf (accessed 5 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Ferreira, M, Proenca, JF, Proenca, T (2014) Motivations and management factors in volunteer work in non-profit organisations: A literature review. Research Gate (online journal). Available at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/263925280 (accessed 8 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Getz, D (1997) Event Management and Event Tourism. New York: Cognizant Communication Corporation. Google Scholar | |
|
Holmes, K, Smith, K (2012) Managing Volunteers in Tourism, Attractions, Destinations and Events. Taylor & Francis eBooks, doi: 10.4324/9780080943268. Google Scholar | |
|
McKee, JR, McKee, TW (2007) The New Breed: Understanding and Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer. Loveland, CO: Group Publishing, Inc. Google Scholar | |
|
National Union of Teachers (n.d.) Performance related pay in schools. Available at: http://www.teachers.org.uk/edufacts/performance-related-pay-in-schools (accessed 5 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
National Union of Teachers (2016) Report into the recruitment and retention of teachers. Available at: https://www.teachers.org.uk/edufacts/teacher-recruitment-and-retention (accessed 5 August 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Ofsted (2015) Inspection report. Available at: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/…… (accessed 28 November 2016). Google Scholar | |
|
Ryan, RM, Deci, EL (2000) Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist 55(1):68–78. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI |
Author biography
Beth Holmes is a secondary school history teacher who lives with her husband and daughter in Warwickshire. She graduated from the University of Leicester with a First Class Honours Degree in History, has a Masters in The Country House: Art, History and Literature, and has recently completed a Masters in Educational Leadership and Management at the University of Warwick. Her interest in the links between the management of non-directed time and practices within the volunteer sector stem from her experience as a volunteer manager for an educational charity before training to become a teacher.