More than two-thirds of art and design teachers are “considering leaving” the profession amid concerns over wellbeing and workload, a new survey suggests.
And almost nine in 10 (86 per cent) feel their workload has increased in the last five years, according to the survey, led by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Art, Craft and Design in Education.
The survey of 1,860 teachers from all phases and types of schools was conducted alongside an inquiry to assess the state of art education, amid concerns around the impact of the pandemic “alongside the wider decline in access to art education”.
It found that 67 per cent were “considering leaving” the profession.
And four-fifths (80 per cent) of respondents reported that wellbeing and workload were the “two biggest disincentives to stay in teaching”.
Respondents also highlighted that these issues became worse during and after the pandemic.
The group’s report, being released in full later this year, is also set to warn that art teachers - particularly those in secondary schools and sixth-form colleges - feel the pandemic has impacted “time”, “resources” and the “opportunity to teach skills effectively”.
The National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), which was involved in the research and report, said art and design teachers’ workloads had increased due to a fallout between the expectations of the curriculum and what could be delivered during Covid.
In addition, lost learning as a result of the pandemic had left teachers with an additional workload to try to catch those pupils up, the group said.
Concerns over access to CPD
The report, ART NOW, will also highlight that access to subject-specific CPD was “limited” among the art teachers surveyed, with more than one-fifth (21 per cent) of secondary art and design teachers not getting regular access.
Primary art leads reported having to attend subject-specific CPD “in their own time”, as well as having to “contribute to the cost of the CPD themselves”.
The report will also suggest that primary Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is “insufficient in preparing trainees for the task of teaching the national curriculum”.
It refers to a “deficit in training”, with trainee primary school teachers undertaking a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) only receiving 12 hours of creative arts and between 3-12 hours of art and design training over their four-year courses.
Art seen as ‘expendable’
APPG chair and Labour MP Sharon Hodgson said the pandemic had “undoubtedly” had a “devastating impact” on the creative and cultural industries, as access to art education was “severely restricted for those who were prevented from participating through virtual learning from home”.
“Art, craft and design were areas of education which were seen as expendable,” she said.
Past-president of NSEAD Susan Coles said the APPG was calling for the government to “take action” and “recognise that there is a problem”.
Access to high-quality visual art education was “becoming a postcode lottery” in the country, she warned.
In March of this year, a report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) predicted “recruitment challenges” in subjects that have traditionally been successful in attracting applicants, such as art.
