Embracing Flexible Working in Education: Unlocking a World of Possibilities

In recent years, the concept of flexible working has gained significant traction across various industries. Beyond the corporate realm, the world of education is also experiencing a transformative shift towards embracing flexible working arrangements. This evolution is driven by a host of compelling arguments that highlight the numerous benefits of flexibility in education. 

Firstly, we are suffering from a recruitment and retention crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic brought working from home to the fore. Educators saw the value of flexible working and many struggled to return to the rigid and exhaustive hours that their roles previously demanded. As a consequence, many educators looked at other sectors in order to find a work-life balance that better suited a reframed view what this looked like. According to an article in the Independent, ‘Around 44,000 teachers left the state sector in 2021/22, a rise of 7,800 compared with the previous year and is the highest rate since 2017/18’. The question many school leaders will then pose must surely be, ‘How can we accommodate flexibility when we need teachers to be in the classroom between a set number of hours?’. 

The issue is just as relevant in Stoke as in the rest of the country. As reported in the Stoke Sentinel in March 2023, issues regarding pay and working conditions brought school closures as picket lines where formed around several of the cities’ schools. While the pay dispute appears to have been resolved, the ongoing issues around workload and work-life balance remain.

Organisations like Opogo, are finding this solution for the supply market by offering an online platform which allows educators to select the hours they wish to work. Much like a company such as Uber, it can give a sense of freedom and control over the hours one may wish to work. Schools can then decide if this works for them via an online booking portal. The benefits of such flexibility are seen not just by the individual’s sense of liberty but also their professional practice. 

A recent article from Forbes explains, ‘Flexible work helps attract top talent, but it also makes employees more productive’. In the Gartner 2021 Digital Worker Experience Survey, ‘43% of respondents said that flexible working hours helped them achieve more productivity, and 30% of those surveyed said that less or no time commuting allowed them to be more productive’. The article goes on to highlight benefits such as: reduced turnover, increased engagement, better work-life balance and increased productivity.

The demanding nature of the education profession often leaves educators struggling to strike a balance between work and personal life. This is superbly captured in a Metro article, in March 2023, written by teacher, Nadeine Asbali who said, ‘Our workload as teachers has risen to a scale that is simply unsustainable and unhealthy, pushing many of us to breaking point and creating a mental health crisis amongst teachers at large’. Flexible working arrangements offer a solution by allowing teachers to design schedules that align with their responsibilities outside of the classroom. This balance ultimately translates into greater job satisfaction, reduced burnout rates, and a more sustainable teaching career.

As the professional landscape evolves, so too must education. The DfE made an attempt to address this with their flexible working guidance in May 2022. The document promoted arrangements such as job shares, days-in-lieu and part-time roles. This is of course dependent on the availability of staff looking for such arrangements but what can schools practically do to support flexibility?

Some approaches that schools utilise include: allowing staff to work from home in when they are not teaching, allowing staff to take personal days if they can be covered internally or otherwise, taking on supply cover to allow teachers to work from home when they are marking a large number of assessments or arrangements that can allow for school drop-off/pick-up. All of these arrangements relate to giving additional time. However, there are more nuanced ways to reduce workload demands on teachers and support staff. These can include streamlining labour intensive tasks such as report writing, data analysis. 

The most effective school leaders do not to take any actions without consulting those people who it impacts, the teachers and support staff. Speaking with representatives from these groups shows a desire to make positive change and can subsequently bring changes that make a real difference to the lives of educators.