Moray House Institute
Of Education
PROBATIONERS
ON SUPPLY
Janet Draper, Helen Fraser
Anna Raab, Warwick Taylor
August 1997
CONTENTS
Page
Foreword
Advice to and from probationers on supply i
Section 1
Introduction and research questions 1
Section 2
Research Methods7
Section 3
Findings9
Section 4
Emerging Themes25
Section 5
Recommendations35
Acknowledgements
This project was made possible by funding from the General Teaching Council for Scotland. We are grateful to the Council for this support and also for considerable help with the project given by Council staff, especially Margaret Russell and her colleagues in the Probation Department.
FOREWORD
ADVICE FOR PROBATIONERS ON SUPPLY ---
....FROM PROBATIONERS ON SUPPLY
1.Distinguish between becoming a good supply teacher and becoming a good teacher. Take advantage of the experience and its potential benefits in professional development, but recognise its limitations.
2.Persist. It will test the stamina but keep a sense of humour and an active 'other life'.
3.Be prepared for periods of unemployment and be vigilant about the details on monthly payslips.
4.Recognise that there are short-term coping strategies you will need to learn and these are more to do with keeping classes busy than about being responsible for long-term pupil progress and achievement
. Be organised and develop a 'bag of resources' to see you through all ages and stages.
5. Learn to deal with 'the office'. Find out how the job allocation system works, keep up your 'visibility’, befriend your office contact and persist.
6.Meanwhile seek out jobs and contacts by introducing yourself to all the schools you can. Decide how far you will travel. You may wish to accept travel to inconvenient locations in order to complete your probation more quickly.
7.If you are a secondary teacher you may have to accept teaching days which do not 'count' towards probation .
8.Be conspicuous in your commitment. Generally involve yourself in the school. Be tidy. Stay late marking work. Volunteer for extras duties. Be ‘Superteacher’.
Section 1 : INTRODUCTION AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
There has been considerable emphasis on continuing professional development for a profession which is having to meet many changes over a short period of time. The Study of Probationers (SOP), (Draper, Fraser, Smith and Taylor 1991b) showed probationers’ experiences laid more emphasis on proving competence and less on professional development as a teacher. The SOP study also highlighted the importance of continuity in support and clarity in assessment, and the need for effective support to be linked to formative assessment and feedback. Problems experienced by probationers in these areas were also identified in the General Teaching Council’s own report The Management of Probation (1990). Subsequently, practical advice for headteachers on assessment was developed and published by the GTC (Draper, Fraser and Taylor, 1993).
Existing literature on supply teaching
A limited literature exists on the experience of teachers on supply contracts (eg Baker and Earley 1989, Shilling 1991, Galloway 1993), but it relates to experienced teachers, especially those seeking to re-enter the labour market after a career break. It emphasises the extra pressures experienced by supply teachers in terms of isolation, lack of support and lack of feedback from pupil progress. Baker and Earley in particular suggest that only the most capable of teachers succeed in supply work. A particular need for induction information is identified for all teachers beginning in a new school. Such a need would be likely to be greater for a beginning teacher (as noted by Draper, Fraser, Smith and Taylor 1991a). Existing evidence on probationers’ experiences on supply is only anecdotal.
It seems likely that probationers on supply will have some experiences and needs which are common to all probationers, some experiences and needs which are common to supply teachers and some which are special to their particular situation as probationers on supply. It was hoped to illuminate these in the study.
Employment patterns during probation
The ideal or expected experience of probation as two years of continuous teaching on a permanent contract in one school is not the experience of all or even of most teachers who currently complete their probationary period. In the more recent Teachers on Probation (TOP) study (Draper Fraser and Taylor, 1996) the team analysed the employment patterns of recent probationers. The population comprised 1386 teachers who constituted virtually all those teachers who became fully registered during 1995/6. The data collected showed that while around half of the cohort of probationers finishing had spent all their probation in one school, 15 % in primary and 12 % in secondary had served their probation in six or more schools. Furthermore, a considerable number of probationers had broken service within individual schools. One teacher for example taught in 3 different schools but experienced 23 separate periods of teaching service, with gaps between them. Another, the most extreme example found, had 122 separate periods of employment (teaching service) in 52 separate schools. Such patterns of employment seem likely to militate against professional development since they hinder the very continuity of assessment and support which underpins effective targeted support for that development. There may however be some benefits to be gained, for example in terms of breadth of experience and in leaving earlier mistakes behind.
The TOP study showed that there were several different patterns of employment during probation. These were :
permanent employment
long term temporary -> permanent employment
short term supply -> long term temporary -> permanent employment
long term temporary
short term supply ->long term temporary
short term supply
A survey of a representative sample of 193 of the 1386 teachers in the TOP study revealed the following indication of “creeping permanence” in patterns of employment during probation.
First Contract / Final Probation Contractpermanent contract / 36% / 65%
long term temporary / 36% / 29%
short term supply / 28% / 6%
It seems therefore that only one third of the group began probation with the certainty of a settled period of employment. Some two thirds embarked on an unpredictable career in teaching, and one quarter of the entire group began on shorter supply contracts. The picture clearly changes during probation with an increase in permanent contracts and a decrease in supply contracts. It is noteworthy that at the end of probation one third are still without a permanent contract.
Not only do probationers have a range of employment contracts, as shown above, but a range of broken employment patterns seem to exist. These include continuous employment moving serially from school to school, part time work in one or more schools (sometimes almost continuous full time in total), intermittent employment in a few schools, intermittent employment in several or many schools, continued intermittent employment and intermittent employment followed by a stable period in one school later in probation. These, in addition to the contract data, show clearly that there are several different patterns of employment experienced during probation. It seems likely therefore that probationer support systems predicated on probation in a single school and/or department are unlikely to meet the needs of probationers moving unpredictably from school to school.
Survivorship
But these data are drawn from the survivors, those who obtained enough work to complete probation. Some will have dropped out of teaching before reaching final registration. There seems no reason to suppose that more teachers drop out of their careers from permanent contracts than from other types, and indeed common sense would suggest the opposite. It seems likely then that these patterns of employment are skewed towards permanent contracts and that the general employment patterns of probationers have a greater proportion of temporary and supply contracts than are shown here. In relation to survival two questions remain. If some survive and some drop out, what are the skills and qualities of the survivors? What are the skills and qualities of those who drop out and who are lost to the profession ?
Adequacy of evidence of competence
For the profession, and for the GTC as guardian of standards for the profession, there is a further concern. One consequence of these data is to raise a question over whether assessment for final registration can be adequately conducted with very limited evidence available to headteacher assessors as will be the case when teachers have been employed in a school on a short term contract. Several probationer reports analysed during 1995/6 highlighted this restricted evidential base as a concern. Headteachers with supply probationers are clearly constrained in the evidence they can collect prior to writing a report.
Research questions
The study was designed to investigate the experiences of probationer teachers who were employed on supply contracts during their probationary period and to seek answers to the following questions.
1.What types of broken employment patterns did probationers experience ?
What strategies were used to cope with broken employment patterns ?
What were perceived to be the costs and benefits of the broken employment pattern?
2. What were the main development needs of probationers experiencing broken patterns of employment ?
3. What support was wanted ?
Where and how did these probationers access support ?
How far did currently available support materials meet their needs ?
How adequate was the support received ?
Was there continuity of support across periods of employment ?
4. How was assessment conducted ?
Was there clarity about criteria, methods, personnel and standards to be achieved?
Was there continuity in assessment across periods of employment?
5. What was the relationship between assessment and support ?
6. How did probationers see themselves developing over the period of probation and what were the key influences on this development ?
Structure of the report
This report is presented in five sections. After the foreword and this introduction is a short section detailing methods used in the study. Section three reports the findings of the second phase of the project, which has been supported by the General Teaching Council. In that section on findings, the various research questions have been organised round themes: appointment procedures, the experiences of probationers on supply (development, support and assessment : Questions 2,3,4,5,6) costs and benefits of being on supply (Q1c) and strategies for coping (Q 1b). Employment pattern data (Q1a), drawn from the TOP study, is included in the introduction above. The fourth section of the report identifies themes which have emerged from the data: the narrowness of the teaching experience of supply probationers, the lack of opportunities for support and professional development, difficulties in assessing competence and which teachers survive probation on supply. Section five concludes the report with a set of recommendations.
References:
Baker and Earley (1989) The Demand for Supply. Education. Vol 173. no 18 426-427 Draper J Fraser H Smith D and Taylor W (1991a) The Induction of Probationer Teachers : implications of an industrial model. Scottish Educational Review. Vol 23. no 1 23-31 Draper J Fraser H Smith D and Taylor W (199b) A Study of Probationers. Moray House Draper J Fraser H Taylor W (1993) Assessing Probationers : an opportunity for professional development. GTC .
Draper J Fraser H and Taylor W (1997): Teachers at Work : Early experiences of professional development. British Journal of InService Education, Vol 23. No 2 283-295
Galloway S (1993) Out of sight , out of mind Educational Research. Vol 35 no 2 159-169
General Teaching Council : (1990) The Management of Probation. GTC.
Schilling C (1991) Supply Teachers : working on the margins. Educational Research Vol 33. no 13-11
Section 2 : RESEARCH METHODS
Teachers who had worked as probationers in more than 6 schools were identified from the TOP review of fully registered probationer records for 1995/6. Of these teachers, 60 (one third) were approached and invited to join the project. This sample was chosen to cover a range of types of broken employment and to be representative by gender and sector (and subject in secondary) of those with broken employment patterns in the original cohort of 1386. Twenty nine teachers agreed to take part.
Phase 1 : Focus Groups
Three focus group meetings were held, involving 11 teachers from the sample. The purpose of these groups was to refine issues relating to the research questions and to identify any additional issues which had been overlooked. Issues already identified included the professional development which had occurred during probation, the probationary experience itself, costs and benefits of the experience of probation on supply and coping strategies which had been adopted. An additional issue which arose during the focus groups was that of appointment procedures and processes. The focus group sessions were helpful in enabling themes and issues to be developed through discussion in the group. The frustrations and uncertainties of working as probationers on supply were highlighted.
Phase 2 : Interviews : supported by the GTC
In phase two, 26 telephone interviews were conducted in order to test out the picture emerging from the focus group discussions. Three teachers could not be contacted, although both letters and phone calls were attempted. The interviews were based on a schedule which was sent to respondents prior to the (pre-arranged) interview date. The schedule included both closed and open questions, some designed to establish specific experiences (eg of support and assessment) while others sought views and opinions. Responses were written down and reviewed by the research team, and all open-ended responses were independently analysed by at least two members of the team and joint findings agreed.
Section 3 : FINDINGS
The findings from the interviews conducted were collated into five broad headings:-
1.Who are the supply probationers : age, sex, employment
2.Appointment procedures
3.Experiences of probationers on supply (development, support and assessment)
4.Costs and benefits of being on supply
5.Coping strategies
1. Who are the supply probationers?
Twenty-six teachers were interviewed, of whom 21 were women and 5 were men, with ages ranging from 26 to 46. Twelve were secondary and 14 were primary teachers. Of the latter, 9 had taken the PGCE and 5 the BEd route into primary teaching. The greater proportion of PGCE trained teachers on supply reflects the findings of the parallel study “Routes into Primary Teaching”. (Routes into Primary Teaching. Draper J, Fraser H, Raab A, Sharp S and Taylor W. 1997 Forthcoming.) Six had spent their whole probation on supply contracts. Eighteen had begun probation on supply and had subsequently moved to long term temporary contracts. Only two had secured permanent contracts after a progression from supply to long term temporary contracts.
Although the sample was selected from those teachers who had had 6 or more contracts of employment during probation, in fact half of them had worked on more than 15 contracts.
Twenty of the 26 teachers had previous work experience outside teaching before training to become teachers.
2. Appointment procedures
The interviewees were asked to rate employment procedures in relation to three factors.
1 / 2 / 3Organised / 3 / 5 / 18 / Disorganised
Formal / 2 / 6 / 15 / Informal
Fair / 3 / 7 / 14 / Unfair
In a follow-up question many described their frustration with the haphazard organisation of appointment procedures which they had experienced within their employing authorities.
Organisation - You get phoned up at the last minute even if they have known about the job the day before. I would sometimes travel quite a way to a school to then find out that the school round the corner from my home had phoned just after I had left.
Others talked of poor administration and a lack of any system for the appointment of supply teachers.
The whole thing feels like a labour exchange there is no regard for your profession or situation, you are passed on to other people and fobbed off, never being able to speak to anyone in charge.
Travel to schools, phone calls to authorities, waiting around and the necessity of checking differing monthly wage packets were considered by a number within the sample to be added pressures caused by being on supply during probation.
The other question relating to appointments asked the supply probationers to rate the overall quality of their employment experiences on a scale from very high quality to very poor quality.
Very high quality / 1High quality / 7
Adequate / 8
Poor quality / 9
Very poor quality / 1
Whilst only two teachers used the extremities of the scale to describe their overall experience, the spread between high quality and poor quality may seem somewhat surprising given the former question regarding appointment procedures. A few supply probationers explained the basis for their overall rating to be that, whilst on long term supply contracts, they had high quality employment experiences but, whilst on short term supply contracts, they considered their employment to have been of poor quality. Particularly frustrating for some secondary school teachers was employment they labelled ‘babysitting’ which involved working with classes outside their own subject area(s) which could not contribute towards their probationary service.