ABSTRACT
This chapter will set out the current challenges facing the education sector, namely the increased numbers of teachers leaving the profession, the concerns around teacher mental health and wellbeing and how, by having unhappy and stressed teachers, the teaching and learning outcomes for the children in their care are poorer.
The chapter will then explore how the macro forces of government, Ofsted and accountability, funding and society become the assumed reasons why schools are so stressful for staff. The chapter looks to challenge this assumption as there are schools in the same system, subject to the same pressures, which thrive, retain staff with high wellbeing, and enable excellent outcomes for their pupils.
It will be argued that instead of dwelling on these macro forces, the roots of the issues lie in what is happening to a school culture as leaders and teachers respond to these pressures. This chapter will establish that successful schools – those with better outcomes for children, low staff turnover, good staff mental health and teacher wellbeing – have trust-based cultures while failing schools tend to be rooted in fear-based cultures.
