Bah humbug or happy Christmas?

School halls full of smiling faces, excited chatter and chests bursting with pride will soon be a common sight across the nation – and that’s just the adults! Watching their little angels, shepherds, and kings around the manger whilst balancing on a tiny chair is a rite of passage for many parents. Scooby Doo made an appearance at one nativity play I watched (don’t ask because I don’t know why, but getting value for money from the purchase, refusing to wear a tea towel or just wanting to wear a favourite costume might explain it perhaps?) As a parent these traditional and idiosyncratic memories are treasured.

But not all parents will be the at the school nativity play as work commitments will not allow them to be. Not for them is the sight of their child nudging their friends and pointing to their parents in the audience. Amongst those missing out, many will be teachers, who instead, might be watching other peoples’ children perform. My research has revealed the dilemmas faced by teachers when expected to prioritise their pupils over their own children and families. The guilt, stress and often impossible decisions teacher-parents can face were clear in my findings. All this in the teaching profession where values of care and empathy are at the root of what we do. But how good are we as a profession at extending this care and empathy to our colleagues?

Enabling colleagues to prioritise their own children at important milestone events is not without its challenges to schools, particularly when many schools are struggling to find teachers given the perilous state of teacher recruitment and retention. Consequently, retaining the ones we have is increasingly essential. Retaining six teachers means that ten fewer need to be recruited into Initial teacher Education.  With this in mind, looking after and keeping the teachers who give their best day in and day out is vital. Reducing teacher workload, increasing pay and flexible working have been recommended as a way forward in addressing this crisis. Whilst flexible working is important, other often little things matter too.  Supporting teachers in supporting their own families will provide benefits not only in the short term but importantly in rebooting teaching as a career supportive of work-life balance. Teaching needs to be an attractive profession to newcomers but also one in which people want to remain.

Little things do matter in our working lives, Being able to attend family occasions is one of them.  Recognising that people have lives beyond school helps them to feel valued. Teachers are pragmatic people who understand that their requests in schools cannot always be met, but if a colleague asks you in the run up to Christmas if they can attend a family event, please think about what a difference saying ‘yes’ might make to them and their families.

Happy Christmas!

Dr Suzanne Brown is a senior lecturer in the Sheffield Institute of Education