Job-sharing in the teaching profession

Smedley, June

Job-sharing in the teaching profession

thesis

posted on 2012-12-17, 11:22 authored by June Smedley

Job-sharing in the teaching profession

History

School

Social Sciences

Department

Communication, Media, Social and Policy Studies

Publisher

Publication date

1994

Notes

Job-sharing in the teaching profession has become gradually more common in recent years. This research provides a wide-ranging review of this form of flexible working, its advantages and disadvantages for LEAs, schools and participating teachers, and offers guidelines for future development. The review of literature includes a survey of the origins and development of job-sharing in employment generally, and of relevant employment law. There is also a discussion on the part played by individuals seeking to share, employers, and trade unions, in the initiation and implementation of job-share policies, together with related equal opportunities issues. Questionnaires were sent to all LEAs in England, Scotland and Wales to discover the extent of job-sharing in the teaching profession: The origin and implementation of ten formal job-share schemes was studied through interviews with LEA officers. Job-sharers and their headteachers in five of these formal schemes were surveyed by questionnaire, and some informally agreed job-shares in other LEAs were included. The research studied 227 individual sharers and the organisation of 163 shared posts. The attitudes of 169 headteachers and secondary heads of department with experience of job-sharing in their schools were analysed, as were the perceptions of all the participants concerning the advantages and disadvantages of job-sharing arrangements. A survey was also made of the progress during one year of 81 teachers seeking posts through job-share registers. This thesis presents the findings and discusses their implications. The part played by job-sharing arrangements in the management of teacher supply is considered, together with the future of job-sharing in the context of the transfer of power over teacher appointments from LEAs to school governing bodies. Finally, recommendations are made which may assist LEAs, school heads and governors, and job-sharers themselves, in the setting up of shared posts and their successful operation.