Are you happy, Steve?

Are you happy? I ask because the results of a new study suggest you probably are. In fact, this study goes further and argues that teachers are the happiest workers in Britain.

Eight-three per cent of teachers said they “loved their job” in a survey of 2,000 professionals, commissioned by Surbiton High School, a private school, beating secretaries, engineers, accountants, lawyers and tradesmen among others to the top spot. Teachers listed holiday allowance, relationships with colleagues and the environment in which they worked as reasons for why they were so happy.

We too asked teachers at a recent workshop we held to raise their hand if, like the research, they loved their job. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so) almost every hand in the room – around 60 – went up. Likewise, when describing the kinds of people that contact our support lines, our counsellors often will refer to teachers as “passionate professionals, who really love the kids they are working with”. Indeed, I suspect that if you took a straw poll of your colleagues right now, they too would raise their hand.