Delegates at the annual conference of the NASUWT, which took place in Birmingham over the Easter break, heard how school leaders were accusing older staff members of having outdated teaching methods and a lack of classroom management skills in a bid to try to force them out of the profession.
The conference discussed how teachers aged over 50 were increasingly seen as too expensive, refusing to conform and lacking in enthusiasm.
In one school, it was claimed, all five members of staff who were aged 50 or over were put on capability procedures when an academy chain took over the school.
Wendy Exton, a member of the union’s national executive, described the “endemic discrimination” taking place in some schools, with “employers showing no shame in what has become the norm”.
She said older staff in one Bristol school were forced to upload every lesson plan, evaluate each individual lesson and deep mark every piece of work three times a week to prove they were able to teach.
“When I challenged leaders, I was told they cannot teach,” she said. “They said they had never seen such poor practice and no classroom leadership. These teachers had previously been graded by Ofsted as outstanding.”
She said two of the teachers had resigned, unable to cope with the workload, and had been replaced by graduates. Ms Exton added: “We will not let this lie. This has to stop. Teachers are at breaking point with no reason to be on support plans other than they are over 50 and seen to be past-it.”
Helen Redhead, a teacher from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, said employing an NQT instead of an older teacher saved a school around £15,000 a year: “Yet experienced staff are often the lynchpin in a school,” she told the conference. “They provide stability and support to younger teachers. They should not be undervalued or side-lined.”
Ms Redhead said that she herself had been refused CPD because “I should know what I’m doing” and denied the chance to continue developing as a professional.
In a separate debate, the conference heard how workplace bullying by colleagues was also affecting thousands of teachers. Simon Jones, a teacher from Bradford, described how some teachers were too frightened to come to school, were shouted at in front of pupils, and were sick before work or spent the day “shaking uncontrollably”.