‘Goveline’ reveals pressure on staff

Dr Chris Nicholson, an expert in psychoanalytics, made his comments after listening to teachers’ comments left on the “Goveline”, a recorded telephone line set-up last year. 

Dr Nicholson, who lectures at the University of Essex’s Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, examined transcripts of the calls and said the comments were “a kind of live litmus test for assessing the health of the school system”. 

He continued: “If one listens to the tone of the respondents rather than merely the content, then it is the negative atmosphere and anxiety which seems to permeate the current school system that stand out. What comes over loud and clear is the overwhelming, choking pressure individual teachers face day-to-day as they try to do what seems a simple enough job of educating our young. Teachers feel that government demands their adaptation to each and every new innovation, agenda for change or policy directive, but gives little or nothing back to help them do this.”