Diary of a headteacher: Encouraging discretionary effort

I personally define discretionary effort as the work that people in schools complete that falls outside of their substantive role. This is work that is done for free – no extra pay and no time in lieu accrued.

In many jobs outside of education the basic premise will be that there are a set number of hours per week, those hours are completed and at the end of each shift the employee goes home. However, the teaching profession relies heavily on teachers working hours way beyond those of the school day.

There are the obvious imperatives such as planning and marking. However, there are so many other activities that occur within the school environment that enrich the lives of students and create a positive atmosphere for learning. Such activities will only occur because of the goodwill of teachers; people going above and beyond what is detailed in their job descriptions because they know it will have a positive impact on their students. Schools can only thrive when their workforce collectively delivers a significant level of discretionary effort.