Placards have been dropped and order has been restored in British classrooms following the latest bout of industrial action orchestrated by the National Union of Teachers (NUT). 

The March 26th walkout was the latest in a series of strikes in an ongoing dispute over numerous grievances because people in primary and secondary teaching jobs in London, the south east and beyond believe the government is failing to listen to them.

Prior to the strike, a Department for Education spokesperson said parents will find it hard to comprehend why the NUT is taking further industrial action when the government has put plans in place that will allow heads to pay good teachers more. 

This simplistic and disingenuous description of performance-related pay only serves to highlight the disconnected perspectives of the two sides, with the new pay structure derided in many quarters of the profession for its assumption that only certain teachers are capable of the level needed to earn a rise and its potential to undermine improvement on a holistic basis.

However, remuneration is only one grievance teachers hold. Perhaps more pressing is the issue of workloads, given recent developments. The NUT calls on the government's own Workload Diary 2013 survey as its primary witness. The document revealed an increase in the working hours for all teachers compared to 2010.

Primary teachers have seen the biggest changes and now work almost 60 hours a week - far beyond what most people think a 9am - 3.30pm job entails. Furthermore, over the past four years, secondary teachers have seen a six-hour increase in their working week and now clock up an average of 56 hours a week. The extended hours have been combined with continual change and upheaval to lead to what the union calls "the denigration of the profession". 

Christine Blower, general secretary of NUT, said: "This is simply unsustainable.

"Many teachers feel totally overwhelmed and it is hardly surprising that two-in-five leave the profession after their first five years in the job and morale is at an all-time low. Many thousands of good teachers are leaving the profession and education is being damaged as a result.

"This is an issue that should concern everyone. Our children deserve enthusiastic, energetic teachers not overworked and stressed ones."

The views of the NUT are mirrored in a recent survey of heads, deputies and assistant principals conducted by TES and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). It revealed that two-thirds of school leaders are considering quitting their teaching jobs altogether, with rising workloads cited as the main cause of nose-diving morale.

Furthermore, a staggering 91 per cent of heads and deputies said the government was unsupportive of the teaching profession.

Just a quarter of deputy and assistant principals said they were considering applying for a headship. Two-thirds said they were less likely to apply than a year ago, with the majority citing workload (72 per cent) and lack of job security (41 per cent) as the main factors.

ASCL general secretary Brian Lightman said: "School leaders aren't afraid of hard work, but when they are running to stand still in a climate of uncertainty, they are wondering whether their efforts are worth it."

The most recent bout of industrial action saw just 12 per cent of schools in England forced to shut their doors for the day, but until the government accepts the reasons for the disgruntlement and begins to value the jobs teachers are doing by improving conditions and reducing workloads, further strikes could be likely.