A key question for the new government is how to tackle the teacher recruitment and retention crisis. Indeed, after over a decade of missed national recruitment targets and real-term teacher pay levels falling against other sectors, ‘crisis’ may not even be the right word.
Labour has clearly come in armed with the energy and determination to tackle the root causes of the problem. Their recent decision on a 5.5 per cent pay rise for school teachers (mostly funded by the department for education) is a powerful first step. It acknowledges the value of teachers and sets the stage for more meaningful reforms.
Meanwhile, Bridget Phillipson’s announcement that teachers can soon use their PPA time at home is also refreshing. This flexibility is essential to making teaching a viable, long-term career choice, especially for young professionals and those juggling work with care-giving responsibilities.
However, the sector does need the government to publish its teacher recruitment and retention strategy soon. Labour’s manifesto hinted that it may include revisions to the Early Career Framework (ECF) and the introduction of a teacher training entitlement. (Is it too much to hope for the same 100 annual CPD hours the Singaporean government lavishes on its teachers?)
Imagine this: a revitalised ECF that sets high standards for professional development and adapts to the unique needs of each school and its early career teachers.
By refining governance and accountability frameworks, the government can ensure the ECF isn’t just another box-ticking exercise but a dynamic tool empowering teachers and mentors alike. With regards to the latter specifically, a mentor accreditation process that recognised their crucial role in maintaining high standards and elevating the profession could be transformative.
This isn’t straightforward or quick, nor can it be paid for or legislated
If Labour are lookikng for inspiration, there’s plenty to be found across the Atlantic. Etio is currently supporting a number of US states’ education departments in tackling similar recruitment and retention challenges and implementing innovative solutions.
In Louisiana, efforts focus on securing a revitalised recruitment process from the first point of teacher preparation. We are strengthening the quality of teacher preparation providers, increasing the diversity of the local talent pool and improving early literacy and numeracy pedagogy for early-career teachers.
In Massachusetts, Etio is the sole administrator for a state-wide alternative pathway programme for provisional teaching license holders to obtain a substantive initial teaching license. This pathway includes both increased time and financial flexibility, resulting in an larger teacher population – and one that remains in the profession.
These examples demonstrate the right approach can create a system that attracts and retains passionate, dedicated teachers.
In some ways pay, workload and training are the easiest pieces of the puzzle to place; we also need to strive for a national cultural shift, through which the social status of the position of teacher is again elevated and desired.
This isn’t straightforward or quick, nor can it be paid for or legislated. Rather, it is the ultimate consequence of sustained pan-sector boosterism and a ruthless, strategic focus on talent capture.
This is perhaps the most interesting political imperative to tackle: how do we recalibrate the civic zeal and professional desirability around being a teacher? Hiring 6,500 new teachers would be a superb achievement (even better if half don’t then leave the profession within five years), but forging a new national culture is where the real challenge lies.
Our hands are tied by government policy in many ways, but school and trust leaders can be part of the solution by considering four key questions within their circle of control:
- How is the social mission of teachers articulated and celebrated within and outside of our school community?
- What can I do within my existing budget to improve teachers’ working lives?
- What solutions from local or international examples can I adapt and apply?
- What am I waiting for?
The new Labour Government can take this opportunity to set out a broader, more ambitious vision for teaching and re-energise the public’s interest in ensuring we have brilliant teachers in the pipeline.
By grounding reforms in evidence, focusing on quality, learning from successful international models and celebrating the role’s uniquely rewarding social purpose, they can create a system that reverses long-term downward workforce trends and raises the status of the profession culturally, with future waves of recruits queuing up.
Neither politicians nor the sector can do this alone. All will need to work together to bring about the transformation our system needs in order to truly serve teachers and, in turn, their students.
