As a trust, Aldridge Education’s two key missions are to bring learning to life and to leave no one behind. That’s difficult to do amid a recruitment crisis, so the new government’s drive to recruit 6,500 additional expert teachers is very welcome.
However, in her early days of converting a manifesto promise into a workable plan, we urge the new secretary of state for education to consider what it will really take, and why previous administrations that have aimed for the same thing have floundered. What we need more of (alongside teachers) are practical changes.
It might be a cliché to say that teachers are the lifeblood of our education system, but (as with many clichés) that’s because it is true. No one is ever ‘just’ a teacher, and because so many of us in Aldridge’s central team have been in the job, we strive to create a culture that recognises and values that fact.
As part of that work, we talk to our teachers every day about their experiences: why they teach, what’s working and, in honest and non-judgmental conversations, what isn’t. We see this as a core element of our efforts to recruit, train and retain teachers.
What clearly emerges from these conversations is that several strands of work are needed to really revolutionise teacher recruitment for the better. Nothing surprising or seismic, just basic alignment of pledge and practice.
We need to smooth the paths of the routes into teaching, increase exposure to teaching as a profession and we need to really value our mentors. It’s all pretty straightforward – but applied intentionally it could be transformative.
Streamlining processes, unpicking confusing policies and demonstrating that we value the development of a great workforce may not be headline-grabbing stuff, but grabbing headlines has so far failed to turn the tide.
Based on our work, here’s what we’d recommend to start doing that.
Reform bursaries
It simply isn’t the case that people don’t want to train to teach; it’s that they can’t afford to. For example, there are plenty of potentially strong teachers applying to train with us who have a third in their degree. As a result, they do not qualify for a bursary at all.
You need a degree to be a teacher, but there’s no stipulation on what class of degree. Why have that stipulation for funding?
Meanwhile, there are no bursaries available for some subjects, and we really need Subject Knowledge Enhancement courses to have their funding reinstated too.
Procedurally, the student finance deadline is mid-May, yet trainees can still be recruited until July. They won’t join if they can’t get their finance in place, so wouldn’t it make sense to change the deadline?
All of these things are causing us to lose potential trainees whose qualities we know we could develop and whose skills are going to other sectors.
Publicity, not just advertising
We need teacher training to be seen as a prestigious route and to gain greater exposure nationally. Resuming and expanding the Every lesson shapes a life campaign is great, but we need to go much further.
This government recognises the value of work experience for all, so along the same lines, what if every undergraduate course required an encounter with a school local to the university campus?
Not only could undergraduates visiting schools complement curriculum by running workshops or participating in lessons, but this could also open more young people’s eyes to the reality of teaching. It could perhaps even challenge the assumptions of those whose experience of school led them to discount the idea of a career in them.
Once they’re in the door, the most influential role in retaining them is that of mentor, but that job doesn’t get the recognition it should. Fixing that is an easy way to ensure career starters see it as a progression route, experienced teachers choose to do it, and new teachers get the positive support they need to qualify and thrive.
So (notwithstanding the obvious need for a pay uplift for the role and commensurate time to do it well), why not add to the new suite of NPQs with a fully-funded one for them?
Like I said, there’s nothing dramatic here, but drama is best left in the performing arts studio. Meanwhile, small, meaningful changes are more likely to achieve our shared ambitions for teacher recruitment.
