In the current climate of teacher recruitment, job satisfaction and retention, funding challenges and following significant upheaval to the teacher training sector, NASBTT’s The Future of Initial Teacher Training manifesto (July 2024) is a necessary call for action. So how can we attract more people into the teaching profession?
One of the five ‘asks’ in the manifesto is to tackle public perceptions about teaching.
When we ask teachers what brought them into the profession, typical responses are: passion for their subject and a desire to share this with young people; passion to work with children and young people; or passion to ‘make a difference’ by teaching. For some people, teaching is a vocational calling, something that from a young age they have always seen themselves doing as a job. For some, their positive (or negative) personal experience in school reinforces their vocational direction into teaching. For others, the choice is more pragmatic, when they assess that this is something they have a lot to bring to and can be successful in doing.
The manifesto recommends that we should also investigate why young people are not choosing teaching as a career. There has been a lot written about what ‘Gen Z’ are looking for from their careers, recently for example research commissioned by Teach First for the Tomorrow’s Teachers report (September 2024). Key disincentives are reported to be financial, both salaries and schools’ funding, and lack of flexibility, compared with other similar graduate careers. But there are also lots of advantages – good starting salary, excellent pension scheme, job security, potential to work anywhere, long holidays, opportunities to travel! And there are all the non-pay benefits that chime with ‘Gen Z’ reported interests in pro-social careers, moral purpose, opportunity to make a difference to children’s futures and life chances, and to have a job that is interesting and varied.
In a climate where teaching as a profession is not generally perceived as high status, respected, appreciated or well rewarded, we need to actively promote the benefits of working as a teacher and choosing a career in education. We need our teachers and schools to promote teaching positively, to our current and next generations of young people, alongside other careers and likely growth employment areas in the 2030s. An inspired, skilled and educated workforce for the 2030s, 2040s and beyond obviously depends on inspiring, skilful and well-prepared teachers joining the profession now and in the near future. The experience that our young people are having in their journey through our education system, and the relationships that they are making with their teachers on the way, are likely to be shaping their career aspirations and views about teaching as an option for themselves.
Societal views about the value of teachers are a factor in teacher retention as well as tempting students to choose teaching as a career. The publication of the results of international comparisons of school performance, league tables and commentary, feeds into public opinions about how good our schools and teachers are, which in turn feeds into teachers’ feelings about how their work and effort is appreciated. Surveys and comparative research studies demonstrate this effect. Whilst the audience for Ofsted inspection reports on our schools is parents, to support their choice for their children, there has been a detrimental effect on public faith in schools and teachers.
However, public appreciation of teachers may be higher than teachers (collectively) perceive and teaching continues to be a valued profession that entrants seek to become a member of, requiring graduate level qualification and the responsibility and status of doing meaningful and necessary work. During the Covid-19 pandemic we saw an increase in people moving towards teacher training; and those in teaching, because of need, responsibility, commitment to public service, and opportunity, went beyond the school gate, forging new relationships between school and families, though the boost in parental appreciation was not sustained.
We have been and are, justifiably, worried about a sufficient pipeline of new teachers. We were fortunate enough in our area to recruit well last year and have an excellent cohort of trainees, on their way to becoming ECTs. Our alumni from the last two years are generally feeling well supported and remain connected with us through their ECT CPD programmes. The continuity from ITT to ECT and support for mentors across our partnership is creating an environment in which beginning teachers have the conditions and support around them to thrive and develop, and we know that if they continue to develop their skills and effectiveness they will enjoy the job and are more likely to choose to stay.
We are meeting many fantastic applicants this year with huge potential to become excellent teachers and make significant contributions to the lives and achievement of our children. They have made considered choices, prepared well, gained a wealth of relevant experience in advance; they understand and have planned for the short-term financial hardship, for the longer-term reward of a guaranteed starting salary and career-long job security. Nationally there is a modest increase in the number of applications this year.
These are reasons for cautious optimism.
We frequently gather feedback and quotes from our trainees and alumni ECTs and the mentors and school leaders that are supporting them, and repeatedly hear inspiring messages. For example,
- “You can make a huge impact on every other life you encounter, students and colleagues, you can give people the skills to make someone have a better life – I don’t know any other career where you can make that kind of impact.”
- “No day is ever the same, it’s so varied, it’s never dull! I feel privileged to wake up and want to come to work, to be met by hundreds of smiling faces, and to leave knowing I make a difference to the children in that place where I work.”
- “This job has given me so much joy!”
Alison Fletcher is Director of CLF Institute, Cabot Learning Federation and Five Counties Teaching School Hubs Alliance and SCITT.