Teachers and leaders should become governors of other schools to enrich their professional development, the National Governance Association has said.
A campaign by the NGA and Inspiring Governance seeks to encourage education professionals to join the governing boards of other schools or academy trusts.
Governing boards need to make sure they have the right people around the table and that means including people who have educational knowledge and expertise
According to the NGA, there are “enormous professional development benefits” to doing so, and teachers and leaders stand to benefit from “valuable experience of strategic leadership”, including finance and human resources for aspiring leaders.
The campaign follows a call to arms from Damian Hinds last year. The education secretary said professional workers from all walks of life should “play their part” to improve the education of children by becoming governors and trustees.
The government also announced that a £3 million funding pot for training and support of governors will be doubled and kept available up until 2021.
Despite the potential extra workload of taking on the role, the NGA’s new campaign is backed by leadership unions the NAHT and ASCL, Teach First, the Ambition Institute and the Independent Schools Council.
By sharing their expertise, educators can support governing boards “in one of their core duties of holding executive leaders to account for the for the educational performance of the school and its pupils”, the NGA said today.
Emma Knights, the NGA’s chief executive, added: “Governing boards need to make sure they have the right people around the table and that means including people who have educational knowledge and expertise.
“Boards, as the employer, can create a culture that enables staff in their school to go out and govern – they can bring back practice from other contexts and will have an understanding of what a governing board does.
“When considering succession planning to leadership positions, staff will also have experience of strategic leadership and working with a board. It is absolutely fabulous development for educationalists and I encourage teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders to consider whether governing is for them.”
Education professionals and governing boards are asked to register with Inspiring Governance – a free service which connects volunteers with schools looking for governors and trustees.
How many teachers have the time to be governors of another school?
Those proposing this do not have an understanding of the workload of the average teacher. One of the reasons why we have a teacher recruitment problem.
This is a really good campaign. Becoming a governor in another school means two schools can share good practice and teachers gain valuable leadership experience.