Opinion: Teaching Commission

Policy must look beyond teachers to solve the workforce crisis

Teachers are not the only ones who are unhappy in classrooms. Unless we get to grips with that, we won't stop them leaving

Teachers are not the only ones who are unhappy in classrooms. Unless we get to grips with that, we won't stop them leaving

24 Jan 2025, 5:00

The facts about teacher attrition are plain for all to see, but the essence of the problem to which we need solutions is not so clearcut. The question driving the Teaching Commission is: What must be done to recreate teaching as an attractive and sustainable profession?. To answer this, we have to ask a parallel and deeply connected question: Why are so many pupils unhappy at school?

The first sessions of the Teaching Commission have heard stark evidence about the depth of the staffing crisis and the impacts of stress, workload and lack of flexibility on teachers’ mental and physical health. This will resonate with too many teachers’ experiences.

And it is not as though no one has thought of remedies to try to keep teachers in the profession – from reforming accountability within and beyond schools, to financial incentives, to increasing flexible working and so on.

All of these matter, and they are certainly part of the solution, but alone they do not address a fundamental issue that needs attention if the real problem is to be understood and put right: it is not only the teachers who are finding it hard to thrive in too many schools today.

Increasing rates of pupil unhappiness, non-attendance and elective home education tell us about a growing pattern of disillusionment with school affecting young people too.

The UK has the lowest average overall life satisfaction among 15-year-olds across 27 European countries. When one-quarter of young people report low life satisfaction, that warrants questions about their life inside school as well as in wider society.

We also have the largest gap in average life satisfaction between the most advantaged quarter and the most disadvantaged quarter of young people. This must make us ask what it is it that needs to change to make school a place that fosters self-esteem, optimism and worthwhileness for all.

Socially disadvantaged pupils have the greatest non-engagement with school. In 2022/23, 36.5 per cent of free school meal-eligible pupils were persistently absent, compared with 15.6 per cent of pupils who were not eligible.

There is something deeply wrong that connects pupils and teachers

Then, there are the issues around young people’s mental health that all teachers are increasingly dealing with, and related challenges with social media, misogyny and racism.

In short, we can’t hope to find ways to increase teacher motivation to stay in the classroom without considering how pupils feel about being there. Likewise, we can’t persuade more pupils that school is a satisfying and fulfilling pace to be while so many teachers clearly feel the need to leave.

The most recent findings from the Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders longitudinal study tell us that 89 per cent of over 10,000 teachers and leaders surveyed experience stress in their work. Worryingly, 72 per cent report that the job negatively affects their mental health and 49 per cent say it affects their physical health.

There is something deeply wrong that connects pupils and teachers here. It suggests the need for a fundamental rethink of school and how it is experienced by all those who spend most of their waking life there.

That means that the real reasons for teacher attrition will not go away when temporary relief trickles through from falling pupil rolls, no matter how much policymakers hope it will. Wishful thinking should not deflect from the urgency of addressing the source of the challenges.

A meaningful curriculum for all, increased teacher agency and professional learning that prioritises creativity and affirmative responsiveness to pupils in our diverse society would be good places to start. In addition, significant resource is needed to support SEND pupils within and outside of mainstream classrooms.

Beyond school, policy attention and resource directed at supporting disadvantaged families and communities is equally important. This will free teachers up to use their expertise to make learning as motivating, inclusive and stimulating as possible.

The un/attractiveness of teaching as a fulfilling career requires serious attention. But that attention must go far beyond issues of remuneration and workload, important as these considerations are.

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