We must show that the grass is greenest in schools to build our workforce

“Who would want to work in education?” It’s a good question, but is it the right one?

Headlines proclaiming that teachers are leaving en masse and there’s no one to replace them suggest the question has some merit. Yet the DfE’s new workforce data revealed last week that the teaching workforce has grown to its highest level ever.

Granted, it’s by just 259 full-time equivalent teachers more than the previous 12 months – way off target. However, within that we see former teachers returning to teaching in greater numbers than ever.

We now have an opportunity to change the conversation, perception and narrative about our profession by thinking clearly about the benefits of a career in schools: purpose, subject passion, development and career opportunities. If we do that, we can get people to ask themselves a different, more positive question: “who wouldn’t want to work in education?”

Sir Andrew Carter recently suggested that we should stop washing our dirty linen in public and start cheering about the positives of a profession that is more attractive than the headlines make out. It’s an interesting perspective borne of frustration with the gloom which currently pervades the sector.

We can’t ignore the obvious challenges we face around workload, pay and working conditions. However, his suggestion that we need a propaganda push of sorts is right.

It’s important to recognise that teaching isn’t the only employment sector facing retention challenges. Just 28 per cent of legal sector new entrants remain after three years, despite the headlines that scream about £150,000+ starting salaries for City solicitors.

The grass isn’t necessarily greener for teachers elsewhere in the world either. Last week, The Times highlighted a “classroom brain drain” with a story about UK teachers heading to Australia.

It’s an alarming story, but does it show the full picture? Retention problems are actually worse Down Under, with an estimated 50% of teachers leaving within five years.

The healthcare sector might show us a different way. With 80 per cent retention after three years, it is still one of the best at holding onto its people, despite similar challenges.

Data from the Health and Care Professions Council puts early role support as crucial to its retention rates. But they also find that younger people are most likely to leave a profession that was once for life.

In short, the average retention rate is declining in all sectors because our modern workforce finds it easier to change roles, professions, and even continents.

Many schools and MATs are looking at ways to improve our sector’s attractiveness. They’re using innovations such as half-day Fridays and nine-day fortnights, as well as promoting career development pathways and using AI to reduce admin workloads.

Some are looking at attracting people in different ways, such as supporting graduates through the Future Teachers programme, or attracting and supporting people from other professions through the postgraduate teacher apprenticeship route.

For example, one secondary school in Wigan has recently taken on two maths specialists through an apprenticeship programme with Best Practice Network and Teaching Personnel.

Culture also matters. Employees’ expectations have changed dramatically in recent years and businesses are working hard to ensure that people enjoy working for them. To compete with them, schools need a people strategy – a clearly communicated intent to understand where you and your people are, where you want to get to and what needs to be done to get there.

Increasingly, I meet leaders passionate about accessing good people leadership training and creating great places to work. This and the language we use about our profession really matter.

According to BBC Bitesize, teaching remains the top job young children want to do when they grow up. That changes by the time they reach school-leaving age.

We need to get them and everyone else back to asking themselves a much more positive career question: “who wouldn’t want to work in education?”