Labour’s manifesto commitment to recruit an extra 6,500 teachers is a welcome acknowledgement of the extent of the teacher recruitment and retention crisis. Sadly, fixing this remains a distant aspiration – but our new commission aims to quicken the pace of progress.
The government has signalled its determination to do more and do better with the teaching profession so that greater numbers of graduates choose to train as teachers and develop their careers in the profession.
But the facts are alarming. The number of teacher vacancies in England’s schools has doubled since before the pandemic. School leaders report increasingly desperate attempts to recruit teachers.
As numbers have dwindled, so class sizes have risen. Today, we have one of the highest in the OECD. This most affects children and young people in deprived areas who are more likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers who are not qualified in the subjects they are teaching.
It cannot be right that the disadvantage these children experience outside of their schools is compounded within them.
None of this is new, but each new data set confirms the trend of a big and growing challenge. Attainment gaps, SEND provision, attendance, staff and pupil wellbeing – all are in crisis, and all potential solutions depend first and foremost on the capacity only well-trained and motivated staff can provide.
Big problems require imaginative solutions – and that is why today we are launching the Teaching Commission.
A group of expert commissioners, including practising teachers alongside policy specialists and union and professional representatives, will seek to answer one key question: What practical and policy changes can be made to make teaching a more attractive profession and a more sustainable career?
The experts on this are teachers themselves
The commission will take expert witness advice and consider this carefully to make different types of recommendations. These will include policy advice for government and other national stakeholders.
But what might appear to be small wins at school level could nevertheless make a big impact on teachers’ working lives. So we will also seek to gather recommendations for employers in schools to support better teacher recruitment and retention.
The experts on the current state of teaching are, of course, teachers themselves. We want them to get involved with the commission’s work. Anyone with expert testimony, evidence of best practice or an idea to share can do so on the commission website.
There, you will also get the latest updates on the commission’s work. Look out for surveys and for case studies of schools where real focus and attention is being paid to supporting teachers and their wellbeing.
Because, as well as bringing greater focus to the real problems teachers and leaders face, we want to highlight where things are working well.
This could include schools where flexible working, in a variety of forms, is available to teachers so that they can balance their family and work commitments; schools which support teacher professional agency so that they feel done with, not done to; schools where the CPD offer to teachers is targeted and tailored to their professional development needs and interests – and so on.
In sum, the commission will be focused in all its work on things that can be done to make teachers’ working lives better, less exhausting, more productive and ultimately more satisfying.
We all want teachers to feel that their knowledge, skills and experience are rewarded. And we all know that wages alone (though crucial) are not a sufficient lever. Teachers must feel – and know – that their work is valuable and valued.
It may be a truism to say that no education system can be better than the teachers it relies on. But the government’s missions for the economy and wider society in turn rely on an education system that works for all pupils.
We will not be able to deliver those missions without the right numbers of the right teachers with the right support and opportunities for growth.
For too many, this is simply and evidently not the case. The commission aims to make that aspiration a reality and invites you to work with us to change things for the better.
Learn more about the Teaching Commission here
School funding gives rise to perverse incentives. There is a definite climate of easing out the “expensive” teachers by making their lives utterly miserable preferring ECTs as they are cheaper. This government wants to focus on the droves of experienced teachers either leaving the profession or being so downtrodden they resemble the inevitable pit pony. Stop the stampede for the exit first before you try to entice others into the bear pit.
And…ABOLISH the no 1 source of misery in schools…..OFSTED. Its abundantly clear that it cannot reform itself fast enough despite numerous recent public statements from its director. The irreparable damage this organisation has been responsible for and the terrible impact on staffing up and down the land is beyond shocking. We must move from policing the education sector to genuinely supporting and helping, and only a new way of working with schools will be acceptable to the profession that desperately needs to keep teachers in post.
I’m a good teacher but 30 years in the job (without ever wanting to lead) I feel useless and irrelevant. Please let me k ow how I can be part of this project.
I’m glad there’s a commission looking into the issues, however despite the clear experience and knowledge of the commissioners it’s concerning there are no actual teachers! One fulll time EYFS, one primary and one secondary teacher from each of the countries of the U.K. who are currently actually working as teachers would shine the most light. This seems to be part of the problem- too many ‘experts’ none of whom are currently actually doing the job.