The topic of teacher recruitment and retention is a pressing one in the current climate. The education sector is facing a staffing crisis, and there have been many proposed solutions to remedy this.
Operations Director of Eteach Education Advisers, Éamonn Whelan, has shared his thoughts on this:
Are we facing a crisis?
“Currently, there are 457,300 teachers working in public schools, alongside 8.1 million students, and the headcount is rising. An additional 600,000 children who joined nursery and primary schools since 2011 will move up to secondary, where pupil numbers are forecast to rise by nearly 20% by 2025,” Éamonn explains.
“Not only this, but the teaching workforce is increasing nowhere near as quickly – 9.9% of teachers left the sector last year, but new teachers only numbered 10.1% of the sector. Doing the maths, that’s only a 0.2% increase. Alongside this, the target for initial teacher training has been substantially below expectations, and unqualified teacher numbers have risen to 5.3%.”
What are the challenges with teacher recruitment, and what is causing this?
Éamonn explains that some of the most pressing issues facing teachers today are:
- Their workload and work-life balance
- Professional development opportunities
- Staff being given a voice
- Retaining excellent staff
As well as this, other elements can factor into teacher retention, including the climate and culture of schools and poor student behaviour. Other countries have models to look at that could greatly enhance the wellbeing of teachers, thereby facilitating retention.
“In Finland, both parents are given 160 days of parental allowance”, Éamonn says. “It’s also possible to transfer 63 days to the other parent or caregiver; its goal is to facilitate the work-life balance of both parents.”
How can the recruitment crisis be addressed?
Following on from the points made, it’s perhaps more difficult to suggest solutions as opposed to problems – however, there are definitely methods we can employ to try and make a difference to the current culture, Éamonn argues.
“A smart curriculum-lead timetable which avoids split classes and unnecessary teaching movement as well as staff-friendly option blocks would alleviate teachers’ workload”, says Éamonn. As well as this, he emphasises the importance of governors involving themselves with staff development. This includes implementing clear policies to support meaningful development opportunities for teachers, and governors directly involving themselves with teaching school hubs to support ECTs.
Allowing staff to have a voice can also help to improve communication and cooperation. “Ensure that staff have bought into your school by providing channels of communication such as joint staff committees, active and confident staff representatives of the governing body, and effective staff consultation systems”, Éamonn says.
Teachers can also join the Eteach ECT community. The group has over 2,700 members from both the UK and abroad, sharing experiences and resources daily. This can be a great hub for Early Career Teachers to learn from others and feel supported in their decision to enter teaching.
What about teacher retention?
As to what can be done to improve teacher retention, there are some examples of excellent practice Éamonn believes can make a difference: making sure teaching remains an attractive career as lifestyles and aspirations change, as well as the role of advisory services, coaching and mentoring.
“One of these approaches is coaching”, Éamonn explains, “because it is working with, not against, the very best interests of students and staff. It is a useful tool in school improvement, acting as an enabler, and uses the coaches’ knowledge alongside the client to enhance outcomes.”
Taking a proactive approach to recruitment is also recommended. “By actively marketing your school year-round, you are the driving force behind your annual recruitment strategy”, says Éamonn. “The first principle in proactive recruiting is to drive a constant stream of candidates to your school by advertising your talent pool year-round.”
The Eteach job board is an excellent place to start. An Eteach licence gives you unlimited advertising – including leadership roles – for a single annual fee. Candidates can visit your Career Site and join your Talent Pool. “This way, you can cultivate a hub of talented teachers to contact when the right opportunity arises, cutting back on head-hunter fees”, Éamonn explains. “Consider the long-term strategy – even if an applicant isn’t right for you today, they could be in a few years.”
Education-specific job boards, such as Eteach, can give schools a technological advantage when it comes to sourcing teachers.
Next steps
It’s important to visualise future steps over the next 12 to 24 months to keep on top of recruitment and retention, such as finding imaginative ways to encourage long-term commitment to schools, MATs, and local communities. “For example, some MATs are looking at ways in which TAs can be given training and support, to move through to becoming ECTs.”
Whatever the future holds for this topic, it’s certainly something pertinent to consider.
If you want to maximise your chances of teacher recruitment and retention, speak to an Eteach consultant today.
About the author
Ruby Collings
Ruby studied English Literature at the University of Brighton, having been an avid reader and writer for all of her life. With her passion for everything creative, she now works for Eteach as a Digital Marketing Executive, using her skills to deliver informative and relevant content.
