The first few years of a teacher’s career can truly make or break their future in the profession. Whilst there is no doubt that teaching is an incredibly admirable vocation that impacts the lives of countless children, in this current educational environment, new teachers face a steep learning curve and multiple challenges in a sector under significant pressure.
The most recent storm of issues in the sector, including the post-pandemic fallout, the cost of living crisis and rising energy bills stretching already tight school budgets, is seeing teacher retention and recruitment pushed to the top of the agenda. As more and more teachers feel compelled to consider alternative vocations, paired with the ongoing turmoil in the sector, the appetite to enter the profession is under threat. It is, therefore, more important than ever to effectively support Early Career Teachers (ECTs) and empower them with the confidence, ability and support to succeed and thrive from the very beginning of their teaching journeys.
The Early Career Framework (ECF), which the Government launched in 2019, pledged an investment of £130 million each year to enable schools to access a fully funded, two year package of structured training for ECTs. This includes dedicated time set aside to allow new teachers to focus on their development. However, investment alone doesn’t guarantee support for ECTs, particularly as they adjust to the realities and expectations of teaching in a classroom for the first time. With schools and teachers facing extraordinary pressures, fostering a supportive and expert ECT community is essential to ensuring that we not only get the best out of our teachers, but that we develop a stable, happy and skilled workforce for years to come.
From our experience in the sector, we have found that new teachers can struggle particularly with issues beyond curriculum delivery, including time management and handling safeguarding and wellbeing concerns. Working with ECTs, we have helped schools successfully overcome these barriers to ensure that new teachers find their joy in teaching from the very start of their careers.
Here, I share some top tips and examples of practices that could be replicated in schools to help them support their ECTs, get the most out of their mentors and foster a deep sense of community.
Build a community
The pressures experienced by anyone starting a new job can be isolating and confusing. To help overcome this, it’s important to recognise that the education community is strongest when it is collaborating and working together to support and inspire one another. Creating opportunities for teachers to share best practice and knowledge is a highly effective way to bring ECTs together and help them feel more supported and confident and less isolated.
By fostering a supportive ECT community, you can create spaces within schools where teachers can learn, share resources and seek advice from their peers. At Eteach, we launched a Facebook community which now consists of nearly 3,000 members from schools throughout the country. In this dedicated safe space, ECTs brainstorm about potential interview questions, share lesson planning techniques and useful resources as well as display board ideas to name just a few.
Schools can replicate this sentiment by creating their own ECT communities in which they bring together local ECTs from an individual school, collective of schools or even across the Trust. Something as simple as a monthly Teams meeting or face-to-face get together where ECT in similar areas and circumstances can come together to share helpful tips and discuss issues they’re facing can make a world of difference and help new teachers form a supportive, close knit network of trusted colleagues.
Provide guidance around key challenges
Despite the rigorous education our ECTs have gained as part of their initial training, the nature of education is continuously evolving and ECTs will inevitably be faced with new challenges. It is imperative that ECTs have access to continuous education that can help them stay up to date with the latest policy, knowledge and advice to feel confident when facing these new obstacles.
To support schools and empower ECTs with the information they need to succeed, Eteach has held a series of webinars on topical issues such as the ECT framework, expectations of new teachers, behaviour management and handling parental communication effectively. Schools and Trusts can hold their own informative sessions and workshops which can be regularly updated and adapted to cover the latest or pressing topics and build knowledge amongst ECTs to ensure they feel prepared for the realities of teaching and working in schools.
As the sector continues to struggle to recruit and retain specialist teachers, schools can help new STEM teachers by providing opportunities for ECTs to gain practical skills and advice on how to best upskill themselves in maths and science subjects. Supporting teachers to gain the additional skillset demanded by these roles is essential for schools wanting to help new STEM confidents find the love of teaching their subjects and feel inspired by their new careers.
Support mentors
Mentors are a core component of the ECF and as a guide and advisor for ECTs, they play a crucial role in the professional development of ECTs. However, it is important to consider that in their role, mentor staff are themselves also taking on additional responsibilities and will be faced with challenges of their own that require support from their supervisors.
Eteach’s Education Advisers work with schools to ensure they are doing everything they can to support mentors. This has included providing opportunities for mentors and senior leadership teams to access advice and knowledge via webinars and workshops hosted by industry experts to learn more. Schools and Trusts should look to draw on their own networks to gain more knowledge and insight from experts in the sector, even running internal training sessions or advice drop ins for mentors.
Like many things in the education sector at the moment, there is no quick fix to the problems facing ECTs but it is clear that they can and should be addressed as a community. Through collaborative peer-to-peer support and learning opportunities, we will be able to help safeguard teachers love of teaching, shoring up a happy and stable education workforce for years to come.
About the author
Chantal Dos Santos
Chantal was a teacher for the past 17 years. Starting off in Primary education in the beginning of her career, then moving on to teaching maths and science. She has taught in South Africa, America and the UK. She was then Head of Science for a few years before becoming the Head of the Upper School at an independent boy’s prep school. Chantal heads up the ECT side of Eteach; looking at how we can attract graduates and then how we can work on supporting them throughout their 2-year induction period and ultimately supporting and guiding ECTs to retain them in the education sector.