The looming crisis in teacher numbers has been much discussed as a cause of grave worry in education circles. Changes to initial teacher education, which have been described by some as ill-advised at best, are also thought to potentially add fuel to this fire, making the outlook for the profession seem bleak and deeply concerning. Having the right balance of teachers, in the right jobs at the right time, should not be the challenge it currently is if we are keeping our eyes on the ever-moving recruitment and retention ball.
The number of teachers in classrooms across the country is absolutely key to improving the experiences of children as they move through their school careers. Class size matters and the amount of time a teacher can give to pupils also matters, as anyone who has had anything to do with improving education can attest. So, hearing repeated reports that we are losing too many teachers to other professions, and simply not training enough for our reasonable needs given the number we lose in the first five years or so, is both frustrating and concerning. How, and why, has this happened?
Yet scratch the surface of the teacher supply issue, however, and some difficult themes reveal themselves. For example, we now have male teacher numbers at an all-time low. There is a deeply worrying lack of senior teaching staff from ethnic minorities, too.
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), told me that there is a mix of reasons why male teachers are not staying in the profession, but that, “the falling behind of teachers’ pay in comparison to other professions is certainly a significant factor. The Department for Education needs to get a grip on the fact that not enough teachers overall want to stay in this important job - and that comes down to better pay and reducing the intensity of teacher workload.”
The implications of low pay in the teaching profession are far reaching. Not only has that contributed to men now making up just 35% of secondary teachers, but it also means that the women and men who are working in teaching are doing so for depressed wages. An analysis of data by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex found that teachers’ wages have fallen by more than 9% in real terms over the past decade. This is simply not sustainable in the context of a cost-of-living crisis of the magnitude currently engulfing the UK.
Other findings from the study include:
- 1% of state-funded schools, both primary and secondary, do not have a single male teacher. In the East Midlands the situation is particularly acute where almost 1 in 3 schools do not have a male teacher.
- 5% of state schools do not have a male in the senior leadership team while 5.5% do not have a female in the senior leadership team.
- 60% of state funded schools do not have an ethnic minority classroom teacher.
- 8% of state funded schools do not have an ethnic minority teacher in the senior leadership team.
The realisation that teachers may be better off not staying in the classroom is hardly going to motivate large numbers to stay. And while men can typically be more mobile in the workforce, there is also evidence that the profession is losing its most experienced teachers. This matters deeply, for numerous reasons.
For Courtney, the situation is urgent. “It is vital of course that we ensure teachers are representative of the population,” he explained, “and it is beneficial for students to see men and women teachers in all sorts of roles and subjects across the school, to best model what is possible.’’
So, what can be done? The ISER points to two options for policy makers: Make teaching more attractive by increasing teachers’ pay and removing or reducing tuition fees for university-led initial teacher education, and commissioning research on potential barriers preventing ethnic minority groups from entering teaching or progressing to senior leadership roles in schools.
Simply making the job more attractive with terms and conditions conducive to a decent standard of living throughout the career of a teacher would surely help. As the ISER states, “Teaching is among society’s most important professions, yet 3 in 10 would be financially better off if they leave.” We cannot continue to rely on the intrinsic motivations of school staff to remain in the classroom. There are few more important jobs, and we need to get behind recruitment, retention, and pay, to ensure that we are not so dependent on goodwill. It must pay to be a teacher and if it fails to do so, it will not just be the gender pay gap and the diversity of the workforce that we are grappling with.
Find out how Eteach can support your school with a proactive recruitment strategy here.
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About the author
Elizabeth Holmes
After graduating with a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading, Elizabeth Holmes completed her PGCE at the Institute of Education, University of London. She then taught humanities and social sciences in schools in London, Oxfordshire and West Sussex, where she ran the history department in a challenging comprehensive. Elizabeth specialises in education but also writes on many other issues and themes. As well as her regular blogs for Eteach and FEjobs, her books have been published by a variety of publishers and translated around the world. Elizabeth has also taught on education courses in HE and presented at national and international conferences.