Oak National Academy has announced it is seeking teachers to create and review lesson resources for the online quango later this year.
The online learning platform, which is a government arm’s-length body (ALB), has said its future curriculum partners will be looking for experienced classroom teachers to carry out paid roles.
Tes understands these curriculum partners are expected to be named next month following a tendering process.
However, the move comes amid continuing criticism of the online academy as sector leaders warn it comes at a time when “schools are finding it incredibly difficult to recruit and retain teachers”.
Successful applicants will be paid the “market rate”, which Oak has said means professional pay rates equivalent to classroom teaching.
Teachers interested in the roles should have at least three years of direct teaching experience in a school along with a proven interest in developing pedagogical best practice in their subject and phase, Oak has said.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said this was an unhelpful move by the government-funded body during a teacher recruitment crisis.
He said: “Teachers are free agents and it is up to them if they take up the roles being offered. But it’s obviously not very helpful if schools are going to lose teachers from their classrooms, particularly as the remit for the role is likely to mean they’ll lose very experienced teachers.”
Mr Barton added that it was “more galling still” that it was taking place “at a time when ministers are fully aware that schools are finding it incredibly difficult to recruit and retain teachers because of the government devaluing the profession over the past decade”.
He added: “We continue to be concerned that the establishment of Oak National Academy as an ALB, supported by government funding, constitutes a drift towards a government-approved curriculum.”
Mr Barton said this “runs the risk of undermining curriculum diversity and innovation, and represents an inappropriate use of public money”.
“Oak National Academy should be given no preference over any other provider of curriculum resources, and further development should be paused to allow for detailed consultation with the education sector,” he added.
Successful teachers will receive training and have the opportunity to collaborate with a wide network of other teachers and education professionals, says Oak.
The online learning organisation is as yet unsure how many roles will be available, but says the number will be “small” and confirmed in the coming weeks, and there could be the potential for part-time and full-time arrangements.
There will be opportunities potentially available for experienced primary and secondary school teachers in up to six subjects: maths, English, science, history, geography and music.
Oak is aiming for its first six sets of resources and lessons in maths, English, science, geography, history and music to be available from this September.
Oak was relaunched by the Department for Education as an ALB in September last year.
The ALB said last month that it was looking for classroom teachers, school curriculum leads and subject specialists to join its first six Subject Expert Groups (SEG) in a voluntary role.
Matt Hood, chief executive officer of Oak National Academy, said: “Oak is a collaboration of teachers and experts sharing their time and knowledge to help their peers.
”These new opportunities with our partners mean teachers will continue to make our new lesson resources, sharing the best knowledge of lesson development and planning from across the sector.”
