The government should pilot short-term “teacher in residence” secondments to entice Gen Z recruits into teaching and meet recruitment pledges, an education charity has said.
Teach First has also recommended a “career-break scheme”, and suggested the government could recommission the workload reduction task force.
The recommendations have been published alongside polling showing that more than three-fifths (61 per cent) of Gen Z surveyed would consider working as a teacher. Gen Z is typically defined as those born between the mid to late 1990s and 2012.
Teach First chief executive Russell Hobby said: “For too long, conditions in the teaching profession have failed to keep pace with what the next generation of workers crave in a career - and what they can find in other sectors.
“This means that, despite having huge respect for teachers, Gen Z are simply not signing up in sufficient numbers. This is holding back the education of our young people, especially from poorer backgrounds.”
The report comes as schools wait for details on Labour’s pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers.
Here are six ways Teach First thinks the pledge could be met:
1. ‘Teacher in residence’ secondments
Teach First recommended that the government should pilot short-term secondments to give teachers experience in a different industry or profession.
These “teacher in residence” placements would help Gen Z “gain the diverse career experiences and skills they crave”, according to the report, and provide more opportunities for professional development.
The secondments could be delivered as whole-week blocks, or as short, half-day training segments over an extended period, either within term time or during the school holidays.
The charity estimates that the pilot would cost about £7.5 million for 450 placements. It said pilots “should be prioritised for schools serving disadvantaged communities where the recruitment need is greatest”.
2. Career-break scheme
The report also recommended a career-break scheme “to facilitate a teacher’s personal and professional development for experienced teachers”.
This could be a period of unpaid special leave, Teach First said, and would guarantee a role at the end of the scheme with coaching support to re-enter the classroom.
Polling carried out by Public First for the report found that nearly half of the 3,000 16- to 24-year-olds surveyed said they would enjoy teaching for a few years, but not their whole career.
3. Recommission the Workload Reduction Taskforce
Teach First also called for the new Labour government to recommission the workload reduction task force “with a clear remit to establish what schools and teachers should stop doing”.
The workload task force was formed under the previous government with an eye on reducing teachers’ working hours by five hours a week.
However, the work of the group was not completed before the general election.
The report also called for the government to “outline and execute a rollout plan for improved support services for children and young people, to alleviate pressure on schools from outside demand”.
4. Flexibility entitlement for every teacher
Teach First said that the government should set out a flexibility entitlement for every teacher, building on the DfE’s flexible working toolkit.
The report said the offers of flexible working could come as compressed hours, remote Inset days, discretionary single-day holiday entitlements for qualified teachers and increasing flexibility in holiday access.
A recent survey found that a lack of flexible working opportunities was deterring potential teaching applicants from the profession.
And a poll published last year found that just 9 per cent of senior leaders said they had looked at and found the DfE’s flexible working toolkit useful.
5. Increasing teacher pay
The report emphasised the need for continuing to increase teacher pay and reinstate pay levels for trainees to 2010 real-terms levels.
Teach First said the government should establish how to increase teacher salaries to be in the top third of the graduate salary market by 2030.
This year, the government said teachers would receive a 5.5 per cent pay rise from September.
6. Look again at the recruitment fund
Teach First also made a number of suggestions for the use of the £450 million Labour said would be needed to reach the 6,500 teacher target.
The report suggested widening the subject eligibility of the levelling-up premium under which secondary teachers in state-funded schools teaching the shortage subjects can claim a bonus.
It also calls for £2,000 of relocation funding to support teachers moving to areas facing the biggest struggle to recruit, with this doubling for those working in rural areas with poorer transport connections.
Tes revealed last year that more than a third of Teach First’s autumn cohort of trainee teachers had been paid a grant to relocate or commute to join the scheme.
A Department for Education spokesperson said teacher recruitment and retention “is in a parlous state” and the government is “taking steps to support teachers’ wellbeing and ease workload pressures, including clarifying that that teachers can carry out their planning time at home, improving flexible working for staff”.
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