Scrolling through Instagram, there is no escaping them; the influencers are bound to make their way on to your feed. These prolific users are often associated with the lifestyle, beauty or fitness sectors, but influencers now move in all spheres - yes, even teaching.

And while teachers have long been building their profiles on Facebook and Twitter, being an influencer on a platform such as Instagram is different because it brings with it more direct opportunities to receive sponsorship in exchange for posts.

Matthew Crouch, a Year 1 teacher at Yanwath Primary School, in Cumbria, is one of a growing tribe of teachers who are moonlighting as influencers. Crouch’s Instagram account, @mr_c_classroom, has more than 15,000 followers, most of whom are his peers.

On his feed, you’ll find aesthetically pleasing shots of his classroom, with brightly coloured bunting, tissue-paper canopies and fairy lights. There are also product giveaways (bean bags, for example); selfies showing the outfits he wears to work; posts about gifted products, such as books; plus video tutorials on tasks such as editing slide presentations.

Crouch has been teaching for three and a half years and set up his Instagram account a year into his career. “I joined for ideas but I began posting more and more of my own content,” he says. “At the start of the first lockdown in March 2020, I had around 2,000 followers. By the time we went back to school in September, it stood at 10,000.”

This growth has led to his undertaking paid partnerships with Ryman and becoming an affiliate with companies who offer a discount to his followers when they enter a code, for which he earns a small fee.

So, how many teacher influencers like Crouch are out there? It’s hard to put an exact number on it but teaching is becoming big business on Instagram: #teacherlife now has 6.6 million posts on the platform while #teachersofinstagram has been posted 8.7 million times.

A million views

Instagram isn’t the only platform on which teachers are building their influencer brands.

Katie Tollitt is a British teacher based in Hong Kong, where she teaches seven- and eight-year-olds. She launched her YouTube channel, For Teachers, three years ago. It now has more than 28,000 subscribers, and her videos on teacher training and practice have been viewed more than 1 million times.

“I started the YouTube channel because, at the time, I was the computing lead for my school and I wondered about making video tutorials for teachers on how to use technology in the classroom,” she says.

“From there, it spiralled to producing videos on lesson ideas and classroom resources. I now have videos covering student teachers, new teachers, teaching abroad and teacher lifestyle. That’s a big one - people want to know what to wear for the first teaching jobs, they want to know what to pack in a bag. Those types of videos do really well.”

Creating the videos is not difficult, Tollitt says. She does all the filming herself, with a camera on a tripod, recording in one take before editing with iMovie and uploading it to YouTube. But are the videos a money spinner?

Tollitt is circumspect about how much she earns through her platforms. “I guess you could say it makes a tiny bit but it’s certainly not a whole other salary,” she says.

Crouch explains that earning potential is based on several factors. “It really varies depending on your engagement levels and the size of your following,” he says. “I’ve had payment in vouchers in the region of £25 to £75, I’ve had free products in return for reviews and paid partnerships can range from £50 to £250, depending on what’s required.”

Opportunity knocks

But while direct financial rewards vary, having a strong social media presence can attract opportunities that may not otherwise have come your way, Tollitt points out. For example, she is launching a journal for new teachers in collaboration with a teaching resource provider, which goes on sale in the summer. And last year, she was approached to write a book for parents called The Book You Read to Teach Your Children.

Despite the obvious opportunities, though, being an influencer is not something that every teacher would aspire to - and perhaps for good reason.

There is a downside to all the publicity. As any teacher knows, you take a risk when you post online, as everything you say and do is likely to be seen and scrutinised by students, parents and your school leadership. And there are also safeguarding and legal concerns to factor in, too.

Ultimately, any teacher should be guided on their social media use by their school’s policy but a survey for education recruitment agency Career Teachers found that 46 per cent of participants didn’t have, or didn’t know if they had, a social media policy in their schools.

“Safeguarding children is the number one issue but, aside from that, it’s up to individual schools on what their social media policy should be and teachers should always check this before posting anything,” says Debbie Coyne, an employment law solicitor working in education, at Aaron and Partners.

Posting pictures of pupil work online can be a particularly murky area, Coyne adds.

“The likelihood is that the school may have a policy they send out to parents asking them whether they agree for photos and work their children have done to be displayed.

“As a general rule, if you cannot identify the child from the work, there is usually no rule against doing that. But the school’s social media policy should address what can and cannot be put on social media.

“Schools must receive consent from parents asking that they give permission for photos of their children to be displayed on a public social media page and it would be advisable for schools to do the same in respect of written work, artwork and the like.”

As well as these concerns, potential influencers also need to consider how their online presence might be received by current or future employers. In many professions, a strong social media presence can be an advantage. But is being a teacher influencer good for your CV?

“It’s not an automatic thumbs-up; I think it all depends on the school,” says Tollitt. “I don’t go around shouting about my social media profile but, at an interview, I would definitely mention it. I think that a lot of employers are probably still wrapping their heads around social media but, ultimately, it is a bit of an online portfolio.”

Despite the pitfalls, though, Tollitt and Crouch believe that building your profile is a positive step - not just for the potential financial gains but also to help foster a sense of togetherness in the teaching world, which can only be an advantage, given the isolation the pandemic has wrought.

“I’m quite honest in my posts,” says Crouch. “If something has gone wrong, if I’m having a bad day or bad week, I’ll say it. I think it resonates with people when you show that not everything is hunky-dory and perfect.”

Tollitt agrees. “I’ve met so many like-minded teachers through Instagram, many of them in real life,” she says. “It’s a great way of engaging with other teachers with similar interests. In many ways, I see it as an exciting new way to conduct professional development that directly relates to your personal interests as a teacher.”

Christina Quaine is a freelance journalist

This article originally appeared in the 21 May 2021 issue under the headline “Tes focus on...Teacher influencers”