How do you think retention crisis can be solved?
Teacher recruitment and retention in England has been a problem for the past few years, especially in the secondary sector and in certain parts of the country. How can we solve the problem if even the Department for Education doesn’t understand it?
What the DfE doesn’t know
In January 2018, the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons, published a report about retaining and developing the teaching workforce in England.
The report found that “The Department has failed to get a grip on teacher retention… The Department does not understand why more teachers are leaving the profession, and does not have a coherent plan to tackle teacher retention and development. It has a range of relatively small-scale initiatives but has not communicated these adequately to schools.”
The report then went on to explain that there were particular difficulties recruiting in certain areas of the country. In previous years “the highest proportions of secondary schools reporting at least one vacancy were in outer London and the South East.”
What you know
The DfE may not know how to tackle teacher retention and development but we think that Teacher Toolkit readers do!
I am currently conducting some research as a senior associate at policy and education think tank LKMCo. The Greater London Authority has commissioned LKMco to undertake a project to find out what is needed to ensure that London’s schools can attract and retain great teachers.
I am therefore looking for teachers working in London (or those who used to work in London) to take a few minutes to complete this survey. The closing date is 13th February 2018, so I would really appreciate it if you could fill it in before then!
The more responses received, the better our research will be. So please share the survey with your networks, including any friends you have who are teachers, were teachers, have considered teaching or who are currently in school leadership. We would also encourage you to share the survey on social media.
What do you think will help London attract and retain great teachers? Be part of the research to let LKMco and the Greater London Authority know and leave any comments below.
