Teacher Recruitment – We Need to Spread the Word About How Great this Job Is
Teacher applications are plummeting, so we need to do our bit to advertise this amazing profession, says The Primary Head…
When I was a deputy, I can remember sitting down with the headteacher to begin the sifting process for a teaching position that had been advertised for our school. We had over 200 applications.
Using a sophisticated system of Post-it notes, we separated the applications into three categories: ‘strong’, ‘OK’ and ‘no way’.
After a while they all blended into one massive application so we had to return to the Post-its and attach hastily scribbled summaries to jog our memories.
The one that sticks in my mind was ‘Crimewatch owl’, on account of their application containing photos of children with black bars over their eyes holding an owl.
After several hours, we managed to whittle them down to a shortlist.
Fast-forward to the present day and I’m lucky to get 20 applications. Heck, I’d settle for 10. I’d just like the opportunity to do some whittling, as opposed to being presented with a ready-made shortlist.
As the number of applicants began to dwindle, I presumed it was because we were an RI school. Then, when the school was officially ‘good’, I wondered if everyone knew about my Post-it method of selection and were not applying out of protest.
But, speaking to other headteachers, there does seem to be a lack of folk wanting to apply for teaching positions.
Recently, I hear that the numbers for teacher training courses are at some of their lowest. This is very worrying.
Maybe it’s because people know they don’t need a teaching qualification anymore. They can just rock up to the nearest school that either doesn’t want, or can’t afford, a qualified teacher and be in with a chance of getting a job.
Or maybe, and this is something I hope isn’t true, teaching just isn’t floating anyone’s boat anymore. I can’t think why. In theory it’s still a brilliant job. It’s interesting, funny, rewarding. You get to meet all sorts of people and have an influence on so many lives.
Perhaps Ofsted and SATs are to blame? You could be forgiven for thinking that these two facets of education are the single most important elements of primary education.
Odd, considering that between them they take up about six school days of the year. I mean, the Christmas production takes up more time that that! There is loads more other stuff that goes on in schools beyond SATS and Ofsted.
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And I promise you all that other stuff will linger in your memory far longer than the time someone spent 20 minutes in your classroom with a clipboard.
It could be all the noise about work-life balance that is putting people off a teaching career.
I blame all this research nonsense. In my day, you just accepted the fact that you had to mark your books.
But now, there are all these research papers out there that say marking is a total waste of time, so all the rookies out there now perceive marking to be something that goes against the UN convention and they refuse to do it.
Likewise planning, creating resources, using data, keeping your book corner tidy, attending a staff meeting for longer than 25 minutes, and missing your PPA time because of an Inset.
Or maybe it’s the fault of headteachers who allow Ofsted and SATs to dominate the school agenda and don’t actually respect the work-life balance of their teachers; those who grasp at the lowest common denominators when it comes to school improvement.
Whenever I look at social media, it’s these headteachers who bear the brunt of teachers’ scorn and, quite frankly, give the rest of us a bad name.
So how are we going to cure the teacher shortage crisis? Well, the government isn’t going to do it and neither is Ofsted. It’s going to be down to the profession itself.
We are all going to have to promote what’s good about being a teacher. And in order for that to happen, it’s down to headteachers to create happy schools where hard work is expected, valued and rewarded.
I promise to do my bit if you promise to shout from the rooftops about how amazing it is to be a teacher. And the next time I’m presented with the task of short-listing 200 applications, I’ll be sure to thank you.
The Primary Head is the headteacher of a UK primary school. Find him at theprimaryhead.com and follow him on Twitter at @theprimaryhead.
