England is running out of teachers

[noblegiraffe]

Or, to be clear, people who are willing to teach in schools. It has plenty of ex teachers who have vowed never to set foot in a school again.

While everyone seems to understand that you can't expect to see a doctor or dentist anymore, the message about not being able to expect your child to have a teacher anymore doesn't seem to have filtered through in the same way.

The number of cover lessons that kids are having is going through the roof. Some people think that if a kid has an adult in front of them then they are learning something, where kids know if they have a 'supply' timetabled that afternoon they are in for a doss lesson. Some people think that if a kid has a teacher for their subject that the teacher actually knows the subject being taught, which is increasingly not the case. Some people think that if lessons are being planned for those teachers and the teacher just has to 'deliver' them then that will be good enough, which is often not the case.

Exam classes at least used to be protected and given the 'good teachers', which is increasingly no longer the case, with Y11s reporting that they have a variety of supply teachers, even in core subjects.

There was a thread recently where an A-level student hadn't had a teacher for a year, wondering why the school hadn't done anything about it. We cannot magic up teachers! A-level students at my school are increasingly in the position of not having a teacher and having to teach themselves, and schools are now encouraged to put 'no teacher' on UCAS applications as relevant information for universities.

Recent threads about suggesting teachers need to be paid more to boost recruitment, or given a day off a fortnight to boost recruitment have attracted replies about teachers thinking they are special, or lazy, paid well enough already and having enough time off already.

But the education system is in crisis and something needs to drastically change as it's only getting worse.

The DfE's solution is to hire from abroad, at a time when the rest of government is seeking to reduce immigration.
https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/dfe-mulls-boost-international-recruitment

Before anyone asks, "If it's so awful, why have you gone back?" I'll answer here.

I was widowed during lockdown. I have no family. I had a complete breakdown when I lost my husband.

Awful though the classroom environment now is, going to work a couple of days a week gives me a reason to get out of bed.

Not much of a recruitment slogan, eh? Nothing to live for? Try teaching!

This and the previous post are so sad and appalling in equal measure! I’m sorry you went through that.

My experience pales in comparison but adds to the worrying suggestions of how common things like this are. A boy threw something on purpose, directly at my 8 month pregnant stomach. This was in a good/outstanding school (always flipped between the two). He had no consequences; he didn’t even have to apologise. That was the day I decided to leave teaching. I don’t want to be a part of an institution that not only teaches that person that this type of behaviour has no consequences but also shows the other 35 other young people in the room at the same time that this kind of behaviour is fine.

I'm not a teacher in school, I’m a lecturer, about to take early retirement because our job has changed to the point I don’t want to do it any more (and am lucky enough to be able to make the choice not to). The levels of form-filling compliance, meetings about compliance and meetings discussing fucking lanyards are insane. Also I am now doing jobs that used to be done by librarians, specialist administrative support, IT etc. Almost every service we have is contracted out to agencies. Whoever ‘replaces’ me will not get the full-time permanent contract I am on. The problems you are all describing in schools are making their way into HE and I can see more coming down the tracks. Students are so often disengaged and directionless – daily someone is trumpeting a new ‘student-centred’ policy, yet the more students are consulted about what they should be doing at university – please, tell us what you need – the more unhappy they get. Half my classes have special learning arrangements, student retention is shot.

Fascinating that some posters think online teaching will solve anything. I’m glad the ‘pivot’ to online teaching happened in the pandemic because we were all being lined up for the ‘universities of the future’ and big tech investment in online learning platforms had seduced upper management - so we did have the fancy tech. And the students hated it, so did the staff. My department was allowed to keep teaching face to face and the students were so grateful, they were desperate for human contact. The ‘special arrangements’ that had to be made to pass students unable to concentrate or learn in virtual reality were … inventive. And speaking of technology, I’m anticipating up to 10% of assessments in my next marking batch to be AI generated.

My Dad was a school teacher from mid 1950s – late 1980s, he retired early and many of his colleagues retired sick. During his career the biggest change was the introduction of comprehensives – his ed authority one of the first to go comp – which he thought was the cause of many problems, not because of the principle, which he was in favour of, but because his ed authority, and doubtless many more, took the opportunity to amalgamate many, many smaller friendly secondary schools into huge super-schools of a size not seen before in the UK. He always said they created schools too big for everyone to know each other and for students to be in a proper disciplinary structure. The ed authority also refused to subject-stream - for ideological reasons which then became cheapness reasons. The other things he was scathing about was the introduction of the compliance superstructure and the new layers of management posts which leapfrogged the ‘chalk face’ staff, and the new strategies, missions and po-faced pedagogical workshopping wibble that developed.

But at least when Dad was a teacher and I was at school, kids with learning disabilities could go to later-stigmatised ‘special’ schools, like the one across the road from our own school, with small classes and specialised teachers. The kids still played with us but I can remember the growing demands for SEN kids not to be ‘excluded’ from mainstream schools, another opportunity for authorities to save money. And kids’ behaviour could be controlled better because we knew our parents would generally support the teachers if we’d been disciplined (not hitting, we were never hit).

I was going to ask if teaching is now female-dominated – apparently so from replies here. Academic staff in the area I teach in are predominantly female, but all the most senior positions are taken by men (who are – apparently – all just lovely and female-friendly and bonus points for being gay or distributing leaflets about the menopause), and I get frustrated by the women’s willingness to over-work because somehow they have to save everyone and not get paid for it, a kind of good-girl martyrdom – the men never do this. I just wonder how much of the lack of respect for teachers and the getting away with over-working them for fewer rewards is partly a reflection of how women are valued and value themselves?

I'm glad you got out. It's horrendous. People don't know what's happening because management downplay everything and police can't (in some cases won't) deal with a child.

@NorthernBogbean I think that only part of it is to do with the profession being female dominated. I've said in an earlier post that I'm aware of young male teachers being harassed by pupils at work.

Mind you, a former colleague left teaching (in Scotland), but later returned to supply in London. He told me that he reckoned that male teachers had an easier time of it than women.

I'm not pitching the two against each other, please don't feel like I'm criticising the herculean efforts of colleagues in secondary schools who, in so many ways, have an even tougher job meeting SEN than us primary colleagues. You are set up to fail.

My beef is with the fact that inclusion is not 'built-in' to the system once children leave primary school. I see leaders and SEND teams cornered into exclusionary practice as there is no place for students who fall outside what is, by design, a very narrow expectation of attainment.

The problem is, there are no other places to go for quite a large group of learners disenfranchised by the current secondary school system, categorised in the main by SEN such as dyslexia, adhd, dyscalculia or autism, for instance. There are no nice alternative provision or specialist places ready and waiting for quiet girls with inattentive ADHD who just can't process information at the required pace, or shy autistic boys who find the environment overwhelming, (but who still benefit from other aspects of the school environment and being part of their local learning community). So they're stuck in schools which are not equipped to support them.

This isn't teachers' fault at all. It's not teachers who are failing. It is a system which is not geared up to inclusion. It can't be fixed the way things are. But in order to get even close to solving the problem of thousands of young people missing months and years of their secondary school education, many of whom have SEN, we need to build secondary schools that are fit for purpose, where young people feel a sense of belonging because their needs can be met, whether through SEN hubs or resource centres or other means.

Until we see political will to support SEN provision, secondary school colleagues are fighting a losing battle, and losing hard. But please remember, the 'enemy' is not SEN learners or their parents, but our government which cynically allows thousands of children to fall through the cracks while stubbornly withholding resources and any kind of vision for a truly inclusive secondary education.

Screw Income Tax. We need Land Value Tax.

@Smilingbutdying OU also run summer schools at brick-and-mortar universities to teach the parts of the course that can't be taught online.

@WearyAuldWumman I can imagine younger men actually teaching, rather than managing, could come in for disrespect - my experience though is that men do get an easier ride from students, I sometimes get attempted pushback from male students for not being a nice mummy, and this isn't school (IDGAF but it's there).

And another things is students coming into our university don't read, can't read anything long. Attention spans are poor and the knowledge they like is superficial - I absolutely think ever-present personal screens are changing them and all our lives - technology is a good servant and a bad master.

I'm sure it has been mentioned, but a big issue with using money to attract people into teaching is that it will attract people who want the money, rather than people who want to teach. I see it in nursing (and medicine) all the time. People qualify as nurses, who have no interest in nursing, who just want to progress up the bands as fast as possible into a £senior£ position. But to do that, they have to work with patients (initially). As someone who does care, it's awful and harmful to see how little these other people actually care. It would be the same in teaching. You'll get more teachers, sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean children will get a better education.

@NorthernBogbean

Great post

It was an unprofessional moanfest directed at a parent who had messaged regarding their childs use of hearing aids in their noisy classroom and the child requiring some additional support with a speaking/listening exercise that was being done in said noisy classroom.

Wrong time and platform to complain.

Which is why i asked, if this attitude and general disdain for a career and position they chose carries over into the classroom, infront of these children, thats not going to inspire children to aspire to chose that career for themselves in the future.

Because teaching eager adults is different to teaching (mainly) reluctant teenagers.

Yes it does. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_policing

If these kids aren't disabled, how would the Equality Act prevent you from turning away a child with poor toilet training?

I have no idea what a fronted adverbial is and yet I have a STEM degree and a job that uses it.

Why is this guff on the curriculum?

I guess the question is why anyone wants to actually be a teacher? There are plenty of people who like the feeling of having influence (see tik tok, you tube etc) but very few who want to provide good quality teaching.

Also, there is the issue about professions not being for life. I was in a healthcare profession for 12 years. It took a while to get up to the standard, but once at the top of the tree it plateaued quickly- I can imagine teaching to the standardised curriculum and testing is pretty much the same.

As well as the very clear discipline issues, education is seen as a chore rather than a privilege like it used to be. And (as a millennial) we were brought up to strive to be special rather than a contributing member of society.

And then there are changes in technology and how you will always have to compete with the seretonin burst of social media.

Its tough!

But your argument is only that teachers should be paid more.

The bigger issue is that a huge number of teachers only go into teaching for the holidays and because it suits family life. It is said on these threads over and over again. Then when it gets tough, they go on stress leave or move or spend their days threatening to leave.

The Gov. need to attract people who want to teach, who enjoy it and are good at it.

If that means getting people from abroad, so be it.

We all have opinions on 'foreigners' not being good enough, not having fluent enough English, having a different culture but they are very very good for the country and the economy.

A member of my family has lived abroad for many years teaching in a school where English is not the first language. She loves the holidays but finds teaching dull. I've seen her planning her classes and she does seem to put effort into it. The draw is it was easy work to pick up and it enables her to work in the country she chose to live in. Other nationalities could come here, do a conversion course or similar and do the same.

The UK needs teachers and people want to move to the UK.

I actually read this PP’s initial comment and thought “Good for you” (non-sarcastic version) - I also loved it until I worked my way up. Respectfully, but I think the difference in attitude you’ll see on threads like this will be down to whether or not one teaches in a school with great systems in place; leaders who “get it” and remember what it was like teaching a full timetable and so avoid the bureaucracy and focus on what matters; a resourced curriculum; pupils who actually want to learn whether that’s because their parents are paying good money for it, or their school has, again, good behaviour systems, or because they’re simply that way in some schools.

In my role I’ve worked in many schools and these schools are very few and far between. They are increasingly becoming the school equivalent of having a baby who sleeps 7 - 7 every night. Working in a better school like this makes the holidays and pension absolutely worth it. The problem is that many schools are dysfunctional. I worked in one like this and left on a salary of 80k. My head tried persuading me to retract my notice and I said I wouldn’t stay if she paid me triple my salary. Or if I could have retired ten years earlier. I meant it then and even now looking back I can hand on heart say it wasn’t a flippant remark.

I do agree though that other jobs have their own challenges just as much as teaching, yet are without the holidays and pension. Mind you, I do still believe that as teachers we simply do a year’s worth of work (and then some!) in nine months. And on the pension, let’s just say I hope to say me as teaching in (tough inner city, for the most part) schools has definitely aged me.

Nonetheless, it can be an incredible job - in the right school, as I said. But I still don’t want my DC following in my footsteps.

I hope to see it** I meant to say about my pension.

@noblegiraffe part of the teacher shortage, in secondary in particular,is the birth rate boom.

In 2012 there were 812,790 births in the UK.

In 2020,there were only 681,560. Its a 17% drop. The falling birthrate will mean we can eventually manage with less teachers, even if we change nothing, and that's why the government aren't panicking yet. They probably do not actually want to pay to recruit teachers they may not need in a decade.

There were plenty of parents in my primary school who suddenly turned out to be keyworkers......HT didn't ask for proof. Children in key worker classes even complained about being in school as their parents were at home....

This!

And complete lack of respect for teachers and all school staff that they seem to have picked up from their parents.

@Icehockeyflowers

A member of my family has lived abroad for many years teaching in a school where English is not the first language. She loves the holidays but finds teaching dull. I've seen her planning her classes and she does seem to put effort into it. The draw is it was easy work to pick up and it enables her to work in the country she chose to live in. Other nationalities could come here, do a conversion course or similar and do the same.

I don’t understand. How will teachers from abroad fare any better? Especially ones who finds teaching “dull”.
Again Its not the teaching that’s the problem. Teachers don’t leave because they don’t like teaching. They leave because the minutiae of detail in pointless tasks wears them down. They leave because nothing is good enough, because parents and pupils are rude and disrespectful. They leave because the job is too pressured and stressful.
Why will someone from France or the Middle East or Latvia do any better? Especially if they come from a school system that works better.

Agree with every word of this. Lack of discipline, and parents encouraging children's disruptive (and sometimes downright appalling behaviour) by refusing to accept that their child would do anything (or if they have to, not wanting their child to be disciplined because detentions etc impact on them) has led to no consequences for bad behaviour. This in turn encourages the "bad" elements in any class to do what they like to the detriment of everybody.

Even apparently minor things (like infringements against school uniform etc) DO impact behaviour - there are studies confirming this, so all of those parents claiming :It makes no difference to my child's education if she has greed har" and similar are wrong. It psychologically destroys discipline from the bottom up.

Ironically, parents often want their children to get into schools with good disciplinary records, because the are the same schools which have good exam results and fewer bullying problems. (Church schools, for instance, are often very popular). They then don't want to have to make their children obey the rules - the very rules which are helping children to learn. and keeping them safe.