Teacher recruitment and retention AIBU

[WellAlwaysHaveParis]

I know this topic has been talked about so many times, but I’m genuinely interested and also getting quite worried about it, so would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

Just saw an advert online for teacher training (I’ve seen so many lately) and it’s really got me thinking.

I trained as a teacher with School Direct a couple of years ago, but left two months into the course.

For me, the reasons for leaving were the workload, the total lack of support from SLT (they claimed to be very supportive, but in practice were not supportive at all) and the lack of training and direction I had.

I felt as if my course tutors and the SLT at the school felt that teaching would come naturally to everyone on the training course, and that they just needed to encourage it out of us a little. For example, a lot of the course tutors came through Teach First, where resilience is (rightly) prioritised. They often told me to build up my resilience (fair point, but how?), rather than giving me key actions to work on and improve on.

What can we do??

Unions tried to get us to work to rule but it doesn’t work because the children ‘suffer’ - ‘it’s easier for me to do the displays’, ‘my classroom looks messy if I don’t do it’ and the unquestioning nqts who do whatever they are told regardless of whether it will work or is part of teacher duties (and more scarily, the experienced teachers who are terrified that putting their heads over the parapet will mean capability procedures are dumped on them).

Strikes are difficult because of public perception of the easy life (ha!) that teachers have.

The spin in the media about education is terrible, and of course everyone is an expert because they went to school themselves.

20 years in, it’s nothing like the same job, and not in a good way.

Thanks MissSusan. Wish I wasn’t correct though .

angular the NASUWT have been asking teachers work to rule for the last few years! In reality individuals do whatever they need to to get the job done. Removing the national pay structure has really taken teeth from the unions imo.

The problem with working to rule is the rule that says that teachers have to work the hours required to effectively discharge their duties. That leaves a lot of room for interpretation!

To add, remember how teachers have been 'given' a one percent increase in pay over the last two years (if the school decided to - somthing that was kept VERY quiet)?

None of that was funded. Schools had a choice between not paying the increase, making people redundant or making cuts elsewhere.

Sadly, the current government does't give two hoots. Education won't see any more money until it's fully privatised, and we're getting there, what with forced academisation all the way.

We can also stop letting staff go* at May half term and then waiting til September to replace them, if at all, thereby increasing workload for remaining staff. This has happened in the last four years at my place.

• possibly a euphemism

Academisation was all about breaking the teaching unions. It's worked.

I'm now in an independent school - it's sad how many experienced ex-state school teachers are now in the independent sector because the conditions are so much better. Better pay, holidays, less micromanagement. This means children in some sink schools experience further inequity as their teachers are often unqualified or inexperienced.

I teach a core subject to GCSE level and have come home totally frustrated today because:

• there is an increasing behaviour management problem as SLT refuse to support staff. So the child who threw an object at another child, smacking him in the face, has had his detention reduced by SLT as he was 'upset' as he didn't get to eat all of his lunch.
• performance management tasks. I spent around 10 hours, which might not sound like a lot but is an incredible amount of time on one project that is to be shelved because my HoD now doesn't like it.
• Shit planning of everything: year 11 mocks, followed by year 10 mocks, followed by year 9 mocks. With 'normal' marking i.e. books etc still required. 120 mock papers in the span of 2 months. With no additional time as the gained time from the mocks was used to invigilate them.

I love my job most days but today feel unutterably wearied by the lack of respect, consideration and support. I had to have a couple of days off at Christmas for tests. In the eyes of HoD and SLT, I've given up my chances of being HoD there myself as I'm clearly not dedicated enough. Because I was being tested for something dangerous. That could actually fucking kill me if left bet they wouldn't replace me even then

Your post was so sad to read, Narkle - I’m so sorry it’s heartbreaking to read.

Narkle, so much of your post rings true. I'm also about to leave a similar school, and probably teaching altogether. After ten years, I'm had enough. I love teaching and it's all I've ever wanted to do, but I can't do this to myself any more. The saddest thing is that dysfunctional leadership teams take good teachers away from kids who need them most. There are six vacancies in my department for September and there were no applications for their recent advertised vacancies - so more supply on the cards.