As the year comes to an end, we are writing with an update from the Research and Policy department. This list is not exhaustive but it exemplifies how we aim to represent the profession in research and policy circles. The goal of the department is to help close the gap between research, policy and practice and we have been busy working towards that goal through submissions to government consultations, presentations at national and international conferences and our own research work. Thank you to everyone who has made this work possible by answering surveys and attending various focus groups, whether it was recently or some time ago.
At the heart of everything we do sits our working definition of Teacher Professionalism, which we published in spring this year and which highlights the importance of valuing teachers’ expertise when developing government policies. We challenged the new government to put teacher professionalism at the heart of their education thinking, and in particular their plans to recruit and retain teachers, as this is key to improving opportunities and outcomes for children and young people. And we were delighted to contribute your views and expertise to national and international government thinking this past term.
Curriculum and Assessment – Call for Evidence
In November, the government invited stakeholders to contribute their views on changes to the curriculum and assessment systems. In addition to encouraging members to submit their own responses, we felt that it was important to submit evidence as an organisation. We felt that putting your voice at the heart of our response was key and so we built our contribution around a combination of:
• Existing data from past (research) projects
• New data collected through focus groups (2 primary, 2 secondary, 2 FE, 1 SEND, 1 Disadvantage & Inclusion)
• A collection of Impact articles showcasing how different approaches to curriculum planning and assessment approaches are currently being implemented in schools
One aspect that focus group participants largely agreed on was that the focus on knowledge has generally benefited students although with the important caveats that:
• Students need to learn how to apply any knowledge they’re acquiring in order for learning to be meaningful
• Written exams may not always be the best way to test students’ knowledge and alternative assessment approaches, including oral exams, need to be explored in order to create a fairer, more inclusive system
• The focus on reading in primary school has been positive but could be improved across key stages
• The focus on reading in primary school has been positive but could be improved across key stages
• Transitions between key stages need to be improved in order to avoid gaps, unnecessary repetitions or, at worst, contradictions
• There is too much curriculum content in many subjects, e.g. science
• Curriculum content is outdated in a lot of subjects, e.g. computer science
• Curriculum content is not engaging and not representative of a diverse student body in some subjects, e.g. in English
• Knowledge needs to be appropriately sequenced across all key stages with ample opportunity for revision, interleaving and retrieval
• 16-19 provision tends to be very effective in preparing students for employment via close relationships with local employers but less effective in providing students with broad and balanced curricula beyond preparation for employment
• The sector’s understanding of the purpose of assessments needs to improve to avoid a narrowing of the curriculum based on assessments
• Flexibility for teachers to adapt the curriculum for their students and contexts is paramount.
We also asked you what you were most excited and concerned about in terms of curriculum reform.
The three areas you were most excited about were:
• A stronger focus on knowledge and skills for life
• A stronger focus on creativity
• An improved way of recognising progress for all students
However, you also voiced concerns about a number of things, including:
• Increased teacher workload
• Crowded curricula
• A focus on ideology over evidence
We also shared these as part of our response.
Impact Collection
We submitted the following collections of Impact articles as part of additional evidence in an attempt to showcase some of the great work that is already going on in schools around the country and to further emphasise the diverse views of our members.
National Audit Office – Call for Evidence on Teacher Recruitment and Retention
A week after the Curriculum Review closed, we submitted evidence to the National Audit Office’s investigation into teacher recruitment and retention. The survey asked respondents to rate the government’s efforts to address teacher shortages and we focused in particular on the need to improve the status of the teaching profession alongside efforts to reduce teacher workload, increase pay, improve flexibility and reform the accountability system.
We used data from our pre-election survey, evidence from our Fellow roundtable on recruitment and retention, our joint project with colleagues from Sheffield Hallam University and the EPI on specific career needs of mid-career teachers, and responses to our joint project with Education Support on teacher wellbeing, in addition to evidence from other organisations such as the NFER as a basis for our response.
Ofsted
Earlier in the year, we responded to Ofsted’s Big Listen, calling on the new Chief Inspector to make sure that any changes are underpinned by a focus on developing and sustaining teacher professionalism. Our poll of 2,000 members showed us the strength of feeling about the need for change at Ofsted, and the need for an accountability system that encourages deep conversation, constructive feedback and shared learning.
Fellow roundtables
Fellow roundtables provide Fellows with an opportunity to meet with policymakers to discuss current issues. We held a roundtable at the House of Lords in April on the topic of Professionalism and Ethical Leadership with Baroness Estelle Morris at which we launched our Professionalism report, a roundtable with DfE on recruitment and retention and a conversation with Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector. We also held an online Fellow roundtable with Patrick Carey from DfE on Special Educational Needs and are holding another one in January on community engagement.
Offsite PPA – a joint EEF-funded research project with colleagues from UCL IoE
Together with Prof Becky Taylor and Dr Sal Riordan from UCL IoE, we are currently exploring the perceived impact on teacher retention when schools offer planning, preparation, and assessment (PPA) time to be taken offsite rather than on school premises. Many of you will have seen our poll which was open earlier this term and which explored the prevalence of offsite PPA in schools as well as the feasibility of a trial exploring the impact of such a strategy on teachers’ job satisfaction. Thank you to everyone who responded to it. The poll is now closed and we are moving on to the second part of the scoping phase in which we will invite teachers, headteachers and MAT leaders to share their views and experiences with offsite PPA time in interviews and focus groups. Please keep an eye out for an invitation in the new year. The results from this project will allow us to advise government on flexible working approaches and develop guidelines for schools.
Speaking engagements
The team has been invited to a number of national and international events to share our work on teacher professionalism and its links to teacher recruitment and retention. Some highlights include:
• The Global Alliance of the Science of Learning for Education annual meeting at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (Dr Lisa-Maria Müller)
• The Westminster Education forum policy conference on teacher recruitment and retention (Dr Victoria Cook)
• An international meeting in Salzburg to discuss teacher shortages (Prof Dame Alison Peacock)
• WomenEd Northern Ireland (Prof Dame Alison Peacock)
• REND dinner (Prof Dame Alison Peacock)
• Teaching School Hub Council (Dr Cat Scutt)
Looking forward to 2025
We look forward to continuing our research and policy work next year. In particular, we plan to respond to the next phase of the curriculum review, which we expect for spring 2025, look forward to our Annual Lecture on the important topic of AI in Education, continue our Fellow roundtables and are very excited to start work on a recently secured project which aims to increase diversity in initial teacher training as well as the continuation of our EEF-funded project on offsite PPA.
Thank you again to everyone who has engaged with our research and policy work over the past year and we look forward to hearing from you in the New Year!