The multi-contributor book Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Career Progression: A Guide for School Leaders is now available. We are delighted to share this thoughtful review from Dr Robin Bevan FCCT, former Headteacher/CEO, NEU National President (2020-21), Teaching Commission board member.
Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Career Progression: Book review
by Dr Robin Bevan
An important and timely book: school leaders – with operational and strategic roles – would do well to immerse themselves in this insightful publication.
The reality and consequences of disrupted teacher supply and declining rates of teacher retention provide the critical backdrop for the varied, yet well-balanced, chapters. The authors are clear that these issues warrant acknowledgement and understanding, but also recognise that short-term managerial responses can unwittingly magnify the astonishing professional exodus. It matters to respond in an intelligent and informed way.
The text illuminates multiple aspects of suitably enduring responses to the recruitment and retention crisis. There is strong analysis underpinning the call to create the circumstances in which all teachers might thrive. This is, undoubtedly, about school culture and policies. It is also about recognising that the barriers to overcoming teacher recruitment and retention challenges are not universal: for example, the workforce can readily be strengthened with specific tailored attention to those currently under-represented in classrooms and in leadership roles.
Above all, there is an authentic and research-informed call for sustained investment into a mature teacher professionalism – so those who start as teachers, stay and prosper. The dimensions and catalysts that advance such professionalism vary from the novice to the expert and to the long-serving teacher: school environments and communities must provide for the breadth of those needs.
At a national level, education policy has not helped mitigate a profoundly unfavourable context for teacher supply. However well-intentioned, policy changes – whether Initial Teaching Training, curriculum, assessment or accountability – frequently serve to divert professional development and leadership focus from the key importance of cultivating a stable and enduring expert workforce. The fragmentation of school organisation is a barrier too, as self-interested ring-fenced providers do not always advance system-wide constructive collaboration.
It is right to look to the government in the hope of a renewed emphasis and investment on teacher professionalism. It would be a mistake to remain idle whilst waiting! School leaders would do well to recognise their role in facilitating immediate and necessary change. This book provides ample practical suggestions, deliverable at school-level, which can be readily adapted or adopted.
The potential impact warrants the time to read and reflect, to pursue the further reading, to implement some of the suggested ways forward: if every school in the country retained just one experienced teacher, the national depletion of expertise would be halved!
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Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Career Progression: A Guide for School Leaders is available now and members receive 30% off through the discount on MyCollege.