Government should talk more about the “magic” of the teaching profession to attract more people to the field.
According to the Education and Training Foundation chief executive David Russell who continued by adding that talking less about funding routes and structures when discussing further education (FE) workforce would go a long way in helping potential teachers in the field make a decision.
Russell made the remarks at an FE week webcast on the skills for jobs white paper, where he emphasized the fifth chapter, which focused on supporting outstanding teachers. The white paper talked about a nationwide recruitment campaign of teachers with employer-led standards as part of education.
Teaching profession recruitment
The plan would also involve a quick integration of industry experts into the classroom, where they would be assigned teaching roles. In contrast, lecturers would be tasked with maintaining up-to-date knowledge of the sector.
Russel also suggested that to make the FE teaching profession attractive, its status and prestige needed to be improved. He suggested improving recruitment into the profession as a fast way to meet this objective.
Two main strategies were also put forward, where Russel suggested that the government make an effort to talk more about the profession. He continued by implying that talking more about the magic of teaching young people and adults and showing them possibilities of what lay ahead would be a huge motivating factor to many people looking for a career change.
He also suggested that undergraduate students should be involved early and taught about the prestige of FE teaching.
Two programs that have had success in FE teachers recruitment are the Talent to Teach in FE program and Taking Teaching Further, which Russel agreed programs had been really effective in bringing industry experts to the profession.
Russel also indicated that such programs had helped fill hard-to-fill positions and had also helped with professional networks, which he believes are key to recruitment and retention.
