FEATURE: RECRUITMENT
Four top tips for nurturing and supporting teachers during a recruitment and retention crisis
While there is no overnight solution, this growing issue has inspired my team at Mowbray Education Trust to rethink our approach to recruiting, nurturing and rewarding teacher talent. Now more than ever, it is vital that we provide the best possible professional development and wellbeing provision for teachers to help entice teachers into the profession and boost their job satisfaction so they stay within education.
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t’s widely acknowledged that recruitment in education is going through a difficult period. In our final feature this month Anna Butler, Executive Lead for People and Development at Mowbray Education Trust, explains how rethinking your approach to recruiting, nurturing and rewarding teacher talent might be the answer.
Teacher recruitment and retention continue to present challenges for schools across the country. Staff shortages, especially in key curriculum areas, are seeing an increasing number of pupils being taught by non-subject specialists. This is creating added pressure for schools and their teachers and impacting pupils’ education.
At Mowbray, our ethos is centred around a shared agreement that children come first in every decision to ensure all policies and projects are focused on benefiting pupils. Since teachers are the most crucial point of contact for our pupils, it is vital that we recruit first-class teachers and ensures they are supported to be their best selves in the classroom. This ultimately enhances pupil outcomes and contributes towards a positive and ambitious culture within the Trust. Here are my top tips for how to recruit, nurture and reward teacher talent to create meaningful impacts for staff and pupils.
• Build a holistic framework for teacher talent
The most valuable aspect we considered whilst building our framework was the why: why is it so important to foster and retain teaching talent? Research clearly points to high-quality teaching as the factor that has the biggest impact on student outcomes. Our vision is to deliver a first-class education for every pupil attending our schools;
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therefore, we strive for first-class teaching in every classroom. Critical evaluation has helped us determine our objectives, measures for success and develop strategies to improve the quality of teachers’ professional opportunities. Happy and well-supported teachers lead to better outcomes for pupils and teachers themselves. If a teacher is exhausted or unhappy, it may lead to a build-up of unresolved issues. While our educators work hard to ensure any personal or professional issues do not manifest in the classroom, the added stress is a burden we do not wish for them to bear. Our job as a Trust is to support teachers’ wellbeing and help them tackle any issues that may arise. Equally, ensuring that classrooms are inclusive, safe and inspiring environments can help decrease the stress teachers may face.
In my experience, burnout is one of the biggest factors impacting teacher retention. Prevention and establishing a supportive and caring environment are key to helping teachers achieve a positive work-life balance, a quality which translates positively into the classroom. We, therefore, sought to make workload management a key element of our approach to nurturing teachers.
Additionally, a clear pathway for career progression can help keep teachers motivated and engaged in their profession. Offering plenty of opportunities for staff to hone skills, build expertise and explore areas of interest can reduce stagnation and improve satisfaction. At
March 2023
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