This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/31/teacher-shortage-maths-science-pay-rise-government
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| How not to solve a teacher shortage: pay more for maths and science | How not to solve a teacher shortage: pay more for maths and science |
| (4 months later) | |
| The end of August is usually a doleful period for England’s teachers. Six weeks of rest and relaxation comes to an abrupt end. September looms and with it the maelstrom of juggling an overwhelming workload. | The end of August is usually a doleful period for England’s teachers. Six weeks of rest and relaxation comes to an abrupt end. September looms and with it the maelstrom of juggling an overwhelming workload. |
| Complaining about a beleaguered capacity to do our jobs properly while retaining a functioning private life is something teachers are known for. It’s become an occurrence so regular in its glum reiteration as to seem part of the natural cycle of news – or more accurately a fuzzy din in the background: something noted periodically but worthy only of sceptical eye rolls. | Complaining about a beleaguered capacity to do our jobs properly while retaining a functioning private life is something teachers are known for. It’s become an occurrence so regular in its glum reiteration as to seem part of the natural cycle of news – or more accurately a fuzzy din in the background: something noted periodically but worthy only of sceptical eye rolls. |
| This week it has been brought into sharper relief with news that England’s schools are facing teacher shortages. This seems an obvious enough outcome when the above is taken into consideration. We’ve seen such urgent headlines before, no doubt around this time last year, and the year before and, well, you get my point. We seem to be stuck at square one. | This week it has been brought into sharper relief with news that England’s schools are facing teacher shortages. This seems an obvious enough outcome when the above is taken into consideration. We’ve seen such urgent headlines before, no doubt around this time last year, and the year before and, well, you get my point. We seem to be stuck at square one. |
| A report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) on teacher recruitment finds that, despite pupil figures rising by 10% since 2010, teacher numbers have remained consistent, meaning pupil-to-teacher ratios have risen. Applications for teacher training have dipped by 5% and the numbers exiting teaching continues to rise, with many leaving the profession early in their careers. Just 60% of teachers continue to teach in state-funded schools five years after qualifying. For subjects like maths and physics, where the sharpest shortages are, this drops to 50%. This is a loss not only to our schools but also to those would-be educators who will miss out on work that is highly sociable and anything but boring. | A report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) on teacher recruitment finds that, despite pupil figures rising by 10% since 2010, teacher numbers have remained consistent, meaning pupil-to-teacher ratios have risen. Applications for teacher training have dipped by 5% and the numbers exiting teaching continues to rise, with many leaving the profession early in their careers. Just 60% of teachers continue to teach in state-funded schools five years after qualifying. For subjects like maths and physics, where the sharpest shortages are, this drops to 50%. This is a loss not only to our schools but also to those would-be educators who will miss out on work that is highly sociable and anything but boring. |
| Teachers, with our long holidays, are supposed to stop the moaning and sacrifice ourselves at the altar of our vocation | Teachers, with our long holidays, are supposed to stop the moaning and sacrifice ourselves at the altar of our vocation |
| A remedy tabled by EPI is simply to pay maths and physics teachers more, but this may us down a slippery slope. Teachers working in the same schools, facing the same set of challenges, getting rewarded differently – it’s an idea best left parked. Not least because it would further entrench an already pernicious approach to education which views core subjects – English, maths and science – as all that are valuable for students and, by extension, schools. Studying arts subjects such as music and drama is currently at its lowest level in a decade. | A remedy tabled by EPI is simply to pay maths and physics teachers more, but this may us down a slippery slope. Teachers working in the same schools, facing the same set of challenges, getting rewarded differently – it’s an idea best left parked. Not least because it would further entrench an already pernicious approach to education which views core subjects – English, maths and science – as all that are valuable for students and, by extension, schools. Studying arts subjects such as music and drama is currently at its lowest level in a decade. |
| It should be noted that maths teachers are already being offered a £10,000 early-career payment, to be paid in two instalments in their third and fifth year of teaching. Clearly that isn’t proving attractive enough for graduates against a backdrop of a real terms decline in teachers’ pay of 10% since 2010. | It should be noted that maths teachers are already being offered a £10,000 early-career payment, to be paid in two instalments in their third and fifth year of teaching. Clearly that isn’t proving attractive enough for graduates against a backdrop of a real terms decline in teachers’ pay of 10% since 2010. |
| The government, perhaps recognising that there is a problem other than Brexit to act upon, announced a 3.5% pay rise in July. But calling it a “teacher’s pay rise” seems an overextension of basic facts – which is characteristic of this government. This “pay rise” excludes 60% of teachers, who will, for their troubles, continue to receive a below-inflation increase – in other words, it’s a real-terms pay cut. | The government, perhaps recognising that there is a problem other than Brexit to act upon, announced a 3.5% pay rise in July. But calling it a “teacher’s pay rise” seems an overextension of basic facts – which is characteristic of this government. This “pay rise” excludes 60% of teachers, who will, for their troubles, continue to receive a below-inflation increase – in other words, it’s a real-terms pay cut. |
| It seems then that the recruitment crisis is in part the result of graduate teachers, if you’ll pardon the pun, doing the maths. The internal dialogue might no longer be about how much a teacher loves teaching their year 9 class or guiding their year 7 form group, but about whether it is wise to continue if loyalty to the profession will be rewarded with a pay cut spanning nearly 10 years. | It seems then that the recruitment crisis is in part the result of graduate teachers, if you’ll pardon the pun, doing the maths. The internal dialogue might no longer be about how much a teacher loves teaching their year 9 class or guiding their year 7 form group, but about whether it is wise to continue if loyalty to the profession will be rewarded with a pay cut spanning nearly 10 years. |
| English schools are broken. Only radical action will fix them | Melissa Benn | |
| This isn’t a problem that is about money alone, however. A prevailing government narrative has been that our schools are just not good enough, hence the need for more academies (which can do without upholding the terms and conditions that would, ironically, make the profession more attractive to graduates). Teachers, with our extended holidays, are supposed to stop the moaning about working conditions and sacrifice ourselves at the altar of our vocation. Added to this, frequent curriculum changes have ignored teachers’ input, and fostered disillusionment and cynicism, all while increasing the strain on an already overburdened workload. It helps to explain why so many can’t see themselves entering the profession much less remaining in it for the long haul. | This isn’t a problem that is about money alone, however. A prevailing government narrative has been that our schools are just not good enough, hence the need for more academies (which can do without upholding the terms and conditions that would, ironically, make the profession more attractive to graduates). Teachers, with our extended holidays, are supposed to stop the moaning about working conditions and sacrifice ourselves at the altar of our vocation. Added to this, frequent curriculum changes have ignored teachers’ input, and fostered disillusionment and cynicism, all while increasing the strain on an already overburdened workload. It helps to explain why so many can’t see themselves entering the profession much less remaining in it for the long haul. |
| None of this is anything new; it’s a crisis that has steadily stomped along, announcing its impending arrival long before its presence. The only hope is that the government will finally directly attend to the emergency rather than sustain a futile fantasy that it will simply mend itself. | None of this is anything new; it’s a crisis that has steadily stomped along, announcing its impending arrival long before its presence. The only hope is that the government will finally directly attend to the emergency rather than sustain a futile fantasy that it will simply mend itself. |
| • Lola Okolosie is an English teacher and columnist focusing on race, politics, education and feminism | • Lola Okolosie is an English teacher and columnist focusing on race, politics, education and feminism |
| Public sector pay | Public sector pay |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Teacher shortages | Teacher shortages |
| Schools | Schools |
| Teaching | Teaching |
| Public sector cuts | Public sector cuts |
| comment | comment |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |