Generally, over the past decade the number of qualified teachers in schools has not kept pace with increasing pupil numbers. It’s all over the news, we’ve all seen it - and unfortunately it’s a driver for regular teacher’s strikes.
In terms of facts and figures it’s easy to see where the issues lie, the pupil to teacher ratio has increased from 17.6 in November 2010 to 18.5 in 2021. Meanwhile, the teacher vacancy rate has risen over this period with the number of full and part time teacher vacancies in November 2021 (2021/22) increasing to 1,600 in 2021/22 following small decreases in the previous two years.
A recent large-scale survey of teachers and school leaders by the OECD found:
- Full-time lower secondary teachers in England reported working, on average, 49.3 hours a week, 10 more than the average employee in the private sector.
- Full-time primary teachers in England reported working 52.1 hours a week. This was more than in any other participating country except Japan.
- 53% of primary teachers and 57% of lower-secondary school teachers felt that their workload was unmanageable.
Post pandemic, there is a far greater demand within the UK’s workforce to pursue a greater work life/balance. Similarly to the private sector, schools and multi-academy trusts are now encouraged to adopt a flexible working policy to accommodate the needs of staff, and to address the challenges to flexible working in their school. Although, unlike the private sector, schools often don’t possess the resources or the knowhow to facilitate blended working and learning.
That being said, many schools are now scrambling to get a grip on blended learning by providing a more attractive offering for their potential candidates. So, what can you do to improve teacher retention?
Improve teacher retention by:
Offering opportunities for Professional development
Provide online professional development resources and training opportunities to help teachers improve their skills, feel more supported and progress in their career as an educator. Doing so will ultimately improve the results of your school as teachers upskill, but also make teachers feel valued – and more likely to stay.
Encourage collaboration and communication
Using communication and collaboration tools like Microsoft teams allows for communication between teachers and pupils. Technology such as this lets schools implement blended learning policies that will give teachers the opportunity to improve their work and home life balance, whilst empower teaching staff to teach and pupils to learn from anywhere.
Eliminating repetitive tasks
Implementing automated tools such as PowerBi that can automate repetitive labour-intensive administrative tasks, such as marking and attendance tracking allows teachers to focus on what’s important - teaching!
Implementing a tailored approach to teaching
Every student has their own way of learning, and each responds best to a tailored approach. Technology can provide teachers with the tools and resources they need to enable personalised learning. Learning management systems and adaptive assessment tools can additionally help them meet student needs, improve their own fulfilment and ultimately create a reduced workload and happier classroom.
Make learning fun
Interactive Screens are a great way to engage students and make learning more interactive and dynamic. If the students are happy, then teachers are too. This will keep teachers motivated and fulfilled in their roles whilst also helping them better meet the needs of the modern, digitally literate student and pupil.
Clearly the teacher retention problem is not going away, and there isn’t a one size fits all approach to solving the issue. Technology can provide teachers with the support they need to grow professionally, reduce their workload and meet the needs of each student whilst making learning more interactive and dynamic. By embracing technology, schools can make steps towards creating a supportive and dynamic learning environment that attracts and retains highly qualified and motivated teachers.
To find out how Sharp can support your schools Digital Transformation journey - Get in touch
