The professional body for teachers is planning to appoint 鈥減rofessors of teaching鈥� in a bid to help 鈥渞aise the status and prestige” of the profession. The (CCT) is due to appoint its first 鈥減rofessors鈥� in 2027. Eligible teachers must have had “significant” hands-on teaching experience” and may still be in classrooms, or “focused on pedagogy”. They will be in office for three years, and the roles will be unpaid. CCT鈥檚 charter allows it to have up to five at a time. During their tenure, “professors of teaching” will be required to deliver a lecture series, either online or in person. 鈥淚t’s all designed to raise the status and prestige of the profession,鈥� CCT’s chief executive Dame Alison Peacock told Schools Week. She said the new appointees must have 鈥渁 deep knowledge of pedagogy鈥vidence of publications鈥 master鈥檚 degree, a PhD or chartered teacher status鈥�. They will be chosen by an 鈥渆minent鈥� professorial board, due to be established next year, who must 鈥渆ither be professors themselves or be fellows of the CCT鈥�. The board will then begin selecting one to two professors of teaching in 2027, followed by the same number the following year. Boost for classroom retention? Peacock says while the CCT will not provide a salary for the role, she would like to see teachers who have gained professor, or chartered teacher, status rewarded with higher pay by employers. Dame Alison Peacock “I would hope that there would be a pay scale that would accompany all of this nationally.” She hopes the professorial roles will help 鈥渄evelop and enhance that body of knowledge that is coming directly from the profession, informed by research but also informed by practice鈥�. Peacock says the role could help boost retention and keep talented teachers in classrooms, “rewarding them for their expertise, and giving them the agency and the capacity to share their knowledge”. “We do need great leaders, and we need leaders who know about teaching,” says Peacock. But she adds more “balance” is needed for teachers keen to progress their career without joining leadership. “We need people to be incentivised to remain within the classroom and be proud to say I’m a teacher, and come and see what I’m doing, and I want to share what I’m doing.” Tom Bennett, CEO of ResearchED, described the initiative as “a well intentioned scheme from good people” and said he wishes CCT “every success”, but added that status “can’t be manufactured”. “The best way to genuinely raise the prestige of being a teacher is to make sure the broader public see teaching as a professional sector, which means agreed bodies of professional skills and content, a defined ethical framework, and clearly defined milestones of professional development,” he said. “And the college is certainly also trying to wrestle with these challenges. Giving someone a medal doesn’t make you a general – being a general gets you medals.” Desire for more chartered teachers Launched in 2017, the CCT today has more than 45,000 members worldwide, according to its website. But to date just 688 teachers have gained chartered status. Peacock says she would also like to see more teachers gain the qualification, to help bring “prestige”. Peacock says the process, which involves undertaking CPD units and assessments, is “very rigorous” and “not for the faint hearted”. “Reading, listening to lectures, attending events, engaging in professional learning…working in your own classroom, working with different colleagues [helps build] a really strong repertoire for being an expert teacher,” she said. “We believe that having a cadre of those teachers across the system…is the way that we will truly raise the status of our profession, because we will have experts within our midst.” Anne Cameron, director of partnership and impact at the Teacher Development Trust (TDT) said the trust welcomes initiatives that “celebrate and raise the status of teaching as a valued profession”. “It’s great to see Chartered College providing new opportunities for us all to recognise skilled and experienced classroom practitioners,” she said, adding that quality of teaching “is the most powerful in-school factor affecting academic outcomes for children and young people”. She added: “The best way to improve the quality of teaching and learning is to offer thoughtful, needs-based CPD in a school and sector-wide climate of trust and respect for the profession,” she added.
Jess Cornish 8 August 2025 Unpaid?! And the taxpayer鈥檚 money going to these over promoted exec heads and CEOs of MATs across England and Wales that literally do very little, but drive staff from the profession! Laughable!
Ceris 9 August 2025 You lost me at “unpaid”. So you’re asking teachers to do more work for no financial incentive. I鈥檇 happily consider applying if this role came with actual recognition鈥攎eaning paid time for the extra work and a reduction in teaching contact hours to make space for it. At the moment, it just feels like yet another scheme that piles more onto teachers鈥� already overloaded plates without any real support. We are not machines, and our goodwill is not an endless resource to be tapped for free. If you truly value our expertise, then value our time and wellbeing enough to fund it properly.
Neil Peter Fazackerley 9 August 2025 Why do we not just get the AST role back? They were assessed for their teaching skills and they could easily add “needs to have an MA or PhD in teaching and learning” onto it. But at the end of the day, they need to be paid and then co-ordinated and given the time to do their jobs with other schools and teachers in the region.