The prospects for a 鈥渨ell-rewarded鈥 career in teaching are 鈥済reater now than they have ever been鈥, the schools minister has claimed. Nick Gibb appeared in front of MPs on the House of Commons education committee as part of its Here鈥檚 what we learned. 1. Prospects for rewarding teaching career 鈥榥ever better鈥 During the hearing, Gibb paid tribute to the 鈥渂rilliant teaching workforce and a brilliant headteacher workforce in our country鈥, and claimed pay levels 鈥淚 think have increased significantly at all levels, but particularly I would say at senior levels in our system鈥. He said it was a 鈥済ood time to be a leader in our system because, because of the MAT system鈥 because medium and large academy trusts could 鈥渁fford to promote fairly young to head of school, because they鈥檝e got that infrastructure above them鈥. 鈥淚f you鈥檝e been a head of school you can then become an executive principal, an executive head and so on. 鈥淪o there is scope to beyond head of school now, so I think the opportunities for ambitious, able people to come into teaching have never been better. The prospects for a well-rewarded and interesting and demanding professional career I think are greater now than they have ever been.鈥 Gibb was questioned about retention rates in the sector. Record numbers of teachers left the profession last year for reasons other than retirement. Headteacher turnover rates are well up on before Covid, with a Teacher Tapp survey showing leaders experiencing burnout had doubled since 2019. 2. Conservatives have 鈥榣iberated the profession鈥 Gibb also said one of the things he鈥檚 鈥渜uite proud of鈥 since 2010 鈥渋s that we鈥檝e allowed teachers to have their own practice, which you could never do really unless you were in a private school鈥. 鈥淣ow there are over 600 free schools, most of which were set up by groups of teachers, and if you look at the top of the performance table, it鈥檚 dominated by free schools. This is what real professional autonomy is about. 鈥淲e have liberated the profession to do this. So it is an exciting time to come into teaching.鈥 3. Small schools 鈥榥ot engaged in big debates鈥 Gibb鈥檚 evidence followed that of Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman, who talked about how some schools not inspected for some time had become 鈥渁 bit detached from what the rest of the world has been learning and seeing and recognising鈥. 鈥淭he whole debate and growth in knowledge about curriculum, about pedagogy, about assessment has passed them by,鈥 she said. Gibb told MPs that 鈥渟ome schools are, particularly a small primary school, are not engaged in the big debates about education, pedagogy, curriculum. 鈥淎nd the involvement of Ofsted periodically helps them to do that. And then we have a whole raft of support that can come in, on the curriculum if that鈥檚 the issue, on behaviour if that鈥檚 the issue, on safeguarding if that鈥檚 the issue, to help that school improve.鈥 4. Wilshaw wrong on single-phrase judgments Wilshaw Last month, former Ofsted chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw told MPs the days of single-phrase judgments 鈥渁re coming to an end鈥. Asked if he agreed with Wilshaw, Gibb said: 鈥淣o. 鈥淐ertainly I think it should be kept simple and clear. And behind that one word, as I said, there are four different judgments and behind those four different judgments there鈥檚 a whole raft of evidence that鈥檚 documented by Ofsted based on evidence. 鈥淥fsted continues to look at its systems and inspection approaches, about how it can improve its processes, and that will continue. It鈥檚 continued under Amanda. And I鈥檓 sure that Sir Martyn will want to build on that.鈥 5. Wellbeing support should be 鈥榗ommonplace鈥 Gibb was quizzed about the impact of inspection on the wellbeing of headteachers, and pointed to the government鈥檚 funding of Education Support鈥檚 provision for leaders. He said that support was 鈥渋mportant鈥, adding: 鈥淚f you go into the private sector, senior leaders in the big industries鈥his is commonplace, this sort of counselling that chief executives of big major companies have. 鈥淎nd I think it鈥檚 important we have the same facilities available for the leaders of our school system. It鈥檚 a very pressured job. It鈥檚 an important job. And this counselling I think is proving very effective.鈥
Nicola Mary Jack 9 November 2023 Nick Gibb is clearly completely naive about the appeal of the teaching profession. You only have to look at the data to see that what he is saying is at odds with the reality of teachers’ response to their working life and Conditions.
Claire 10 November 2023 Another out of touch load of claptrap from those that have little if any real experience of the profession. You might want to consider who these fast trackers are going to be leading? With teachers leaving in droves, maybe that’s where you need to be looking. I’ll give you the heads up, it’s work load, under funding, lack of SEND support and the forever present Spector of OFSTED.
20 November 2023 Why is it that the people who are making decisions about our profession and casting judgements on education very seldom have spent any time in a school other than as part of their own education. His comments are so out of touch and he clearly has no real idea of what is going on in schools. It is not a good tk.e to get ahead – we lack funding from the governemt and as a result we’re having to me strategic cuts which makes the job even harder and the workload greater. Staff retention is at an all time low and only one quarter of newly trained teachers are still in the profession after 5 years. Education is in a dire situation and will be broken beyond salvation if the government do t invest in its future.
Tim Cumberland 9 November 2023 So rapid promotion to management out of the classroom is the incentive. The result will be a hierarchy of inexperienced leaders with little or no respect from those still doing the job. Ask why teachers in the classroom are leaving the profession. Ask them what can be done rather than promote inexperienced underachievers seeking kudos. Retired after 34 years in a variety of roles including SLT. Would not recommend teaching as a career.
James Little 9 November 2023 Having spent more than 30 years teaching I鈥檝e seen countless talentless bureaucrats in tight suits ascend the greasy pole at breakneck speed and been subject to their ridiculous inspirational claptrap. Once upon a time you need to get some years in before even being considered for a year leader post. But what really concerns me is this 鈥 does the wonderful Mr Gibb maintain a fan club? And where can I buy a t-shirt? He is a true education hero! What a guy!
Mark 9 November 2023 Young and inexperienced teachers becoming leadership is part of the problem. Reward classroom teachers better so they can stay in the classroom, develop their skills and give children the best education at the chalk face. Unfortunately, massive underfunfing means teachers have to churn out lesson after lesson to over packed classrooms and have virtually no time to refine lessons and resources.
Geoff 9 November 2023 Is this article an example of AI going wrong? If so, even the computers don’t understand the nonsense.
Chandler 9 November 2023 I thought this article was a parody. The whole problem is recruiting young teachers with bonus鈥 and fast track promotions. Meaningless buzz words and 鈥榮cripts鈥 replace experience and emotional intelligence. We need to keep teachers in the classroom. Teachers who still have integrity and value the vocational aspect of the profession. Education should be about the students. Not about how fast teachers can climb the ladder.
S. Turner 9 November 2023 So we can’t recruit sufficient teachers to fill the places left by experienced and young teachers who are leaving in droves. The solution is to advertise how quickly a new teacher can move out of the classroom into Leadership roles with a much larger salary, bypassing those teachers who do want to teach. Hmm.
K Adams 10 November 2023 I could not help but laugh at this article, no idea what it is like for teachers. Will be leaving the profession soon and would not recommend it fir anyone.
10 November 2023 The statistical analysis Mr Gibb refers to is simply not true. Free schools are not top of the leagues and would be even lower, if you considered that many schools are selective. Let’s have a proper informed debates rather than reductionist nonsense. The answer has never been to thrust schools into academies, for the sake of ease and just recreate Local Authorities. Trusts, by design, are not good -good trusts are good. It’s a very subtle and nuanced view that politicians can’t seem to get their heads around. Advocating rapid promotion will lead to exactly what we have now -Senior DFE policy advisors who are moving targets, shifting from role to role and never held to account.