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More Good Teachers cover HDS.qxp:Layout 1 24/7/08 16:54 Page 1 As Tony Blair’s former education advisor Sir Michael Barber has noted “The quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers”. This is unquestionably true – countries in which teaching is a high-status profession such as Finland or South Korea regularly top international league tables of pupil performance. In this country we have many excellent teachers More but because other careers have higher status not enough of our best graduates join the profession and it is hard to attract older Good people from other jobs. Moreover we remain poor at developing Teach teachers and rewarding those who are successful. ers More In this report we ask two questions: how can we get more talented people into teaching and how can we develop and reward good teaching? The answers are interlinked. For a start Good Teachers we need to accept that teaching need no longer be a career for life; that highly able people can add a huge amount to a school in just a few years. As the government-sponsored Teach First programme has shown good people will be attracted by a short- term commitment that allows them to earn while learning on the Sam job. An expansion of employment-based routes into teaching of this kind would have an additional benefit: the schools involved Fre edman, would become centres of training. Existing staff would gain from mentoring new teachers and new teachers would learn from Briar colleagues they respect. Over time a virtuous circle of professional development could be established. Lipso n Pay is also, of course, hugely important in attracting the best and people to teaching. However, any realistic across-the-board pay David rise would not be enough to make much of a difference. Instead H the best new recruits should be fast-tracked into high-paying argreaves leadership and advanced teacher positions. At the same time schools in disadvantaged areas should be given extra funds – and the opportunity to develop their own pay models – so that Sam Freedman, Briar Lipson they can compete for the best teachers. and David Hargreaves Previously policymakers have divided teachers’ careers into a series of independent sub-units – recruitment, initial training, continuous professional development, leadership and so on. We have taken an integrated approach, arguing that changing the way we think about training throughout a teacher’s career will lead to a more flexible and dynamic model of professionalism. £10.00 ISBN: 978-1-906097-30-1 Policy Policy Exchange Clutha House 10 Storey’s Gate Ex cha London SW1P 3AY nge www.policyexchange.org.uk More Good Teachers Sam Freedman, Briar Lipson and Professor David Hargreaves Policy Exchange is an independent think tank whose mission is to develop and promote new policy ideas which will foster a free society based on strong communities, personal freedom, limited government, national self-confidence and an enterprise culture. Registered charity no: 1096300. Policy Exchange is committed to an evidence-based approach to policy development. We work in partnership with aca- demics and other experts and commission major studies involving thorough empirical research of alternative policy out- comes. We believe that the policy experience of other countries offers important lessons for government in the UK. We also believe that government has much to learn from business and the voluntary sector. Trustees Charles Moore (Chairman of the Board), Theodore Agnew, Richard Briance, Camilla Cavendish, Richard Ehrman, Robin Edwards, George Robinson, Tim Steel, Alice Thomson, Rachel Whetstone. About the authors Sam Freedman is the Head of the transport”. After graduating with an MA in Education Unit, Policy Exchange. He Economics from the University of Edin- achieved a first class degree in History burgh, she worked as a Parliamentary from Magdalen College, Oxford. After Researcher for Grant Shapps MP.She is now completing a Masters degree in International training to be a Maths teacher. History in 2004, Sam joined the Indepen- dent Schools Council as a researcher. He left Professor David H Hargreaves is an three years later as Head of Research, hav- emeritus fellow of Wolfson College, ing also completed a second Masters Cambridge and associate director of devel- degree in Public Policy and Management opment and research at the Specialist at Birkbeck. Sam joined Policy Exchange Schools and Academies Trust. He has in September 2007. been Professor of Education at Cambridge, chief executive of the Briar Lipson is a Research Fellow at Policy Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Exchange. Prior to joining the education unit (QCA) and chairman of the British she worked on Economic Competitiveness, Educational Communications and Tech- co-authoring the report “Towards better nologies Agency (Becta). © Policy Exchange 2008 Published by Policy Exchange, Clutha House, 10 Storey’s Gate, London SW1P 3AY www.policyexchange.org.uk ISBN: 978-1-906097-30-1 Printed by Heron, Dawson and Sawyer Designed by John Schwartz, [email protected] Printed on recycled paper 2 Contents Acknowledgements 4 Foreword by Ryan Robson 5 Executive Summary 6 1 Why aren’t there more good teachers? 10 2 Initial teacher training 26 3 Continuous professional development 43 4 Using teacher pay to improve recruitment and retention 54 5 Conclusion 66 www.policyexchange.org.uk • 3 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Ryan Keith Bartley, General Teaching Robson and John Nash for their financial Council for England support for this project without which it Dr Dan Moynihan, Harris Federation would not have been possible. Sharath Jeevan, Teaching Leaders We would like to thank the many peo- Steve Bright, George Green’s Training School ple who have taken time to talk to us dur- Amanda Spielman, Absolute Return ing our research. We are especially grateful for Kids for the ongoing help and advice we Lindsay Boon, United Learning Trust received from Professor John Howson of Professor Tim Leunig, LSE Education Data Surveys who has spent Emily Dyer much of his career engaging with the issues Nick Hillman discussed in this report. Many other people have helped us with Needless to say the views expressed in the our research, and we would like to thank report are those of the authors, and not all those named and unnamed for their necessarily of those listed. time and expertise: All polling, unless otherwise stated, is from Professor John Furlong, Oxford YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1282 University undergraduate students (excluding final years Brett Wigdortz, Teach First and those in teacher training). Field work was James Darley, Teach First undertaken between 9th to 14th April 2008. Professor Sonia Blandford, Teach First The survey was carried out online. Professor Steven Machin, LSE All figures, unless otherwise stated, are Julia Neal, Association of Teachers and from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was Lecturers 1,041 managers/professionals (excluding Winston Brookes, Reading University teachers) and 1,282 undergraduate stu- Nick Tomlinson, DCSF dents (excluding final years and those in Professor Merryn Hutchings, Institute teacher training). Fieldwork was undertak- for Policy Studies in Education, en between 10th to 14th April 2008. The London Metropolitan University survey was carried out online. 4 Foreword This report demonstrates how we can This involves allowing new teachers to recruit, retain and develop a new genera- ‘earn while they learn’, giving all teachers tion of talented, inspired and effective much more say over their ongoing train- teachers to tackle educational inequality. It ing and freeing schools to develop remu- shows how we must reject the current neration schemes which are bespoke to command and control approach to recruit- their particular needs. These methods ment, training and pay and resist calls to would lead to the creation of a dynamic, further ‘professionalise’ teaching in ways well trained and motivated workforce – which only make it less appealing to the teachers who are more appropriately high performing graduates whom we need qualified before they enter teaching and in our schools. who become better teachers in the class- It argues instead that we should embrace room. methods more attuned to today’s gradu- Ryan Robson ates and the modern employment market. Managing Partner, Sovereign Capital www.policyexchange.org.uk • 5 Executive Summary Nothing is more important to the success Chapter One: Why aren’t there more of an education system than the quality good teachers? of its teachers. There are many good teachers in this country – but not Proposition 1: Teaching has never been a high enough. The recommendations in this status profession report demonstrate how we can increase Although many within the profession the quality of teaching by both attracting think that when teachers had more auton- the right people to begin with and then omy teaching had a higher status, this is training them in the most helpful man- untrue. Teaching has been a relatively low ner. In the past recruitment, training, status job since the post-war expansion of Continuous Professional Development schooling. (CPD) and pay have usually been con- sidered separately, but they are closely Proposition 2: There are many features about linked and the same arguments apply in the teaching profession that deter well quali- each area. fied candidates Not only is training new staff within Many of the historic deterrents to schools the best way to teach them the teaching remain today. Our polling of skills that they need, but it can also attract undergraduates and senior managers/ bright people who want to learn on the professi onals for this report found that job and earn a salary while doing so. low salaries and a lack of glamour deter School-based training can also embed good graduates from teaching. continuous development within schools: Respondents felt that teaching was most older teachers benefit from improving the similar to social work and nursing.