More education news in the Tory Leadership Race as Sunak announces support for teachers by encouraging the adoption of AI in classrooms
The Tory leadership race seemingly has a new battleground, education, and school policy. Truss and Sunak have both been making a series of promises to reform education. Sunak’s latest soundbite has been the promise to introduce AI into classrooms to reduce teacher workloads and ‘inspire’ pupils.
This Ticked Off Teacher is pleased to see teacher workload and wellbeing being discussed as part of education reform. However, the promises are unclear and there are definite limitations to the application of AI in education. When the profession is crying out for support, in the midst of a recruitment and retention crisis, it seems like a bizarre solution to the problem of teacher wellbeing and workload.
The Ticked Off Teacher has prepared a letter to Mr. Sunak to voice their concerns.
Dear Mr. Sunak,
Firstly, thank you for bringing to light that there are issues surrounding teacher workload. While it’s an interesting proposal, I thought you might be interested in some other well-researched measures which are sure to increase teacher well-being exponentially more, and cut the costs for the Conservatives.
1) Coffee for staff – £300 per teacher
It’s official! Teachers in England work the longest hours in the world, over 25% of teachers work more than 60 hours per week. My proposal is to offer some kind of season-ticket loan scheme for an annual Pret subscription. Subsidising caffeinating the workforce could only boost wellbeing and productivity.
2) Biscuits for the Staff Room – £376,000
With 32,163 schools in the UK and an average of 39 teaching weeks per year, it would only cost Sunak’s government approximately £376,000 to provide each staff room with a pack of ASDA own brand custard creams each week for the entire academic year. Yes, workloads may be increasing, but it’s pretty hard to be sad with a custard cream in your mouth.
3) Name-Brand Glue Sticks – £7.5 million
Any teacher will tell you that name-brand Pritt Sticks are like gold dust. Amazon has a pack of 5 for £12 at the moment, so I did you the liberty of doing the maths to give each teacher in the UK a pack. Surely we could all chip in for a Costco card or something to bring the cost down further?
I hope you found my suggestions to be insightful. In the unlikely event that they don’t do the trick, I suggest you consider – increasing PPA, funding intervention teachers, investing in SEN provision, and creating a free centralised platform of classroom resources.
Signed,
Think custard creams will cut it or our ideas are crumbs? Comment below.
itt? scitt? tf? sd? Here’s our jargon-busting guide to the pros and cons of the major teacher training routes available in the uk now
The UK is facing a teacher recruitment and retention crisis. We desperately need more teachers and need to make the options available clearer and more accessible. Everyone in teaching has an opinion of different routes of ITT and more often than not you’ll hear the horror stories, rather than the majority of successful teachers that train every year. I hope this guide highlights some of the major similarities and differences and that you’re able to cast aside the horror story you hear about your aunty’s neighbour’s neice’s friend who hated their [insert ITT name here].
Quick jargon buster
ITT – ‘initial teacher training’, the scheme where you learn to be a teacher
QTS – ‘qualified teacher statues’, the certificate you get from the government at the end of your scheme that proves you can teach legally
PGCE – ‘postgraduate certificate in education’, 1/3 of masters credits, essays about theoretical teacher things that are submitted
PGDE – ‘postgraduate diploma in eduaction’, 2/3 of masters credits, only offered by Teach First, can ‘top up’ to a full masters
SCITT – ‘school centred initial teacher training’, a teacher training route where you are based in a home school
PGCE/ University based
The ‘traditional’ entry route into teaching. A PGCE course is taken after the completion of an undergraduate degree, at a university over one year full-time (or two years part-time). Those without an undergraduate degree can complete a three or four-year course following a similar model of a combination of university study and school placement.
Pros
Most supportive – access to wide variety of support at university and on placement
Doesn’t throw in at the deep end, more opportunities for practise with peers and more gradual approach to teaching placements
Having placements in a variety of schools means more opportunities for job offers and an environment in which to make mistakes, knowing you never have to go back
Better work-life balance with more allowances and time scheduled to complete university assignments
Cons
Some people find the theoretical work at university less applicable to the classroom and find they ‘switch off’
Less direct experience and responsibility in the classroom, PGCE students often get more of a ‘shock’ during their ECT years
Fewer opportunities for learning to balance workload as it is planned to be reasonable and manageable
Price – university-based routes cost money! Bursaries are available (for specific subjects) but it can feel galling knowing that other people gain more real-world experience and are paid to get the same qualification
Best for… students who want the most support and varied experience in their teaching practice.
Worst for… those with extensive experience working with children/ in schools and paying for your training.
School Direct
School Direct offers trainees the opportunity to be based in a single school, with one day a week at university. Students normally sign-up through an area of local education authority and will be placed in a school in that area. It offers the positives of the PGCE support at university, with more time in the classroom. Like the PGCE, most School Direct options require the payment of university fees, however, there are some salaried routes available. Make sure to keep this in mind when narrowing down providers.
Pros
Close relationship with a single school – staff, children, parents and community
Ability to watch an entire school year unfold and witness the ‘pinch points’ of the year – e.g. Christmas, report writing
Access to parts of school life you wouldn’t as a PGCE student – e.g. school trips, parents evenings, which are all excellent training
Support of university staff and cohort one day a week at university
Cons
The majority of your training being in one centre means that if you have issues with staff, or are not being properly supported, you’re more stuck
You’re at the mercy of in-school training by staff who although well-intentioned, are often being pulled 1000 different ways, you may need to be assertive to make sure your needs are met
Fewer close relationships with university staff – can make reaching out for support with assignments or references for further study more difficult
Some people choose not to remain in the school that they have trained in for fear that they will always be viewed as a ‘student teacher’
Best for… seeing a wide variety of experiences and watching the school year unfold in a single setting.
Worst for… those who struggle to make sure their needs are met and not going to be willing to speak up and seek support.
SCITT
SCITT, like School Direct, is an on-the-job teacher training route. It’s becoming increasingly more popular, although currently the least common route on this list. SCITT is where applicants approach the school directly and then receive additional training through a group of partnered institutions. It’s a popular route for those with existing relationships with a school, e.g. previously working as an unqualified supply or teaching assistant. SCITTs can also be run by faith organisations and are becoming an increasingly popular route for training teachers in faith schools. Due to the nature of lack of centralisation of SCITT, some providers are salaried and others are not, make sure to research this thoroughly before approaching institutions.
Pros
Can continue to work in a school where you already have relationships
Good chance of receiving a job offer as a candidate that has previously worked at the school
Choice of location of school you train at, useful for people with responsibilities that need to be able to plan
Opportunities to choose to train in a school in your own cultural/ faith community
Cons
Similar cons as School Direct, you need to be a self-starter and able to advocate for your own needs
Especially if you’ve previously worked in the school – it can be harder to command respect in your new role from children and parents
Other teachers, knowing you as a competent TA/ previous staff member, might need reminding that you’re training for a different job and will still need support in your role and training as a teacher
It can be easy to get drawn into activities/ responsibilities of your old job as a ‘favour’, when your workload has increased and you need to make clear the additional demands on your time during your training
Best for… people with experience working in a particular school setting and want to continue to work there, students that want a high-level of autonomy in choosing school placement.
Worst for… relying on the effectiveness and constraints on existing staff at the school as there is less opportunity for outside input if your training isn’t high quality.
Teach First
The ultimate baptism by fire, Teach First is the training route that everyone has an opinion of. Here are the basic facts: a six-week residential of initial training, followed by two years of teaching, with support from a partner university to complete a PGDE. Teach First was set up as a scheme with social justice at its heart, aiming to eradicate educational inequality by matching graduates with challenging schools. Teach First has a certain amount of caché due to its corporate sponsors and PGDE (2/3 of a masters degree). However, it also has a reputation for attracting trainees with self-interested motivation, who move on to other sectors after their two years. Teach First trainees receive an unqualified teacher’s salary for the first year, then after gaining QTS at the end of the first year, go on to the main pay scale in their second year.
Pros
Guaranteed salaried route
Guaranteed school place to complete ECT training, so can look for main scale jobs more quickly
Higher-level academic qualification (PGDE) and opportunity to ‘top-up’ to a masters for free
Caché of the ‘Teach First’ brand and networking opportunities with sectors outside of education
Strong focus on networking and ‘ambassadors’ means that there is an instant connection with many people working and starting-up in social justice and education sectors
Cons
At the mercy of your school and the quality of training it provides
Support can feel disjointed as you have mentors in school, at TF, at university etc.
Schools tend to face more challenging problems – there’s a reason they struggled to recruit through normal channels…
‘Cult’ of Teach First – people can be disparaging about Teach First trainees and you often have to work harder to show your motivation and work ethic
Best for… people who want access to networking opportunities, clear salary and progression, who work well under pressure and learn quickly on the job.
Worst for… those who are not self-confident walking into teacher training, you will not have your hand held and trainees report being left to sink or swim.
Signed,
Want to share your ITT advice? Things you wish you’d known to prioritise? Comment blow.
Several states are removing or relaxing barriers to entry in an effort to reduce the USA’s ‘teacher shortage’, will the uk be next?
It’s no surprise to anyone in the education space right now that there is a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in the UK. Experienced teachers are leaving the profession at the fastest rate for over a decade and 25,000 fewer trainees in 2022 than the previous year to replace them.
There have been calls for various policies aiming to incentivise remaining in the profession to ease the crisis, such as an ‘inflation plus’ pay deal (1). Across the pond, some states are taking a more radical approach to solving their own teacher recruitment crisis. Individual states are removing barriers to entry by lowering the requirements to teach in the public sector. Arizona, for example, no longer requires public school teachers to hold a degree as long as they are currently enrolled in college (2). California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri and Alabama are just a handful of other states where similar measures have taken effect.
Why is lowering the barrier to entry such an ‘effective’ measure in solving the recruitment and retention crisis?
In short, it’s very cheap! The state, instead of funding new teacher training routes or measures can simply remove administrative check boxes, saving money for them, while still providing bodies in the classroom. It requires less effort and is easier for the establishment to remove existing measures and leave nothing to replace them. It requires no additional administrative work.
It appeals to the wide group of people that believe teaching is easy. Disrespect of teachers is broadly perceived by those in the profession (3) and has been cited as a major reason for teachers changing career. Lowering barriers to entry is extremely palatable to those that believe teaching is an easy profession and perpetuates a trend of undervaluing teachers in their work, experience, and education.
It shifts the accountability for the retention crisis. Instead of focusing on the systemic failings that are causing droves of teachers to leave the profession, lowering barriers to entry gets bodies in the room. The effectiveness of these teachers can then be blamed on the individual and the school, shifting the blame from central policymakers. Short-term statistics will look excellent, but student outcomes and the well-being and longevity of these teachers will be harder to measure over the long term, making it a simple sticking plaster, rather than a long-term solution.
What are the drawbacks of these policies?
For the current teachers – these policies do an excellent job of sweeping current concerns under the carpet. It adds to a feeling of being ‘replaceable’. The responsibility of training and supporting these new teachers will likely fall on existing staff, increasing their workload and likelihood of burnout. This will lead to more experienced staff being lured away from teaching.
For the untrained teachers – their experience will likely be extremely stressful. Generally speaking, areas that are tough to teach in experience the most difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff. Therefore, it is likely that these inexperienced teachers will be sent to challenging settings where existing staff will not have the time or resources to effectively mentor and support new staff. These new teachers will be exposed to situations that they are not ready for and may lead to extreme stress and a sense of failure, despite having likely ‘taken up the call’ with the best of intentions. This would lead these new teachers to leave the profession due to a lack of support.
For the pupils – there is a consensus that a well-trained, effective teacher is essential to raising pupil outcomes. While these new teachers are surely well-meaning, any teacher would admit to finding their first few years of teaching tough. As explained above, children in low-income areas would likely be disproportionately affected by having inadequately trained and supported teachers, stunting their progress further.
Surely this would never happen in the UK?
A practical, ethical and evidence-informed approach and debate of initial teacher training is an essential feature of good education policy. However, 36,000 teachers left the profession in 2021, and with that figure expected to rise, the UK is heading towards a crisis point. We have already seen alternative teacher training routes such as TeachFirst and School Centred Initial Teacher Training rise in popularity. There appears to be a demand for a departure from the university-centred PGCE.
In a similar move to some US States, the UK Department for Education scrapped the traditional numeracy and literacy professional skills tests. The reason was to end ‘arbitrary testing’ as a barrier to recruitment (4).
In summary, there is clearly a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in the UK. I believe that policymakers here will continue to watch the effects of the American policies unfold with keen interest and an eye on their bottom line.
A bold move for Scotland’s devolved Education is seeing a proposal for a kindergarten stage for three to six-year-olds being debated at the SNP’s conference in October, but what evidence is there?
Education has been a central issue of British politics in the last few weeks, with PM hopeful Liz Truss pitching herself as the ‘education prime minister’. However, it’s the push in Scotland for a shake-up in the early years that has got Twitter talking.
What’s the current system?
Scotland has had a fully devolved system of education since 1999. Scottish children take different exams at the end of secondary school, and do not pay tuition fees at Scottish universities. The rest of the system functions largely similarly to the rest of the UK.
What’s the problem?
Audit Scotland found that there is a ‘wide’ gap between the richest and poorest students in Scotland (1). The report also found that the effect of Covid-19 has negatively impacted work to close the attainment gap. The report reads that the ‘attainment gap has remained a feature of our society for generations and does not do justice to the type of Scotland we wish to build’.
What’s the solution?
Toni Giugliano, the SNP’s policy convenor, has called for a ‘culture shift’ in how Scotland administers early years education, with the hope of improving children’s mental health and closing the poverty attainment gap (2). He said that the current system was ‘designed to build a workforce’ and did not reflect education for a digital age. The proposal is for a play-based kindergarten for three to six-year-olds, followed by six years of primary school.
What isn’t happening
There has been a significant amount of misinformation, misunderstanding and comparison to ‘Scandinavian’ education systems, where it is more common for children to start formal education at seven. However, in Scotland the proposal is not to delay starting school until 7, but to actually add an additional year of funded kindergarten starting a year earlier than in the current system, starting with a kindergarten at age 3.
What evidence is there to raising the school starting age?
Raising the school starting age is increasingly common in developed nations (3). However, research literature has not shown clear educational or economic advantages. A 2018 paper (4) measured a proximate outcome of academic achievement, measures of mental health in childhood. It found that a one-year delay in the start of school dramatically reduces inattention and hyperactivity at age 7, and persists at age 11, a strong indicator of student achievement. However, this widely cited paper has various issues of generalisability. The variation between systems of education, pupil and teacher demographics, teacher training etc. makes it very hard to predict what the outcome would be in Scotland were the proposal to move forward.
What’s next?
The general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), Larry Flanagan, said that he was not opposed to a kindergarten stage and believed in a play-based approach to the early years. However, he was also clear that the change would require a considerable amount of resources and training that are not currently in place.
A Scottish government spokeswoman confirmed that the government does not have plans to change the school age (2) but that it welcomes the debate as part of the national discussion on education and will inform future reforms to improve outcomes.
Scotland’s neighbours and the rest of the world will surely have their eyes on Aberdeen as the issue is debated at the SNP conference in October.
Ideas for new teachers/ NQT/ ECT/ PGCE students to get their heads around over the summer to give a flying start to the new year
School’s out for summer! At least for the kids… This time of year can be a nerve-wracking countdown for new teachers. Your ticked off teacher is here to give you the advice they wish they’d been given to help you get ahead on the new year’s planning, while balancing a break.
1) Get your space organised
It’s tempting to spend your summer scolling through Pintrest and dreaming of that perfectly decorated classroom. Fast forward to a few weeks in and you suddenly realise you want to swap everything around and your beautifully curated displays are already looking ragged. Focus on getting your room clutter free. You’d be amazed at the things you’ll find in the back of the cupboard, but get ruthless. Check with the previous teacher that they have fully moved out and then get to chucking. I promise no one is going to come looking for those spelling tests from 2004!
Make sure that things are organised and arranged the way YOU want them. This is your space now, feel free to get rid of things that aren’t useful to you. You’ll create enough of your own clutter throughout the year without holding on to inherited rubbish. The only things you need to be bringing in to add to the space are a few essentials for your cohort – coat peg labels etc.
2) Put down the IKEA family card
Following the first piece of advice, it can be so tempting when looking at inspiration pictures to want to buy lots of fun little ‘bits’ and ‘essential’ organisation systems. STOP! Remember that those classrooms you are viewing have been built up over years, no one is expecting a new teacher’s classroom to look like that. Many Pinterest classrooms are also in America where there are different expectations for decoration and how much a teacher is to provide themselves for the room. Don’t bring extra clutter into the room before living and teaching in the space for a few weeks. You’d be amazed both at what you find in storage rooms in schools, and just how much those ‘incredible’ and ‘essential’ bits of teacher tat will get in your way.
3) Start some planning
Whether or not teachers should work or plan over the holidays is a divisive topic, especially as you are not yet working at the school. My advice is to make sure you’re au fait with any schemes of work that they use, and have been given access to any shared planning. Further than that, getting your head around the term dates and weeks can be one of the most helpful things. From there, working out how many of each lesson you’ll be teaching and then planning out L.I.s can be useful if you are responsible for planning. Walking in in September with the general shape of the scheme of work and curriculum can be really useful in helping you feel more confident and knowledgeable.
4) Make some (teacher) friends
Hopefully you will be coming into your first year of teaching with some friends from your training route and have had the opportunity to meet your new colleagues at a transition day. However, I can’t suggest making friends with other teachers completely out of your circle highly enough. While a little old fashioned, Facebook seems to be the mainstay of the teacher social life. Try searching for a group that reflects your new role, ‘Year 3 and 4 teacher’, ‘Primary teachers in the North East’ etc. You will find thousands of groups on there. It is perfectly acceptable in these larger groups to merely lurk, although people are always very supportive and want to support new teachers if you would like to introduce yourself. These groups regularly share resources, advice and grumbles, so are a great place to feel less alone and score some inspiration and free resources.
5) Relaaax
You had a life before teaching, you’ll have a life after teaching. Taking on your first role in class can be exciting, scary, and daunting. Try not to view this summer as a ticking time bomb. Do as much as feels exciting and helps you feel more prepared. However, if you’re wondering if you’re doing too much, the answer is probably yes! Teaching is a demanding profession and you’re doing no one any favours if you turn up already overworked and exhausted in September. Getting to Christmas can definitely feel like a marathon, so make sure to relax and look after yourself first. You’ve got an exciting and challenging few months ahead so forget ‘perfect’, ‘Pinterest’ and ‘prepared’, turn up YOUR best self in September, you’re going to be great!
Signed,
Comment your best advice, what you wish you would have known, or questions for a future post below.
Top tips from your ticked off teacher to make summer reading as painless as possible
Ticked off with your children for refusing to read over the holidays? Research suggests that children lose an average of two months of reading skills over the summer (1), start their year off right by keeping reading over the summer. Here are this teacher’s tips to help you be less ticked off.
1) Stop the bribery
We all do it. It is so tempting to offer a reward in return for your child’s cooperation with reading – however, you might be setting yourself up for an uphill battle. We don’t reward children for doing things they enjoy, so by enticing them with a reward, you are associating reading with being an unpleasurable activity. That’s exactly the opposite attitude of a life-long attitude to reading. Sorry, but the iPad time and chocolate buttons are out!
2) Timing is key
Think about when your child is most pleasant and productive. For 90% of children, that’s early in the day, before they’re too tired. So many parents stress themselves out trying to force their children to read before bed when they’re already overtired. Reading needs to be part of the consistent daily routine, how about trying for 10 minutes each day after breakfast instead? That way the minimum amount of reading is done and neither of you are dreading the battle at bedtime.
3) Imitation, imitation, imitation
Be honest with yourself, how often does your child see you read? There is a plethora of research to support the importance of children seeing their parents read (2). Think about it, would your child sit and calmly eat a plate of broccoli if you nagged them to while watching you eat a greasy pizza? The same principle applies here. You have to walk the walk to show your child that you not only value reading but find it a pleasurable activity. Make sure that your child ‘catches’ you reading and try to plan reading time as a family. Try the DARE approach, ‘Drop Everything And Read’, to make reading a fun family activity.
4) Mix it up
Children have access to well-structured reading programmes at school, but it is hard for a teacher to take 30 childrens’ interests onboard when planning the curriculum. At home, you have the opportunity to investigate what your child enjoys reading and allow them to take the lead. A trip to a local library to flick through different books and give your child the agency to pick their own reading material can be transformative. Alternatively, you can try websites like LoveReading4Kids where there are hundreds of first chapters of books that you could read together before finding and ordering a book that interests them most.
5) Don’t forget non-fiction
Think about your own preferences as a reader. Many adults read non-fiction the majority of the time. However, we often put pressure on our children to exclusively read fiction. When dealing with a reluctant reader, reading anything for pleasure is a great start! Explore traditional sources of non-fiction, e.g. books at the library, FirstNews, The Week Junior, Newsround. Newsela is a great source of non-fiction articles that can be adjusted for different ‘lexile’ (similar to reading age) levels.
Good luck and remember to keep trying. Share your tips and comments below.
Ticked Off Teacher 
Leave a comment