The Profession Needs To Change To Attract Tomorrow’s Teachers
A recent report by Public First and Teach First proves that Gen Z is a generation that doesn’t believe in the maximum if you can’t do teach. They respect the profession!
The research suggests that they acknowledge that teaching is a honourable, selfless profession that offers you the potential to make real change in society but that as a career it has outdated and has entrenched problems. This blog explores some of the challenges facing the profession in appealing to tomorrow’s teachers.
Fulfillment Meets Flexibility
Gen Z are a purpose driven generation who want to create change, however it is a fallacy to suggest that they are willing to sacrifice good pay and a work life balance to achieve these ends. The drivers of Gen Z are not that dissimilar to other generations.
They have grown up in the digital age and lived through a pandemic. They understand that work can be remote and flexible and at present teaching doesn’t project itself in this way. For 56% of Gen Z work life balance is critical and 80% of them want some degree of hybrid work in their jobs.
The Department for Education is investing time and resources in exploring ways to make the profession more flexible and it is likely that this will need to go further to appeal to the future generation of teachers.
Maybe There Is Too Much Noise Surrounding The Negatives
Lets not forget that this generation are either still in education or have just left. They have witnessed the great strides that teachers made in embracing digital education and the huge efforts they made to provide educational continuity throughout the pandemic. They acknowledge the importance of teachers’ work however the perception of the profession is being maligned by media coverage that exacerbates the issues. For Gen Z the top issues facing teaching that are exacerbated by news cycles are; stress, poor salary, lack of funding and friction between parents and teachers. All of these elements combine to make the profession an unappealing prospect for graduates.
Teaching Cannot Be The Life Long Vocation It Once Was
Only a very low percentage of Gen Z feel they would enjoy teaching for the whole of their careers. You may view this as a shame but with increasing life expectancy and longer working lives this is very much a reality and a reality that needs to be met with pragmatism. 47% of them stated that they would only enjoy teaching for a few years. This raises some interesting questions. Would top graduates be encouraged to join the profession if it guaranteed skill development and acquisition? Would they join if they knew that they would be valued for their time in education if they chose to select a career in another sector further down the line? Gen Z crave variety in their careers. Widening development opportunities both inside and outside the classroom could help them find an appropriate moment to teach and this is something that Those who can are looking to help contribute towards. They also feel that teaching can be pursued further down the line. Graduates opting to work in other sectors first before embarking on a career in teaching could enable them to have an understanding of the real world application of the content they teach.
Potential ways the profession could change.
Whilst it is acknowledged that the profession needs to change to attract the best of tomorrow’s graduates, implementing such changes is going to require a radical shake up. With this in mind here are some of the current suggestions to make the profession more appealing.
- Increased Financial Incentives
- More flexibility with a stronger returner option
- Working with big businesses to identify career changers and supporting the charity Now Teach
- Better professional development opportunities
- Secondments and sabbaticals in other industries
- Career break scheme
Whilst some of these might be hard to achieve, what is certain is that “Tomorrow’s teachers are waiting and the wait must end today”.
