The Shortages of Teachers in the U.K - Coursework Example

Introduction Teacher shortages in United Kingdom are an issue that has existed for the last fifty years. This is in relation to retention and recruitment of teachers. This is very rampant in secondary schools. This issue seems to be becoming more of a problem many people in this profession are nearly retiring. The shortages are very prevalent in subjects like modern languages, science and maths. There are areas in London that are highly affected. They include areas like inner London. (Clewell, 2001) Research shows that the labour market for teachers works like any other labour market. In this case the schools act as the employers. The education sector highly resembles the healthcare sector in very many aspects. There is the monopoly power especially in the provision of the necessary credentials. In this case it is the state that determines people that are qualified to teach or not. Research carried out in England shows that the teaching profession is ageing. This is quite prevalent in primary schools. Approximately forty percent of the teachers are of the ages 45-55. Six percent of the workforce is aged over fifty five years. Considering this data, it is quite likely that within the next ten years, fifty percent of the entire workforce would have retired. All these factors considered shows that there is a likelihood of decrease in teachers. Research carried out in the year 2006 in United Kingdom show that teachers’ pay has fallen to approximately six percent. This is one of the reasons as to why there is a shortage of teachers in United Kingdom. Many people are opting for other professions that pay well. The professions that are preferred include nursing, airline professions like cabin crew, pilots and technical assistants. Teachers in United Kingdom are not well paid as compared to the other professions. There is also the aspect of feminism of the teaching profession. Research indicates that men do not like the teaching profession and therefore it has got very many ladies. This fact greatly affects the teaching because many of them take work leave to attend to family matters. Many of the married women take maternity leaves and this also contributes in creating a deficit for teachers in United Kingdom. This results in heavy workloads which cannot be well handled by the few teachers who remain. (DeWitt, 1997) Research reveals that there is a great shortage for physics teachers in United Kingdom. This is in comparison to the other subjects that are taught in the schools therein. There are fewer physicists that are joining the teaching profession as compared to biologists and chemists. The number of trained teachers that are entering the teaching profession is not large enough to cater for the demand available in schools. This is one of the subjects that have got severe shortages. Teachers’ payments and the conditions for teaching are normally determined for the entire market. This can is normally problematic because it affects the supply of teachers in certain geographical areas and also in particular subjects. For instance subjects like physical education are normally overcrowded while other subjects like maths and modern languages have the least enrolments. Research reveals that many teachers in United Kingdom are downing their tools in search of greener pastures. This is very common for teachers with high ability in maths and languages. This normally makes teachers to leave the profession. Heavy workload is one of the major reasons as to why many teachers are quitting the teaching profession. There is also a clear indication that the existing rigours of inspection and the national curriculum give teachers a huge administrative burden. The graph below shows the decline in student performance in language subject. This has been caused by the shortage of teachers in United Kingdom. (DeWitt, 1997) Source; Clewell, B. (2001): Absence Unexcused; Ending Teacher Shortages in High-Need Areas; U.K; Oxford University Press; pp 37 Government initiatives The following national initiatives and recruitment were carried out to help ease the problem of lack or shortage of teachers in United Kingdom. (Frost, 2005) Training bursaries This is one of the initiatives that were taken to help solve the problem of shortage of teachers. There are training bursaries from Teacher Development agency. These are essential in recruiting people into Initial Teacher Training. This program is tax free and is available for postgraduate students. It is not a loan. For instance ₤ 6000 is paid for non shortage subjects while ₤ 9000 bursary is given for maths and science subjects. Registered Teacher Programme (RTP) This is also another national initiative that was started to ease the teacher shortage in United Kingdom. The RTP is offered to the candidates who have completed two years of higher education. This is also applicable to those candidates who have the equivalent to higher education. It is a two year program offered to the right candidates to train as teachers and gain QTS while at the same time they are employed in schools. In this case the school pays him or her salary rate of unqualified or qualified teacher. The school also receives grant to cover for the training costs that are incurred. Payment of fees Since the year 2006 all the PDGE students will be eligible for grant ranging from ₤ 1200. These are from DFES to aid in the payment of fees. In education, all PGCE courses will be required to pay variable fees. Fast track teaching This program is referred to as leadership development program. This provides for opportunities for development and the necessary coaching that helps teachers reach leadership positions quite fast or easily. Overseas Trained Teachers Programme (OTTP) This program offers teachers that are trained to have the opportunity of gaining the QTS while at the same time working as teachers. This program just runs for a year. In this case, the school pays salary at the rate of unqualified or qualified teacher. The extent that national initiatives likely to ease the shortages Looking at all these government initiatives carried out to solve the problem of teacher shortage in United Kingdom shows that most of them are financial based. Most of the policies enacted by the government in relation to retaining teachers are just focused on financial incentives. Research carried out among teachers in United Kingdom reveal that pay is not just the only determinant factor as to why teachers are dissatisfied with their work. (Walsh, 2005) Therefore these national initiatives are not likely to help much in easing the teacher shortages in United Kingdom. This is because the teacher shortages are not just occurring because of financial reasons only. There are a myriad of reasons as to why teachers are declining the profession and opting for other jobs. One of them as earlier on discussed is about the entire workload which is stipulated in the curriculum and it is a requirement that they finish it. This is the case comparing the teachers’ working hours in relation to other employees’ working hours. The teachers’ working hours are so much concentrated during the entire term time with an average working week of approximately 52 hours. Therefore the national initiatives will not help much in solving the problem of teacher shortages in schools. Looking at the national initiatives like training bursaries, registered teacher program initiatives, they are mostly cantered on individuals who already have prior knowledge in teaching. The programs are not targeting other people who are not yet in the teaching profession. The government initiatives are not likely to be effective in solving the problem of teacher shortages because the initiatives are not dealing with factors like the workload that teachers have to deal with. This is because if the financial incentives are targeting the people that are already in the profession then they may not work in helping to recruit more people. (Walsh, 2005) The other problem that has influenced teacher shortage in United Kingdom is the fact that the profession is viewed as a feminism profession. It is greatly shunned by many men. The few women that join it have to get multiple family leave or off. Now the problem causing the shortages illustrated in this paragraph cannot be solved by giving financial incentives. This automatically cannot help solve the problem of shortage of teachers in United Kingdom. The initiatives carried out by the government initiatives that have been put in place have not taken care of include ensuring that more teachers are recruited in subjects like physics and maths. The policies or initiatives have not considered improving the working conditions for teachers. It is therefore likely that the initiatives put in place will not help solve the problem of teacher shortages. The policies have also not solved the issue of the problems faced by teachers in marginalized areas like inner London. Options in improving teacher recruitment and retention There are various options that might be considered to help improve retention and recruitment of teachers. It is very important to note that the teaching profession has been viewed as being feminism profession. This is one of the areas that needs to be targeted when the governments puts in place initiatives to help solve the problem of shortage of teachers. (Fred, 2006) Career talks The government needs to plan for career talks in high schools in United Kingdom. In this initiative the aim will be to show students that teaching profession is good. This can help the students to study having a clue or rather the idea that they can be teachers in future. This initiative will play a big role in increasing the number of students enrolling for teaching courses in United Kingdom. In the career talks, it should be emphasized that the teaching profession is not just for female students but it is a career that can be well handled by both male and female students. This can play a big role in increasing the number of male students enrolling for teaching courses. Advertisement The government can use advertisement as a method of recruiting more teachers. Advertisements were placed in the daily newspapers showing that there are vacancies for teachers in specific schools. Through this, potential teachers will be able to know that there were vacancies for the post in certain schools. Internet advertisements should also be made through the government’s website. (Fred, 2006) The website has to indicate that potential candidates could also advertise online. Advertising through the internet is cheaper compared to advertising through newspapers. Both methods achieved the objective since potential candidates were able to know that vacancy exited in various schools. This will help recruit more teachers. Technology incorporation The government can also have the initiative of incorporating technology in the education systems. This involves including things like computers which have to be put in every classroom for each student. This will be very effective in dealing with the problem of shortage of teachers because the students can then be given assignments online. This means that each class has to be well connected to the internet. With technological advancement it will be much easier for teachers to teach technical subjects without strain and finish the work in good time. This will help ease the humongous workload for teachers. (Shapiro, 2005) Leadership ladder One of the reasons as to why teachers are downing their tools and opting for other professions is because of the lack of leadership ladder in the teaching profession. A teacher can actually teach for so many years and still remain in the same level. The government needs to incorporate a leadership ladder whereby a teacher who has taught for approximately ten or so years can climb the ladder and become a director of studies or even a school manager. This will greatly help to retain teachers in United Kingdom. Restructure the curriculum Research carried out in the United Kingdom education curriculum shows that it was created long time ago and has taken more than three decades. The education curriculum in United Kingdom needs to be structured so that what is not necessary can be eliminated. The education curriculum needs to be restructured such that the workload of the teachers is reduced. This is because this is one of the problems that are making teachers to opt for other professions. When the education curriculum is restructured so that it becomes more flexible, it will greatly help to retain teachers who are currently moving out of the teaching profession. (Walsh, 2005) Give more incentives for male teachers Giving male teachers more incentives will help enable more of them to enrol in the teaching profession in United Kingdom. One realizes that there is a wrong perception among people in United Kingdom that the teaching profession is just for the females only. In order for the government to enable more male students to enrol for teaching courses, it should lower their entry points. Research among the teacher training colleges in United Kingdom reveals that many of them have set high standard of marks that are pre-requisite for male students to join these colleges. When the entry points are lowered it will enable more male students to enrol for teaching courses. This will help solve the problem of teacher shortages in United Kingdom. Allowances On of the ways through which the government can retain teachers are by giving teachers allowances in relation to the number of years that one has worked in this profession. The incentive can be in such a way that the more years one stays in the teaching profession the allowance he or she gets. Through this it will be possible to retain more teachers in the teaching profession. (Walsh, 2005) Inline with this, more allowances have to be given for the teachers that are teaching in marginalized areas. For instance the teachers in the inner parts of London have to be given more allowances. In relation to giving the teachers allowances, it is important that more allowances be given to teachers of subjects that have a deficiency of teachers. For instance subjects like physics, mathematics and foreign languages always have very few teachers. Therefore incentives like more allowances for teachers of these subjects should be provided. In addition to this the government can enact policies that stipulate that colleges should charge fewer fees for students enrolling for these courses in relation to the other courses. This will enable for students to enrol for physic and maths courses and therefore eliminate the problem of teacher shortages in relation to these subjects. Outsourcing This is one of the initiatives that can be carried out immediately to help solve the problem of teacher shortages in United Kingdom is outsourcing. All the other initiatives may take time and not be of a solution immediately. There are very many nations that have profession teachers who are not employed. The United Kingdom government can sole the problem of teacher shortage by getting these professional experts from other nations to help teach the subjects in which there is a deficiency. This can be carried out for physics and maths teachers. (Frost, 2005) Cost implications of recommendations When the government carries out policy making there is normally the consideration of the financial implications on the available budget. There are instances when the policies put across cannot be implemented because of financial implications. It therefore calls for having a cheaper option. Looking at the above recommendations to help solve the problem of shortage of teachers have got their cost implications. There are some recommendations that are cheap and the others are quite expensive. The solution to this is that the most expensive can be planned in phases or in long term such that they become a little bit more affordable. Career talks are quite cheap and can be implemented immediately because they cannot create any destabilization on the United Kingdom budget. Incorporation of technology in the education system has got very high financial implications to the budget of this nation. As earlier on recommended, it will be required that every student to have his or her own computer that is connected with internet. This can be quite costly and it can be implemented in phases. Such that some schools are given the computers first then later on the others phase by phase. (Shapiro, 2005) Though outsourcing can be incorporated immediately, it is quite expensive. This calls for good planning so that the entire process can be well managed financially. As earlier on highlighted, since outsourcing is expensive, it is better that only the subjects with a big deficiency in teachers like physics mathematics and foreign languages be outsourced. Conclusion Teacher shortages in United Kingdom have occurred because of various reasons. One of them is the fact that teachers pay has fallen by approximately 6%. The education curriculum involves big workload. These facts make many teachers to opt for other lucrative professions. National incentives like training bursaries and registered teacher program have been put in place by the government. These are less likely to ease the shortages as they do not focus on other factors affecting teacher recruitment and retention. The government can incorporate outsourcing, technology and restructuring of the education curriculum to help solve this problem. Reference: Fred, C. (2006): Absence Unexcused; Ending Teacher Shortages in High-Need Areas; U.K; Oxford University Press DeWitt, W. (1997): Recruiting, Preparing and Retaining Teachers for U.K Schools; U.K; Harvard Press Fred, C. (2006): Educational Administration Concepts and Practices, 4th Ed; New York; Macmillan Press Frost, S. (2005): Here One Year; Gone the Next; Illinois ACORN; Chicago; IL Shapiro, S. (2005): Adding the critical voice; A dialogue with practicing teachers on teacher recruitment and retention in hard-to-staff schools, Learning Points Associates, Naperville, IL Walsh, K. (2005): Increasing the Odds; How Good Policies Can Yield Better Teachers; Chicago; Oxford University Press Read More

This fact greatly affects the teaching because many of them take work leave to attend to family matters. Many of the married women take maternity leaves and this also contributes in creating a deficit for teachers in United Kingdom. This results in heavy workloads which cannot be well handled by the few teachers who remain. (DeWitt, 1997) Research reveals that there is a great shortage for physics teachers in United Kingdom. This is in comparison to the other subjects that are taught in the schools therein.

There are fewer physicists that are joining the teaching profession as compared to biologists and chemists. The number of trained teachers that are entering the teaching profession is not large enough to cater for the demand available in schools. This is one of the subjects that have got severe shortages. Teachers’ payments and the conditions for teaching are normally determined for the entire market. This can is normally problematic because it affects the supply of teachers in certain geographical areas and also in particular subjects.

For instance subjects like physical education are normally overcrowded while other subjects like maths and modern languages have the least enrolments. Research reveals that many teachers in United Kingdom are downing their tools in search of greener pastures. This is very common for teachers with high ability in maths and languages. This normally makes teachers to leave the profession. Heavy workload is one of the major reasons as to why many teachers are quitting the teaching profession. There is also a clear indication that the existing rigours of inspection and the national curriculum give teachers a huge administrative burden.

The graph below shows the decline in student performance in language subject. This has been caused by the shortage of teachers in United Kingdom. (DeWitt, 1997) Source; Clewell, B. (2001): Absence Unexcused; Ending Teacher Shortages in High-Need Areas; U.K; Oxford University Press; pp 37 Government initiatives The following national initiatives and recruitment were carried out to help ease the problem of lack or shortage of teachers in United Kingdom. (Frost, 2005) Training bursaries This is one of the initiatives that were taken to help solve the problem of shortage of teachers.

There are training bursaries from Teacher Development agency. These are essential in recruiting people into Initial Teacher Training. This program is tax free and is available for postgraduate students. It is not a loan. For instance ₤ 6000 is paid for non shortage subjects while ₤ 9000 bursary is given for maths and science subjects. Registered Teacher Programme (RTP) This is also another national initiative that was started to ease the teacher shortage in United Kingdom. The RTP is offered to the candidates who have completed two years of higher education.

This is also applicable to those candidates who have the equivalent to higher education. It is a two year program offered to the right candidates to train as teachers and gain QTS while at the same time they are employed in schools. In this case the school pays him or her salary rate of unqualified or qualified teacher. The school also receives grant to cover for the training costs that are incurred. Payment of fees Since the year 2006 all the PDGE students will be eligible for grant ranging from ₤ 1200.

These are from DFES to aid in the payment of fees. In education, all PGCE courses will be required to pay variable fees. Fast track teaching This program is referred to as leadership development program. This provides for opportunities for development and the necessary coaching that helps teachers reach leadership positions quite fast or easily. Overseas Trained Teachers Programme (OTTP) This program offers teachers that are trained to have the opportunity of gaining the QTS while at the same time working as teachers.

This program just runs for a year. In this case, the school pays salary at the rate of unqualified or qualified teacher.

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