#SLTeachMeet - Teacher Recruitment by @TeacherToolkit My presentation on 14.5.13 for #SLTeachMeet 2

2. A common
problem?

4. Teacher Recruitment
+ factors
• TES adverts
• Guardian Jobs
• LEA adverts
• Other platforms
• Social mobility
• Shortage subjects
• Recruitment/Retention
• Word of mouth
• Headhunted
• Varied process
• Safeguarding
• Various roles
- factors
• Defragmented application process -
e.g. clumsy forms; x2 sides of A4; poor
application pack
• Protocol – e.g. post-deadline
• Unfilled vacancies
• 2 day interviews
• In-tray exercise!!!
• Poor feedback
• Stressful
• Individual basis; apparently impartial
• Relies on training of interviewer

5. My wife said
‘relax and just
be myself!’
The process…

6. ASK THE AUDIENCE

7. …decides
on the
interview
process?
…part of the
day should
be the most
challenging
?
…is it not a
good time
to hold an
interview?
…do you inform
the candidates
before and after
the event?
…do you
conduct the
interview(s)?

8. Recruitment issues
(Physical ups/down)

9. Recruitment issues (Physical ups/down)
1. Please stand up…and keep standing if…(and sit down if you haven‟t)
2. Keep standing if, you have a job…
3. You‟ve ever had an interview!
4. You‟ve had to complete an application form.
5. Keep standing if you have used the TES to find a job?
6. Keep standing if, you have ever been the interviewer?
7. Have ever accepted an application late (after the deadline)?
8. Keep standing if you have ever used another method (other than TES) to recruit?
9. Keep standing if you have ever said „no‟ to an applicant, and then changed
your mind?!
10. That your classroom (teaching) practice WAS NOT taken into account.

10. No one solution
to recruitment

11. Scenario

12. • a job-seeking teacher working in
London would have a larger selection of
potential secondary schools available to
them for consideration; 450 in total.

13. • Now weigh this up against
a teacher moving out of the capital
city and relocating to, for example,
to Northumbria, which has
approximately 48 secondary schools.

14. • Remarkably the odds for this teacher are
already reduced
fold

15. Filling vacancies, according to
the individual needs of the
school is relative, as it is for
the potential application field.

16. Some numbers!

17. The DfE School Census 2010 says;
“in November 2011 there were 350 teacher
vacancies reported for full-time permanent
teachers in publicly funded schools, a rate of
just 0.1 per cent.”

18. According
to the DfE
…the latest (April 2012) national statistics on School Workforce produced by the DfE.

19. • “in November 2011 there were a total of just
under 0.9 million full-time equivalent school
workforce employees working in publicly
funded schools in England”.

20. • “Between spring 2000 and November 2011 the
numbers of full-time equivalent teachers in
service has increased by 32,200 from 405,800
to 438,000.”

21. • This represents an increase of
potential recruits by 7.9%
and
put simply, more competition!

22. THE EQUALITY ACT 2010

23. • Given the fact that the Equality Act 2010 was
refined to take into account gender and age
discrimination, the following
facts should make little relevance to any
job application in the sector… but it serves
as interesting reading.

24. • In England 2010, 73.2%
of full and part-time
regular teachers were
female with just 26.8%
male.
• 65.2% of all head
teachers were female.
• 23.0% of the workforce
were aged under 30,
with 22.8% aged 50+.

25. • Other noteworthy statistics include:
• 53.4% of full-time equivalent head teachers
who were aged 50 or over and the vast
majority (94.8%) of teachers held degree level
qualifications or higher.

26. IMMEDIATE
THOUGHTS…

27. • Government policy
• Teacher status/profile
• Job-security.
• Mobility.
• Redundancies.
• Reduced professional development budgets.
• Undergraduates – lack of places.
• NQTs – lack of jobs. Regional?
• Ever-increasing competition. Regional?
• Employer restrictions.

28. Across the world…

29. Experience:
• I have worked with teachers from Ireland, South Africa,
New Zealand, Australia and Canada, as well as teachers
from native speaking countries such as France, Spain
and Germany.
• Discussions with various teachers, there was an
abundance of variety experiences communicated of
those working with teachers from other parts of the
world. For example: Romania; Switzerland; China and
Russia.
• Michael Gove is keen to see more foreign teachers in
schools. From 1 April 2012, teachers who qualified in
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US are to be
recognised as qualified teachers and awarded
qualified teacher status in England.

30. SOME QUOTES…
Two head teachers I spoke to were very unwavering about recruitment.
They exclaimed that;
"there was no need to look overseas”
…and believed that
"there are plenty of good teachers in the UK!”

31. So, to what extent
are school leaders
having problems
sourcing the right
teachers for their
schools?

32. Problems:
• Irrefutably, sourcing calibre can be an issue.
• Conducting a very rigorous interview process will enable real
quality to shine through.
• A rigorous interview processes can hinder those who find the
process daunting.

33. • A primary school head teacher said; "NQT (Newly
Qualified Teachers) applications - not all - are patchy,
which is often a mismatch between the application
form and their ability in the classroom.”
…Unfortunately, this forms part of the interview
process and those who are unfamiliar with this, will
fall short.
• Some believed having only 1 or 2 days to form a
judgement on an applicant made it difficult to make an
informed decision.
• The conversations and testimonies I have go on & on…

34. • Another teacher from Yorkshire, believed it was;
"…difficult to recruit quality, be that experienced or
not. Shortage-subjects makes this more
challenging…” and
"…working with a wide range of primary academies,
I can confirm that successful recruitment is a
major issue!”

35. Some more quotes…
• A teacher in Manchester said; "...attracting quality staff
two pupil referral-units were virtually impossible!
• Staff are poorly paid and teacher reputation is dire.”
• An additional primary head teacher in Suffolk, who
works in a good school with outstanding features said;
“We advertised for a year 1 reception teacher twice.
We received zero applicants!”, but yet a deputy head
teacher in Suffolk said; “we are very lucky and have no
problems."

36. RECRUITMENT:
REQUIRES IMPROVEMENT?

37. Is this just occurring in a
few schools or
is it a national issue?
(Hands up!)

38. Overseas…
Farther afield, I spoke
with a head teacher in
Stockholm…

39. Overseas…
• This Headteacher recruits immigrants from
countries in the Middle-East with foreign degrees.
• She stated that ”overseas teachers were not certified
by Swedish standards, but because they spoke
Swedish, this was beneficial."
• She added; “We do have a shortage of teachers, not
only due to retirement, but also because becoming a
teacher is not so popular. The Swedish School Act of
2010 requires more from the schools. By 2015, all
teachers must be certified and the hiring of
unqualified teaching staff will be banned.”

40. Temporary staffing
• Two supply agencies I spoke with accentuated some regions
will have more demands than others.
• For supply teachers, an evolving national issue is that
recruitment agencies are now recruiting from abroad to avoid
national insurance contributions.
• Those teachers who shared their experience,
talked about varied techniques they have used or seen others
employ successfully.
• Examples include Skype interviews - equivalent for those British
teachers who move overseas. Or attending mass recruitment
fairs to attract candidates with the wind-in-their-sails and ship
them off on a 2-year contract with very attractive benefits.
• Other riskier techniques include applying for temporary
contracts which may lead to permanence.

41. THE LAST DECADE…
MY ESSENTIALS

42. • During the last decade, I have interviewed hundreds
of teachers myself. I‟d like to think I know exactly
what employers are thinking and looking for; but
totally understand that when we all apply for a
promotion or a new position, we are all taking a step
into the unknown and the process is anyone‟s game.
• In short, we may be unaware of something that may
still be out of our reach.
• The interview process must be taken seriously.
• That all decisions must be deliberated and fully
consulted to ensure accurate safeguarding
procedures.
• That the process is robust and fair.

43. The problem.
• Consistency!
• For many schools, they are not compliant.
• They fail to address the latest Equality Act 2010 reforms.
• Curriculum vitae are accepted in independent schools and
in some schools I have worked in, I have witnessed
applications being accepted after the published deadline.
• Internal candidates are also considered - and often
appointed.
• Nevertheless, I know every single reason why schools may
do this and fully expect to do it myself!
• Schools simply need the „right teacher‟ in front of their
students and at the risk of not recruiting or spending
extortionate sums of money to re-advertise, this may not an
option for some.

44. A
CALL
TO ARMS…

45. ACCORDING TO
@MRLOCKYER

46. • There are just 4-5% of teachers
using Twitter for professional
development and networking.
• Approximately 50,000.

47. SOLUTIONS

48. • „Grow-your-own‟ philosophy
• Teach First, Future Leaders, Teaching Leaders
and the evolving School Direct programmes
will continue to cultivate the
next generation of teachers on home soil.
• But, what we really need to do is provide a
simpler forum for current teachers
to move easily and regularly to keep the
profession alive.

49. A PLEA TO YOU…

50. Consideration?
• A College of Teachers.
• A national forum for professionalism.
• A set-standard for interview protocol.
• A professional development portfolio. Perhaps a
self-sustained, online forum for managing your
own work-history, CPD and job applications.
• A private profile for schools and teachers
searching for work containing your history;
detailing performance; references; data; CPD;
attendance; evidence and so on.
• The possibilities are endless and can only
benefit the recruitment process.

51. THE
FUTURE

52. From London to Scotland – 5000 readers
#Find_TTkit_A_Job

53. @MyEdHunt: is a (Beta) job-hunting
revolution, offering a forum for
schools & teachers to head-hunt
their own employment!

54. @MYEDHUNT: COULD BE AN EDUCATIONAL
VERSION OF GUMTREE?
FREE JOB ADVERTS!

55. @MYEDHUNT: COULD BE AN EDUCATIONAL
VERSION OF (MATCH.COM) DATING WEBSITES?
SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS ARE MATCHED!

56. @MYEDHUNT: COULD BE AN EDUCATIONAL
PLATFORM TO TWEET JOB-ADVERTS?
For FREE!

57. @MYEDHUNT: COULD SPREAD THE
WORD FAR AND WIDE?
PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS

58. Recruitment Portfolio

59. “ We will always have a need for schooling. We
will always have students and a prerequisite for
those that teach. Recruiting teachers and
helping those move from school to school is
much more complex and it needn‟t be.
It is up to us to succour our employment on our
very own doorstep, as well as for the
profession.”
@TeacherToolkit

60. “ From a small seed a
mighty trunk may grow.”
Aeschylus
Ross Morrison McGill
@TeacherToolkit