Graduates are giving teaching the swerve in increasing numbers. The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that recruitment for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) courses at secondary level is down 41 per cent. Primary is 7 per cent under target (see Walker, 2022a).
And this is no blip but a decade-long trend with chronic shortages in some subjects. We argue that this is not circumstantial, but that recent policy initiatives are the real driver. To put this into reverse, the government must think again about 1) the early career framework; 2) the ITT market review; 3) finances; and 4) school working conditions.
The sector – for now – contains the expertise it needs to offer localised, contextualised teacher education, drawing in creative individuals who wish to become critically reflective professionals. Division and uncertainty, however, will squander this.
Privatisation, centralisation and standardisation will give us poorly paid, stressed-out technicians delivering ‘teacher-proof’ scripts. Young people are already rejecting this. We must call for an urgent change in direction.
