‘Woo teachers from over border to plug vacancies’
Wales must promote itself better as a good place to be a teacher or school leader in order to address recruitment problems, the Wales director of international education recruitment service Eteach says.
Rod Bowen warned there are not enough teachers in Wales to fill vacancies for headteachers or for science, maths, English and modern foreign languages teachers.
Schools and local education authorities must try harder to woo talent from across the border by updating application processes and information, he said.
He told a Policy Forum for Wales conference in Cardiff that Wales is often seen by teachers from elsewhere in the UK as not being a viable place to apply for a job because of perceptions about what it is like to live and work here.
Mr Bowen, whose career spans three decades, including working as a teacher and head of department in England and Wales, said Eteach often hears from quality applicants that they are put off applying for work here because of issues ranging from the changing curriculum to language and outdated application processes.
After the conference he said: “Why are so many from outside Wales not wanting to develop their careers here? I give four reasons. There is a belief our increasingly different curriculum is so different that they would not be credible candidates. But the reality is that good practice is good practice whether in Middlesbrough or Mumbles.
“There is still a perception over the border that Wales is run by a boys’ and girls’ club and it’s who you know, not what you know. That’s not the case, but perceptions run deep. This information comes to me from candidates inquiring about jobs in Wales.
“There is also quite a widespread belief that to teach in Wales you must speak Welsh. We know in Wales that’s not the case and in some schools your ability to play the piano may be more important, depending on the school.
“Finally, our application process is too traditional. In Wales local education authorities are still king and queen of the HR department. They do what they did 20 years ago and advertise on behalf of schools although they have no recruitment expertise.”
Mr Bowen said potential candidates should be told what a beautiful place Wales can be to live and work, how housing can be cheaper than in many places around the UK and how our schools have a good sense of community. Application processes should also be shortened and modernised so applicants can apply via mobile devices easily and quickly.
“The strengths we have to offer are wide. Wales is an academy-free zone, lifestyle opportunities are fantastic. We have the Visit Wales campaign – why don’t we see something similar extolling education jobs in Wales?
“We don’t have enough homegrown teachers. We need to bring new blood because there are not enough teachers to go around. There is an acceptance recruitment is an issue in certain areas. Pinch points are heads and teachers and departmental heads in science, technology, English, maths and languages. These are subjects we are being measured on, but schools need the tools to do the job.”
The Policy Forum for Wales conference – Next Steps for the Teaching Workforce in Wales: Initial Teacher Education, Retention and Continuing Professional Development – was held as education policy in Wales focuses on improving teaching quality.
Education Secretary Kirsty Williams made a rallying cry to more than 200 headteachers on Tuesday to take on reforms and improve results and is announcing today new teaching standards to improve professional development and leadership.
In his annual report last month, Chief Inspector for Schools Meilyr Rowlands said education in Wales is showing signs of improvement but there is too much variability in quality of teaching and learning.