Subtitled “How to solve the teacher retention crisis”, Dr Bousted deals with the bull elephant in the room. Recruiting teachers in England is hard, and so is keeping the ones who “sign up”. This has been the case for decades, and as far as I’m aware no Education Secretary has had the ability or the courage to deal with the situation.
In my opinion that would entail treating teachers like the professionals they are. What might that look like? For a start:
Get rid of Ofsted, the inspections agency, or give it a radical overhaul. It’s not fit for purpose, unless that purpose is to terrify teachers.
Stop coming out with so-called initiatives and …
… finish with the micromanagement.
As Pink Floyd never wrote, Leave our schools alone.
Anyway, Dr Bousted analyses the situation well, and suggests some interesting solutions. I’ve reviewed this book for Teach Secondary magazine, and I’ll publish my review here in due course. In the meantime, you might wish to read a few further thoughts of mine on the subject, in Crisis? What crisis?
What Now? is a general education newsletter written by Terry Freedman. It includes observations, rants, and a section on being a Head of Department in a secondary school. Do have a look and, hopefully, sign up for regular updates: