Put a group of teachers together, and one topic they will all agree on is that time constrains everything.
The more fortunate will work in a school where the senior leadership recognises this and looks for opportunities to change, re-route or do away with the unnecessary, to allow teachers to focus on teaching and learning.
One facet that seems perennially untouched and remains stuck in a previous era is the process of job applications. Having completed innumerable forms as I prepared to return from overseas in 2022, it struck me that this process did not really showcase anything other than my ability to do just that.
It was, as Jarvis Cocker put it, “the same events shuffled in a slightly different order.” How can it be a good thing that applications feel less personalised at a time when schools need leaders and teachers who understand the importance of the personal touch?
“They did not really showcase anything other than my ability to fill in forms.”
Other than adding school logos and preferences for the length and weighting given to different sections on their forms, all schools are essentially asking for the same information. To make this easier for both the schools and prospective candidates, perhaps it is time to consider alternative approaches.
Harness the power of LinkedIn
Education has been slower than other sectors to recognise the business networking platform as a powerful tool. If kept updated on a regular basis, teachers’ profiles would allow professional development, education and skills to be showcased and tracked. This way, when a job of interest arose and the governing body or headteacher posted the details on LinkedIn, those interested could send a link to their profile and then complete a (minimal) online form only if contacted by the headteacher or HR manager. It would limit the amount of information duplication and begin to personalise what is being submitted.
Move to a national online system
Another approach would be to have a national online portal, activated once QTS is received, where teachers add details of their qualifications from A-Levels onwards, along with postgraduate qualifications, teaching roles held, professional development and relevant experience from outside of school, including voluntary or charitable work.
The idea behind this, is that it is permanently “live” and therefore this is what can be checked when teachers are applying for jobs; the only part that would need writing is a letter of application.
“There must be a better way of hiring people than the systems we currently have.”
Along with this, all teaching staff would move to the “portable” model of DBS whilst employed. All staff would subscribe to the update service once their initial enhanced check had been carried out – that way, checks could be carried out more quickly and reduce the amount of time taken for a role to begin.
Whatever is decided, there must be a better way of hiring people than the systems we currently have. The current recruitment and retention crisis is a perfect storm for reflection, as those at college, sixth form and university increasingly turn away from teaching as a profession.
“We cannot expect pupils to be innovators if we are not prepared to take some risks ourselves.”
Those entering the workforce now – and those of us who have been in it for several years – will stop before they even get to their first application, because the repetitive completion of ten-page forms is now an anachronism.
Both maintained and independent sectors need to work together with those in educational recruitment to change this practice and ensure that we attract and retain the best teachers: in the way that we bring them into our profession and allow a smoother flow within it.
We cannot expect those in our care to be innovators if we are not prepared to take some risks ourselves.