TTR0007

Written evidence submitted by Hannah Ruth McCarthy

Evidence submitted by: Hannah Ruth McCarthy. Lecturer in the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University. PhD Candidate in the Manchester Institute of Education at the University of Manchester. Former Further Education teacher and current researcher into policy change and the development of professional identities o-f Further Education practitioners in England. Outside of Higher Education, I have over 6 years of experience within teaching and management in a variety of large FE colleges across the North of England.

I submit the below evidence from a combination of my qualitative research with Further Education (FE) practitioners and also through my extensive academic study of the formation of professional identities within FE and education in England more widely. I therefore am submitting evidence to the first three questions of the select committee's call, as this is where my expertise best lies. The below evidence is submitted regarding the context of contemporary FE in England only.

What are the main factors leading to difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified teachers?

How does the situation differ across the country and across different types of schools and colleges?

In relation to the contemporaneous FE context within England, I submit the following  evidence relating to the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers. There are a myriad number of contributions which are left out from the section below (workload, to name one), as I instead choose to focus on themes which I have identified within my qualitative academic research.

It is well documented within academic literature that FE practitioners have struggled since its inception to form a cohesive sense of professional identity or purpose within their roles, largely due to both the breadth of educational pathways which FE offers and the enormous range of students with whom the sector works (Orr, 2012). Throughout the sector’s history, FE practitioners have been subject to an enormity of well-documented policy change, both at a structural and a curricula level (Wright et al., 2021).

With a particular focus on T-Levels and technical educational reform, FE leaders and practitioners have reflected within my qualitative research (conducted throughout the years of 2021 – 2022) that they have at times experienced a lack of clarity in relation to the T-Level roll out (Gregory and McCarthy, 2022). Stakeholders reflected on receiving inadequate support from government and awarding organisations, preparing for the initial waves of T-Levels in the midst of supporting students and staff through the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, FE teachers and leaders within both wider literature and my own research reflect on their perceived low status within the wider education sector, policy and political/social discourse, feeling both undervalued, unrecognised and insignificant in terms of their vital contributions to education and society (Orr, 2013). Participants across my research projects generally describe a lack of agency felt by teachers within the sector.  Restrictions on agency are alluded to through a perceived lack of consultation and a lack of appropriate time schedules during the initial T-Level roll out, or through the amplification of other voices (employers) above their own in relation to curriculum and assessment design (Gregory and McCarthy, 2022).

Whilst FE’s reclassification as a public sector body (away from their 30 year status as independent corporations) will go some way to alleviating annual fears amongst staff surrounding student recruitment, retention and achievement, the experiences of those working within the sector should give those in government, Minsterial office, and policy-making decisions pause for reflection. Researchers within the field and practitioners across the sector agree on the necessity of policy conversations beginning to amplify and extoll the societal virtues of further education (GOV.UK, 2022; GOV.UK, 2022). Yet, systemic issues of teacher recruitment and retention will not be resolved unless policymakers address a suite of issues within our sector. Merely located within the realm of pay and workload, poor teacher recruitment and retention can also be located within the historic sense of under-representation of the voices and experiences of FE and those who work within it within political and social discourse (Orr, 2012, Orr, 2013). If policymakers are to situate FE practitioners and leaders as the ‘engine room’ of the economy, they must be given the adequate space, time, resource, support and recognition for their contributions.

Gregory, E. and McCarthy, H.R. (2022) T-Levels: more vocational courses roll out – but post-16 choices in England are still limited, The Conversation. Available at: http://theconversation.com/t-levels-more-vocational-courses-roll-out-but-post-16-choices-in-england-are-still-limited-192785 (Accessed: 23 March 2023).

Levelling Up the United Kingdom (2022) GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-the-united-kingdom (Accessed: 28 June 2022).

Melia, T.P. (1995) ‘Quality and Its Assurance in Further Education’, Cambridge Journal of Education, 25(1), pp. 35–44. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764950250104.

Orr, K. (2012) ‘Coping, confidence and alienation: The early experience of trainee teachers in English further education’, Journal of Education for Teaching, 38(1), pp. 51–65. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2012.643656.

Orr, K. (2013) ‘Cultures, colleges and the development of ideas about teaching in English further education’, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 18(4), pp. 377–388. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2013.847173.

Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022 - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament (2022). Available at: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/2868 (Accessed: 28 June 2022).

Wright, V. et al. (2021) ‘Exploring the professionalisation of further education teachers in England’. Available at: https://wlv.openrepository.com/handle/2436/624394 (Accessed: 9 November 2021).

March 2023