TTR0121

Written evidence submitted by John Parkin, Senior Lecturer Practitioner in Education

Response to Question 5: What particular challenges exist in teacher recruitment, training and retention for teachers from different demographic backgrounds? (How well does the demographic makeup of the teaching workforce reflect that of the pupils they teach?)

(1)    About John Parkin

1. John Parkin was a primary teacher for seventeen years and an assistant head teacher for seven of those years.  Most of his teaching career was as a Reception teacher teaching young children in their first year of school.  At one point, he was one of only two male Reception teachers in the county of Surrey. John became a Senior Lecturer Practitioner at Anglia Ruskin University in 2018, where he teaches and leads an undergraduate Primary Education Studies degree.  He is also a doctoral researcher investigating the lived experience of men studying a Primary Education Studies degree, on which they are a numerical minority.  He passionately believes that primary teaching is career that should be enjoyed by those from all genders.

                 (2) Response: statistics

2. In 2021, only 14% of primary school teachers were men in England (School Workforce Census, 2022).  This percentage has been stable since 2016.
3. A consequence of this low percentage of male primary school teachers is that 30% of English state-funded primary schools lack a single class-based male teacher (Fullard, 2022).

(3) Response: core issues

4. It is essential that primary school teachers reflect the diversity of children they teach and the communities they serve.  Men as potential trainee teachers and as qualified teachers face a number of societal challenges.  Stereotypes still exist that men lack the caring attributes needed to be a primary school teacher and that primary teaching is ‘women’s work’ (Burn and Pratt-Adams, 2015). Societal perceptions still exist that men working with young children are risky and a potential threat to children (Cruickshank et al, 2015).
5. Consequently, specific actions need to be undertaken by the Department for Education to attract more men to train as primary school teachers.  The current Department for Education ‘Recruitment and Retention Strategy’ (2019) does not include how the Department will attract potential teachers from a diverse range of backgrounds to the profession.
6. Research has also found that men are less likely to complete teacher training courses (Thornton, 1999; Burn and Pratt Adams, 2015).  Thornton and Bricheno (2006) identified a sense of isolation amongst some male trainee primary school teachers in England as they felt the centre of attention in a placement school, whilst simultaneously on the periphery of the school community.
7. My research is exploring motivations for men aspiring to become primary school teachers.  A significant factor for some of these men is the positive experience of having a male primary teacher when a child and seeing a man in a caring, educational role. This demonstrates that male primary school teachers could potentially inspire some boys to join the profession in the future.

(4) Response: actions to take

8. Steps need to be taken to increase the number of men recruited to initial teacher training courses. These include:

• The Department for Education creating and implementing a policy to increase the diversity of primary school teachers, with a target to increase the percentage of men training to become primary school teachers.
• The Department for Education funding regional events and activities to increase awareness of the need for men to become primary school teachers.  These activities need to include ‘Get into teaching’ seminars for men with male primary school teachers talking about their experiences of teaching and gender and paid placements in primary schools for male undergraduates to experience teaching before applying for initial teacher training.

(4) References

9. Burn, E. and Pratt-Adams, S., 2015. Men Teaching Children 3-11: Dismantling Gender Barriers. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Cruickshank, V., Pedersen, S., Hill, A. and Callingham, R., 2015. Construction and validation of a survey instrument to determine the gender-related challenges faced by pre-service male primary teachers.  International journal of research and method in education, 38(2), pp.184-199.

Department for Education, 2019.  Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy. 

Fullard, J., 2022. Teacher Diversity in England 2010 – 2021. Available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4384939

Thornton, M., 1999. Reducing Wastage among Men Student Teachers in Primary Courses: a male club approach.  Journal of education for teaching, 25(1), pp.41-53.

Thornton, M., and P. Bricheno. 2006. Missing men in education. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books.

School Workforce Census, 2022.  School workforce in England: November 2021. 

April 2023