Ministers should investigate how schools can move away from a culture of “macho presenteeism” to help retain experienced women teachers and middle leaders, MPs have been told.
The recommendation is contained in newly published evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry on teacher recruitment and retention.
The Commons Education Select Committee has also received several calls for the government to do more to make teaching a more flexible profession.
In its submission to MPs, the Education Development Trust highlights the need for flexible working and also raises concern about the impact of school culture on retention levels.
It says: “The government should investigate the ‘hollowing-out’ of the profession, with a particular focus on how schools adapting more flexible working policies and evolving their culture away from ‘macho’ presenteeism can help retain experienced women teachers and middle leaders.”
The trust adds that there should be greater and more systematic support for multi-academy trusts and other partnerships in how to become an “employer of choice” in their area. It suggests this would be done by schools and trusts “focusing on fair, inclusive recruitment, creative approaches to flexible working and work/life support”.
It is one of a number of calls for the Department for Education to do more on flexible working in submissions published by the Commons Education Select Committee.
In its evidence, the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) has said that the DfE should define “flexibility” in the school context and trial innovative approaches.
The NIoT, which was established by the government to run teacher training and development last year, added that its “evidence suggests that schools are not currently equipped to deal with requests for flexibility, or even define what flexibility means”.
“The sector needs to go beyond ‘part-time’ as a solution to flexible working,” it said.
In its recommendations, Teacher Tapp says the department should consider “pay or flexible working incentives that may help attract and retain teachers in the face of other opportunities, particularly with regard to working from home”.
The National Governance Association (NGA) has also highlighted it as an issue. Its submission says: “We believe that flexible working also has a significant role to play in increasing recruitment and retention and supporting wellbeing in schools and trusts.
“NGA has been at the forefront promoting flexible working and encouraging governing boards to embed it in their policies and working practices of their school/trust.
“We welcome the DfE’s research and resources made available to promote flexible working in schools. However, we also recognise that teaching is a long way from being able to offer the level of flexibility that other graduate roles (with potentially higher salaries) offer and may therefore seem less appealing as a career choice.”
The DfE’s submission to the committee has a section addressing flexible working highlighting “a culture change programme to embed flexible working in schools and trusts” established earlier this year, adding that it planned to appoint up to 12 funded flexible working ambassador schools and trusts to provide bespoke peer support to leaders in education.
The submission also highlights that the department has an ongoing programme of research to help broaden its understanding of flexible working in schools and to target future intervention, including a “planned evaluation of the department’s funded flexible working programme 2023-25 to explore programme experiences, potential impact(s), and to inform our future flexible working strategy”.
However, it admitted “there is still more to be done”, and added that it will “continue to work with the sector to ensure schools and trusts have inclusive cultures and practices that support teacher wellbeing and retention”.
Earlier this month, government figures showed that state school teachers leaving the profession had hit the highest rate in four years last year.
