After you’ve been in education a while, you find yourself as the old one sitting in the corner pointing out how the latest educational wheeze is merely a repetition of something that came around 15 years ago, and it will soon be seen as outdated once again.

Eager young teachers often dismiss such warnings, and launch themselves enthusiastically into the latest scheme, sure that it’s going to be the golden bullet that changes things for them. Wiser new teachers take heed, and perhaps just question one or two things before making the best of the situation before them. Very rarely does a new teacher decide to side with the old curmudgeon. And who can blame them? If nothing else, surely youth is a time for trying out new things, and changing the world.

The trouble is, with retention being what it is, we’re rapidly losing some of those curmudgeons who carry with them a wealth of knowledge, and we’re not quite replacing the necessary supply of cynicism that is required in the job.

And frankly, it’s a rather inefficient way of tackling problems anyway - each generation going through the same cycle of wasting time on gimmicks that they later warn new teachers about. There has to be a better way.

There is, of course, an exception to the rule of the new keen teacher, willing to spend their time on anything as they build their career: the career-changer has far less to gain from grabbing everything put in front of them, and often they have much experience that highlights some of the snake oil for what it is.

Healthy scepticism

If we could recruit more mature trainees into the profession, perhaps they might start off with that healthy scepticism that otherwise takes years to develop. How often do we find ourselves rolling our eyes at what is being done, and questioning whether such things would happen in “normal jobs”? Yet there are too few members of our profession who have such experience that allows them to compare the situations. Increasingly, we hear rumours of school chains recruiting cohorts of newly qualified teachers only to see them burn out within a few years and be replaced by a new load from the nearby university. Wouldn’t it be marvellous if each of those cohorts was blessed with a few mature graduates, people who had seen a bit of the world, who could make real comparisons with what happens elsewhere?

Mature trainees bring plenty of other benefits. Often they have experience that helps to make them a better teacher from the off, whether in travel, industry or trade, or the trials of raising a family. They’re no less enthusiastic, but perhaps they have slightly wiser heads on their shoulders.

We’re not quite replacing the necessary supply of cynicism that is required in the job

Young teachers shouldn’t be offended; I’m not suggesting for a moment that being 22 is a problem in teaching. Only that we need a balance - and I’m not sure we have that yet. In some schools, there is a lack of experience of other settings, with many teachers having worked there since qualifying. Again, in itself, it’s not an issue, but what if everyone is the same?

Many more schools face the problem of having little experience from outside the profession. Filling the profession with former estate agents wouldn’t be a solution - any more than the bizarre Troops to Teachers plan - but a healthy balance ought to include those with experience of other sectors and worlds. If only so that every now and then we have a voice of reason to stand up and say “This is bonkers” when the latest educational fad crops up.

The question is, how do we persuade them to join us?

Michael Tidd is deputy head at Edgewood Primary School in Nottinghamshire