Plymouth Marjon University Repository
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Understanding the challenges of teacher recruitment and retention for ‘educationally isolated’ schools in England
No full textIn this chapter we use the concept of ‘educational isolation’ to develop an understanding of the place-based contextual school challenges of teacher recruitment and retention in England. We start the chapter with a discussion of our research underpinning the conceptualisation and resulting definition of educational isolation. We suggest that, in England, educationally isolated schools are typically coastal and rural in location, and should be defined as ‘schools experiencing limited access to resources for school improvement, resulting from challenges of school location’.
We explore the specific issues that leaders of educationally isolated schools have with teacher recruitment and retention. Key challenges include: reduced local infrastructure caused by geographical remoteness, such as high and low housing costs; poor / no public transport, making these areas unattractive or untenable for potential employees (low recruitment); socio-economic deprivation creating greater challenges for school improvement, leading to high levels of staff churn (low retention); and cultural isolation with few / no other schools within the area to provide opportunities for different employment, resulting in a lack of staff churn (high retention). We conclude the chapter by identifying how Ofsted and other educational stakeholders are now considering the place-based contextual issues of educational isolation in school performance and by sharing recommendations aimed at bringing greater equity for educationally isolated schools in recruiting and retaining teachers
Sense-making of educational policy and workforce supply for small schools in England
No full textIn this chapter, we explore the political context in which small schools in England function, and argue that the English education system appears to be designed for large urban schools and groups of schools (multi-academy trusts [MATs]) to the detriment of small schools (even potentially when part of a multi-academy trust). We consider three key areas of educational policy that could potentially have a negative effect on small schools: the development of varied school types (e.g., academy; local authority maintained) and the preference for large MATs; the national school funding formula and different expectations for school budget management by school type; and the statutory requirement for the same national school performance measures for all school types (regardless of size).
We consider how we can ‘make sense’ of these key areas of educational policy in our understanding of small schools and their workforce supply. We discuss the challenges and opportunities that school type, funding and performance data create for small school leaders and school teachers. These challenges and opportunities are considered as a proxy for the attractiveness of working in a small school and therefore the way in which this affects recruitment and retention. We argue that a shift of government focus is required to address the current disadvantages experienced by small schools. Educational policymakers need to consider the specific contextual challenges, such as school size, and adjust standards and funding to reflect these: considering the often hidden ‘small is a failed big’ assumptions that can influence political decisions (Luke & Cade, 2017). For small schools to sustain and recruit a high-quality workforce, the removal of policy-related challenges is essential
Afterword
No full textThe international context of an efficient, appropriate and sustained supply of high quality teachers is one of great concern. The authors in this book demonstrate that there is an international discord between the actions of ‘agencies’ that control the training and development of teachers and the recommendations of experts on teacher education in relation to teacher recruitment and retention. This dissonance challenges sensibility, in that we should be working together to ensure that we have enough quality teachers to educate the increasing world population
Recognising and respecting the profession of teaching in a time of national crisis
Get PDFThis is, perhaps, not a typical Impact editorial – but we are not in typical times. School leaders, teachers and school support staff across the country have demonstrated exceptional courage during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, courage which, as Winston Churchill observed, has assured all of the professional qualities inherent in school culture (Churchill, 2005, p. 169):
“Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because, … it is the quality which guarantees all others.
“It’s a Lot Less Hassle and a Lot More Fun”: Factors That Sustain Teachers’ Enthusiasm for and Ability to Deliver Sport Education
No full textPurposes: (a) To describe how more experienced and expert teachers interpreted and delivered sport education (SE) during their careers and (b) to discover and describe factors within their occupational socialization that sustained the teachers’ enthusiasm for and ability to deliver SE.
Method: Participants were nine teachers. Primary data sources were formal interviews. Secondary supporting sources were documents and film. They were analyzed by employing standard interpretive methods. Credibility and trustworthiness were established through a search for discrepant and negative cases and member checking.
Findings: At different times in their careers, the teachers delivered SE in one of four ways: watered down, through a cafeteria approach, the full version, and the full+ version. A number of factors from their acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization enabled the teachers to deliver the full+ version or led to them delivering other versions of the model.
Conclusions: The findings allow us to make practical suggestions for preservice and inservice teacher education that may help university faculty facilitate the teaching of SE
The National Youth Work Curriculum: A process-based curriculum?
No full textIn this article, Jon Ord explores different theories and forms of curricula and uses these to analyse and critique the new National Curriculum for Youth Work that has just been published by England's National Youth Agency (NYA). He concludes that the curriculum the NYA have developed does not fit with youth work's focus on process over content, and that more flexible alternatives were possible
The Effects of Midfoot Strike Gait Retraining on Impact Loading and Joint Stiffness
Get PDFObjective: To assess the biomechanical changes following a systematic gait retraining to modify
footstrike patterns from rearfoot strike (RFS) to midfoot strike (MFS). Design: Pre-post interventional
study. All participants underwent a gait retraining program designed to modify footstrike pattern to
MFS. Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Twenty habitual RFS male runners participated.
Main Outcome Measures: Gait evaluations were conducted before and after the training. Footstrike
pattern, loading rate (LR), ankle and knee joint stiffness were compared. Results: Participants’
footstrike angle was reduced (p<0.001, Cohen’s d=1.65) and knee joint stiffness was increased
(p=0.003, Cohen’s d=0.69). No significant difference was found in the vertical loading rates (p>0.155).
Further sub-group analyses were conducted on the respondents (n=8, 40% of participants) who exhibited
MFS for over 80% of their footfalls during the post-training evaluation. Apart from the increased knee
joint stiffness (p=0.005, Cohen’s d=1.14), respondents exhibited a significant reduction in the ankle
joint stiffness (p=0.019, Cohen’s d=1.17) when running with MFS. Conclusions: Gait retraining to
promote MFS was effective in reducing runners’ footstrike angle, but only 40% of participants
responded to this training program. The inconsistent training effect on impact loading suggests a need
to develop new training protocols in an effort to prevent running injuries
Effect of minimalist and maximalist shoes on impact loading and footstrike pattern in habitual rearfoot strike trail runners: an in-field study
Get PDFRunning-related injuries among trail runners are very common and footwear selection may modulate the injury risk. However, most previous studies were conducted in a laboratory environment. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of two contrasting footwear design, minimalist (MIN) and maximalist shoes (MAX), on the running biomechanics of trail runners during running on a natural trail. Eighteen habitual rearfoot strike trail runners completed level, uphill and downhill running at their preferred speeds in both shod conditions. Peak tibial acceleration, strike index and footstrike pattern were compared between the two footwear and slopes. Interactions of footwear and slope were not detected for all the selected variables. There was no significant effect from footwear (F=1.23, p=0.27) and slope (F=2.49, p=0.09) on peak tibial acceleration and there was no footwear effect on strike index (F=3.82, p=0.056). A significant main effect of slope on strike index (F=13.24, p<0.001) was found. Strike index during uphill running was significantly greater (i.e., landing with a more anterior foot strike) when compared with level (p<0.001, Cohen’s d=1.72) or downhill running (p<0.001, Cohen’s d=1.44) in either MIN or MAX. The majority of habitual rearfoot strike runners switched to midfoot strike during uphill running while maintaining a rearfoot strike pattern during level or downhill running. In summary, wearing either one of the two contrasting footwear (MIN or MAX) demonstrated no effect on impact loading and footstrike pattern in habitual rearfoot strike trail runners running on a natural trail with different slopes
Exploring Teacher Recruitment and Retention: Contextual Challenges from International Perspectives
No full textThis thought-provoking collection examines the challenge of teacher shortages that is of international concern. It presents multiple perspectives, and explores the commonalities and differences in approaches, from around the world to understand possible solutions for the current teacher workforce crisis.
Acknowledging that solutions to attract and retain teachers vary by country, region and in some cases locality, the contributors scrutinise a range of workforce planning interventions at local and government level, including financial incentives and early career support.
The book draws on different perspectives to understand a range of problems that negatively affect teacher recruitment and retention, unpicking key challenges, including links between the disadvantages of location and access to teachers for coastal and rural schools, rising pupil numbers, declining school budgets and the role of professional learning in raising teacher status.
Abundant in critiques, research informed positions and context-specific discussions about the impact of teacher workforce supply and shortages, this book will be valuable reading for teacher educators, educational leaders, education policy makers and academics in the field