Where have all the flowers gone? An investigation into the retention of religious education teachers

Abstract

The authors dedicate this article to the memory of Canon Gordan Pavey 1919–2007: priest, teacher and loving friend.

This article reports on an investigation into the retention of secondary religious education teachers trained at one institution over a ten‐year period. The initial hypothesis was that many of these teachers would no longer be teaching, or would no longer be teaching religious education. However, the authors found that a high percentage of respondents were still teaching religious education. The article then analyses the ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors that underlie this finding. Factors affecting retention are described and illustrated, making extensive use of qualitative data. The authors found that the overriding reason for continuing to teach religious education, despite the discouragements, was commitment to the subject: love of subject, belief in the value of the subject for pupils, a sense of vocation. The authors suggest therefore that, should these findings be replicated in other studies, a more useful hypothesis might be that a strong sense of vocation is a predominant factor in the retention of religious education teachers.

Keywords:

• Teacher retention
• Religious education teachers
• Vocation

Notes

1. ‘Special Measures’ refers to a school that has been found on inspection to be failing.

2. ‘KS5’ refers to the 16–19 age/phase of secondary school.