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Abstract
The recruitment crisis for teachers in England has led to policy reforms which have significantly deregulated the sector, introduced market mechanisms to mimic aspects of the private sector and set providers in competition with one another. Leaders in Initial Teacher Education (ITE), from both schools and universities in England, were interviewed to understand their experiences of working in this policy context. Responses are analysed to reveal an emerging hierarchy in ITE provision. The research uses Bourdieu’s theoretical and methodological frame to make sense of the current field of ITE and conceptualises the providers as ‘agents’ working in the field who use capital to improve their position in the market. Teacher recruitment remains in crisis, and findings suggest that current reforms, rather than solving recruitment problems, are creating complex and unequal playing fields for both providers and applicants, which may be contributing to the continued crisis.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 ITE will be used to refer to the preparation of pre-service teachers, but the term Initial Teacher Training or ITT is frequently used in the sector and the literature to mean something similar.
2 School Direct is a school-led training route, which often involves collaboration with university partners depending on the level of qualification the school offers trainees. The School Direct route is offered as either a salaried route, which is more like a graduate training programme, learning to teach as you work as a salaried teacher or as a tuition fee route, which means that the student teacher pays fees and as such is not an employee of the school but a student learning to teach. In some cases a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) is gained on School Direct routes. In all cases the trainee will obtain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), which is, in effect, a license to teach.
3 Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. Ofsted inspects services providing education and skills for learners of all ages and services that care for children and young people. Providers are graded as ‘Outstanding’, ‘Good’, ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’
4 Schools that are funded directly by central government, not a local authority.
5 Teaching Schools are those judged to be ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. They partner with other schools to take a lead role in training and developing teachers, leading ITE routes, such as School Direct.
6 A teacher training route which is designed and delivered by groups of neighbouring schools and colleges and has the power to award QTS. They may collaborate with universities to offer a PGCE alongside QTS, but not all do.
7 A group of 24 research-intensive universities in the UK who are committed to maintaining world-class research and excellence in teaching and learning.
8 The REF is a review process undertaken by HE research funding bodies to provide accountability for public investment in research and produce evidence of the benefits of this investment, to benchmark universities and inform the allocation of funding for research.
9 An employment-based route into teaching, which offers graduates a two year postgraduate diploma in education (PGDE) which is achieved alongside ‘on the job’ training, in which the trainee is both an employee of the school and also a university student with an affiliated university.
10 Groups of schools who are in partnership with one another. They receive funding directly from the government and make their own financial decisions. They often share policies, approaches, organisation, share expertise etc. They can range from small networks of 5-6 to extensive national networks in excess of 40. They are often run on business lines and may use a branding and marketing to promote themselves.
11 Newly Qualified Teachers
12 ‘Core’ PGCE places refers to university-led PGCE places, rather than any school-led routes. These were places allocated to the university by the NCTL and allowed universities to recruit students for these courses.
13 MillionPlus is an association for modern universities in the UK.
14 This route is often suitable for those individuals who are already working as unqualified teachers and wish to gain QTS only, there is no postgraduate study or qualification attached to this route.
15 This route offers a non-graduate route into teaching for ex-service personnel to qualify as a teacher and leads to an undergraduate degree and QTS.