Recruitment and Retention in the Post-16 Learning and Skills Sector

More documents

Recommendations

Info

3.6 Prior experience covered the whole range of industry sectors, the mostcommon were:• health and social work;• other services;• retail trade;• education;• public administration/defence.3.7 Those in work based learning were more likely to have previouslyworked in industry, while those in further education and adult andcommunity learning were more likely to have had no experience or tohave worked as a teacher.3.8 Qualitative research confirms that most entrants did not begin theircareer with a clear ambition to go into teaching/training in the post-16sector. Thus, routes into the sector do not conform to a ‘traditional’pathway direct from university or initial training.3.9 Qualitative findings explore these routes further:• entrants from industry;• entrants from teaching;• entrants with no previous experience.Entrants from Industry3.10 Many entrants from industry had experience of training or assessment –in some cases this informed their decision to go into teaching as theyrealised that they held an aptitude for, or enjoyed, teaching.3.11 These entrants had worked in subjects as diverse as lab demonstration,parachute instruction and cookery – often acting as work basedassessors. Many left industry due to stress, or a desire to do something‘more worth while'. These kinds of motivations included passing on oradvancing their own knowledge, and contributing to the sector andpractices within it: “I saw it as an opportunity to contribute to the wayapprentices are treated within the industry” [Work Based Learning].3.12 It was also common for entrants from industry to go into teaching inorder to return to the subject they loved, with a reasonable proportionindicating that they had always had teaching or training ‘at the back oftheir minds’: “after the children were a bit older I just wanted to return tomaths – it was my first love”.25
Entrants from Teaching3.13 Respondents who entered the post-16 sector after working for sometime in secondary or primary school teaching had mostly trained inteaching or completed a PGCE directly after university. A smallproportion trained in teaching later in their twenties or during theirthirties. Most respondents from the schools sector indicated that theyhad not been aware of the post-16 sector at the beginning of theircareer.3.14 The most frequently cited rationale for leaving school-teaching centredon discipline and learner motivation, many mentioned this as theirprimary motivation and most included it as a factor in their decision tomove:• “I don’t get rewarded for getting a student to sit still and behave,what I enjoy doing is delivering my subject” [Further Education];• “[adults] are only there because they want to learn” [Adult andCommunity Learning];• “I was tired of spending my time ‘lion taming’ [in school]” [FurtherEducation].3.15 Teachers coming from both primary and secondary school also indicatedthat a desire to change their relationship with their main subject area hadplayed a role in their move into the post-16 sector. Some primary schoolteachers expressed a desire to return to their subject, and secondaryschool teachers tended to want to teach at a higher level or hoped forgreater flexibility in what aspects of their subject they would teach.3.16 A proportion of female respondents with prior teaching experienceentered the sector after having children because school teaching lackedthe flexibility to fit around their family responsibilities.Entrants with No Previous Experience3.17 Only a small number of respondents join the sector early in their careerafter qualifying as a teacher via the PGCE route. Of those who do joinas ‘new entrants’, after a teaching degree, very few embarked onteacher training with the expectation of working in the post-16 sector.Rather, this small sub-group tend to ‘discover’ the post-16 sector,specifically further education, whilst on their post-graduate course.Teaching in the post-16 sector is not a career that undergraduates areparticularly aware of or aspire to:• “once you have done a PGCE in science, you don’t automaticallythink that is appropriate to go on and do FE or HE” [FurtherEducation];26
Page 1 and 2: RESEARCHRecruitment and Retention i
Page 3 and 4: ContentsPage1 INTRODUCTION ........
Page 5 and 6: of respondents), closely followed b
Page 7 and 8: 32. Key concerns where resources we
Page 9 and 10: 52. The most common qualification h
Page 11 and 12: Definitions1.5 A number of terms ha
Page 13 and 14: • at what point in their career t
Page 15 and 16: 1.16 Key question areas relevant to
Page 17 and 18: 2 METHODOLOGY AND PROFILE OF RESPON
Page 19 and 20: 2.13 Prior to the main survey, a fu
Page 21 and 22: Ethnic Background2.22 Nine out of t
Page 23 and 24: Types of Provision2.26 In addition
Page 25 and 26: Table 2.10: What are the main subje
Page 27 and 28: • HR Managers views on the reason
Page 29 and 30: Table 2.15: Total StaffStatus ‘Oc
Page 31 and 32: 2.44 A total of 113 in-depth interv
Page 33: 3 MOTIVATION TO JOIN THE SECTOR3.1
Page 37 and 38: Vocational Reasons3.21 This is the
Page 39 and 40: • “I met one of the managers at
Page 41 and 42: Perceptions of Entry Routes4.6 A ma
Page 43 and 44: 4.13 In terms of finding suitable c
Page 45 and 46: 5 TURNOVER, VACANCIES AND HARD TO F
Page 47 and 48: 5.11 The major reason given for vac
Page 49 and 50: 5.16 Generally HR Managers did not
Page 51 and 52: Maths and Science• “there are i
Page 53 and 54: 5.27 Teacher/trainer respondents we
Page 55 and 56: Table 5.7: What could your organisa
Page 57 and 58: • “there is a shortage of maths
Page 59 and 60: 6 WORKING IN THE SECTOR6.1 This sec
Page 62 and 63: 6.9 Respondents working in further
Page 64 and 65: Figure 6.4: Respondents satisfied w
Page 66 and 67: Staff Who Have Considered Leaving6.
Page 68 and 69: Figure 6.7: Respondents who have ap
Page 70 and 71: • levels of satisfaction with the
Page 72 and 73: Figure 7.1: Respondents satisfied w
Page 74 and 75: Staff Attitudes7.8 Respondents were
Page 76 and 77: 7.14 Younger employees aged 18 to 3
Page 78 and 79: Personal Problems7.20 Respondents w
Page 80 and 81: • lack of administrative support.
Page 82 and 83: 8 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT8.1 Succe
Page 84 and 85:
8.8 Issues relating to involvement
Page 86 and 87:
• quality. A minority of responde
Page 88 and 89:
Table 8.2: Which Teaching Qualifica
Page 90 and 91:
9 GOVERNMENT STRATEGY9.1 Research t
Page 92 and 93:
Table 9.3: To what extent do you ag
Page 94 and 95:
10 CONCLUSIONS10.1 Recruitment and
Page 96 and 97:
Main Benefits and Drawbacks of Work
Page 98 and 99:
ANNEX AQUESTIONNAIRES
Page 100 and 101:
Section A: Background informationAS
Page 102 and 103:
6) Have any teaching posts been fil
Page 104 and 105:
CATI NOTE: routing from Q10 has bee
Page 106 and 107:
Q16a) And what is the main reason,
Page 108 and 109:
22) In which subjects are teaching
Page 110 and 111:
ASK IF YES AT Q25 A) OR C), OTHERS
Page 112 and 113:
33) To what extent do you agree or
Page 114 and 115:
DfES Recruitment and Retention Surv
Page 116 and 117:
8. Are your standard weekly working
Page 118 and 119:
• 5- less than 10• 10- less tha
Page 120 and 121:
• Any other training (please spec
Page 122 and 123:
28. What motivates you personally t
Page 124 and 125:
ASK ALL32. How satisfied or dissati
Page 126 and 127:
ASK ALL CODES 1-7 AT Q41, OTHERS (N
Page 128 and 129:
49. To which of the following group
show all

Recruitment and Retention in the Post-16 Learning and Skills Sector

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?