State of Education Report 2017 state-of-education-booklet-Final-WEB | Page 39

Governor perspective In your opinion, what would do most to encourage more people to get into teaching? Six most-cited answers 79% Better work-life balance Managing staff wellbeing and morale is expected to be a challenge over the next academic year for 47% of school governors. When it comes to teacher recruitment and retention, one-third (33%) of primary school governors and half (51%) of secondary school governors expect to face a challenge, which chimes with the views of their school leader counterparts. For governing boards in primary schools, the recruitment and retention of governors is more pressing: four in 10 (43%) expect this to be a challenge in the year ahead, alongside three in 10 (31%) governors in secondary schools. Employers providing more time off for their staff to be governors would do most to encourage more people into the role and therefore help solve this problem, according to almost a quarter (24%) of those surveyed. The government also has a role to play: one-fifth (19%) of governors think that government efforts to raise the profile of this volunteer role could help bring more people into school governance. More than one in 10 (13%) governors thinks that making the role paid would help. 52% Better pay and benefits 45% More positive reporting about teaching in the media 32% Reduced working hours A fifth (20%) of governors expect senior leadership recruitment and retention to pose a challenge for them over the 2017/18 academic year, with little difference between school phase (20% in primary schools and 23% in secondaries). Two-thirds (67%) think that a better work-life balance would do most to encourage more people to become headteachers, and better leadership training is key for over a third (35%). Once again, the role of the media comes into play: 35% of governors believe more people would be encouraged into headship if education was reported on more favourably in the press. 14% Lower tuition fees for teacher training 12% A different approach to teacher training <1% – Don’t know <1% – None of the above MORE ABOUT THE KEY: WWW.THEKEYSUPPORT.COM PAGE 39