New research suggests that teachers’ perceived autonomy
over what they do in their jobs and how they do it is strongly
associated with greater job satisfaction and intention to stay in
the profession.
The analysis from the National Foundation for Educational
Research (NFER) is the first large-scale quantitative study of
teacher autonomy in England and its importance for retention.
Alongside the study, NFER have collaborated with the Teacher
Development Trust to bring together guidance on this research to
support schools to implement recommendations made through the
report.
Teachers report a
higher level of influence over classroom activities such as the
teaching methods they use and how they plan lessons, and lower
levels of autonomy over curriculum, assessment and their
professional development goals. On average, teachers also have a
lower level of autonomy over their work compared to similar
individuals in other professions.
The study finds that teachers’ perceived influence over
their professional development goal setting is the area most
associated with higher job satisfaction and greater intention to
stay in teaching. Around half of those with the lowest autonomy
reported they are intending to stay in teaching in the short
term, compared to more than 85 per cent of those with the highest
autonomy. One of the main
recommendations in the report is that school leaders should
harness teacher autonomy to benefit both pupils and staff when
considering policy and practice changes.
School Workforce Lead at NFER, Jack Worth
said, “Autonomy plays a significant role in teachers’
motivation. Giving teachers greater influence over how they do
their job has the potential to increase job satisfaction, which
in turn is important in tackling teacher retention. At a time
when the school system cannot afford to lose valuable teachers,
improving autonomy, workload, satisfaction and retention could
help address the teacher supply challenge.
“We recommend that school leaders and the Department
for Education should review how teacher professional development
is designed and delivered. When teachers have greater involvement
in their professional development goal-setting, and in school
decision-making more widely, they are motivated to perform and
stay in the profession.”
These latest findings come a year after the government
published its teacher recruitment and retention strategy. The
system faces a substantial and growing challenge of ensuring
adequate teacher supply, especially in the secondary sector.
Figures last year showed that despite the number of secondary
pupils rising for the fourth straight year, the number of
secondary teachers had declined, as it has done each successive
year since 2012. Improving teacher recruitment and retention is
one of the most important policy issues facing England's
education system today.
Ensuring that teachers have greater involvement in their
professional development goal setting is one of several positive
recommendations made by NFER. To coincide with the study, the
Teacher Development Trust has issued a resource designed to
support senior leaders in schools and Trusts to consider how to
give more autonomy in these areas, including a case study of a
school that has implemented this type of approach. This resource
explores how performance management and appraisal systems can
either support or hinder teacher autonomy over their professional
development goals.
Chief Executive David Weston of the Teacher Development
Trust said, “This report highlights how autonomy may be a
crucial key to solving the growing problem of teacher recruitment
and retention. There has been a welcome recent focus on teacher
workload but we know that what concerns teachers is not just the
amount of time worked, but the relevance of tasks they’re being
required to carry out. School leaders and policy makers need to
carefully consider how accountability and performance management
systems are supporting the right types of teacher autonomy,
raising morale and improving retention.
“Ultimately, we need to make a big investment in school
leaders’ understanding of effective professional development so
that we can act upon the findings from this report and wider
research.”
The free resource will be available to download via the
Teacher Development Trust website from Wednesday 29 January at
00.01am from tdtrust.org/autonomy20 .
