This week, the House of Commons Education Select Committee published its report on the recruitment and retention of teachers. The report provides a number of recommendations for improving recruitment, especially in shortage subjects such as modern languages. It also outlines recommendations for ensuring retention of teachers in the profession, reflecting the current focus on addressing an unmanageable workload and constant policy changes.
The Association for Language Learning’s President, Dr Anna Lise Gordon comments below on the report and the role of the Association and its members in offering support to develop and nurture the MFL teaching community.
“The Association for Language Learning (ALL) welcomes the report and, in particular, the emphasis on ‘high-quality, relevant continuing professional development’ which is essential to meet the ‘subject-specific knowledge and skills’ of a teacher. As a professional subject association, we aim to respond to the CPD needs of our members in a variety of ways – through our website, journals and publications, as well as through a rich programme of events in our branches, networks and hubs, and the annual Language World conference. This is possible thanks to the energy and commitment of volunteer members, who freely share their passion for MFL teaching and learning with others, and the oversight and responsiveness of ALL’s dedicated staff members.
The report recommends a ‘culture of wellbeing’ and a ‘culture of learning’ among its teachers and I know that many members rely on the collaborative spirit at ALL events to provide much-needed inspiration at times.
With a rising secondary school population, we will need more MFL teachers than ever. What can ALL and its members do to help in response to this report? We encourage all our members, in collaboration with ITT providers, to be involved in encouraging and motivating the next generation of teachers, ensuring that they have a secure and supportive environment to grow as a teacher. We would also urge you to promote ALL within your own networks and encourage colleagues to join in the various CPD events.
With the Education Select Committee, our shared aim at ALL is to improve teaching and learning for young people in schools with a specific focus on MFL, of course.”