A major new survey carried out by the Claim Your College coalition reveals that 80% of respondents surveyed viewed the ambitions of the College of Teaching, a new independent chartered professional body for the teaching profession, as valuable.
The new survey of over 13,000 teachers, carried out by The Education Company, highlights that teachers are ready for change:
- 68.4% indicated that the College of Teaching should be community led by teachers and should include others working in the education field
- So far 45% of teachers have heard of a College of Teaching – a positive indicator for an organisation that does not yet exist.
- The top five ranked ‘extremely valuable’ or ‘valuable’ membership benefits were:
– Professional knowledge sharing – 91.2%
– A common code of practice – 87.5%
– Professional development – 85.9%
– Recognition by schools – 84.1%
– Professional standards – 82.0%.
- Almost a third said that they would be willing to contribute to a crowd-funding campaign to help found the College of Teaching.
- Half indicated they would be willing to match fund start-up ‘no strings’ grants from government or philanthropists.
- Over six in 10 (63.1%) indicated that they would consider paying an annual membership fee to be part of the College of Teaching.
Half [of survey respondents] indicated they would be willing to match fund start-up ‘no strings’ grants from government or philanthropists
The College of Teaching proposal, put forward by the Claim Your College coalition in February 2015, is based on extensive consultation with the teaching profession and backed by more than 400 educational organisations and prominent individuals.
The survey follows the launch of the recruitment for the appointment of 13 founding trustees at www.collegeofteachingtrustees.com – a process that has been enabled thanks to a generous grant from The Mercers’ Charitable Foundation and other philanthropic donations.
Angela McFarlane, Chief Executive of the College of Teachers and a representative for the Claim Your College coalition, says ‘A key challenge facing those working to establish a new College of Teaching has been attracting a critical mass of teachers who want to rally around the call to think differently about professionalism in teaching.
‘This new survey suggests the message is getting out there and more than 80% seek the benefits a new College would offer. 50% – more than had heard of the College before the survey – indicated they would be willing to match fund start-up ‘no strings’ grants from philanthropists or government. This is great news as we prepare to recruit the founding trustees.’
Anne-Marie Duguid, Head of Teaching and Learning for SSAT and part of the Claim Your College coalition, added ‘There is so much ground work to build on for the founding trustees in September. The appetite is building and teachers are now starting to believe this is to become a reality. When we as a profession look back in five years’ time, we will realise what a privilege it has been to be part of the formation of something so important for the sector.’
The appetite is building and teachers are now starting to believe this is to become a reality
Iain Hulland, a member of the Leading Edge Steering Group working to facilitate developments in Lancashire and the North West of England, says ‘Every single professional with whom I have spoken – and there have been very many – strongly supports the concept of the College of Teaching, the moral purpose underpinning it, the proposed scope of its work and the quality of thinking that has gone into it.
‘There is still much to do to ensure everyone is made fully aware and given their right to play their part. This is all about the profession owning, in every sense, its College and with the enthusiasm I am seeing this can only be a matter of time. Thank you to everyone who has worked to get us this far.’
This is all about the profession owning, in every sense, its College and with the enthusiasm I am seeing this can only be a matter of time
The 2015 survey results highlight an increase in awareness and appetite from three previous surveys conducted by the Prince’s Teaching Institute (PTI), the Sutton Trust and the Times Education Supplement (TES) respectively.
Each involving 1200-1500 individuals, these surveys highlighted approximately 40% of teachers were in favour; 40% wanted to know more and 20% were not in favour.
To find out more about Claim Your College, visit www.claimyourcollege.org or follow on Twitter @CollOfTeaching #CollegeOfTeaching #ClaimYourCollege.
For further information on the recruitment of founding trustees, closing at noon on the 16th June 2015, visit www.collegeofteachingtrustees.com or read the Claim Your College press release.
The full methodology of the survey can be seen in the College of Teaching survey results report available from www.claimyourcollege.org.
