The First Years of Teaching RE

Research Summary: The First Years of Teaching RE

In general, most early career RE teachers are positive about the subject and their professional role. Most are content with the type of RE taught in their school. NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education) and social media network groups are their most widely used sources of professional support. Unease over pay, workload, curriculum or initial teacher education are the most cited reasons for leaving, and there is some strong negativity about the school system. Most respondents identify understanding of others’ beliefs and practices as RE’s purpose. At the same time, more specialist RE subject input is needed into early career RE teachers’ experience.

Researchers

Mark Plater

Research Institution

Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln

What is this about?

The research explores the experience of a cohort of early career RE teachers in England, as they enter the profession. Key questions include: How do they feel about the profession and their role? Are they content with the type of RE being taught? What are the reasons why some leave the profession? What are their sources of support, how do they feel about their initial teacher education, and what do they consider to be the main aims of RE?

What was done?

An online survey was completed by 31 early career RE teachers, at the end of their two-year induction programme. The data were analysed and a detailed report produced (the link to the full report is given below).

Main findings and outputs

There are detailed, varied main findings:

  1. A higher percentage of RE trainees (87%) secured teaching jobs in schools compared with trainees from many other school subjects (average=73%).
  2. Nearly half of this cohort (41%) had changed schools (or was planning to do so=16%) during, or at the end of their early career teacher induction period.
  3. Most early career (EC) RE teachers (78%) are positive about their role and about the profession, although some (22%) have mixed feelings; only one of those presently in teaching jobs planned to leave teaching in the near future.
  4. Most respondents (82%) have jobs in the type of school that they had hoped to teach in.
  5. Those leaving the profession cite pay (75%), workload (75%) and the constraints of curriculum (50%) or a poor ITE experience (50%) as reasons for their decision.
  6. Most EC RE teachers (85%) are content with the type of RE being taught in their school.
  7. Most EC RE teachers (85%) claim to devote eight or more hours to schoolwork per day, with some working 10-12 hours (15%) and even 13+ hours (7%).
  8. NATRE (National Association of Teachers of Religious Education) and social media RE support networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) continue to be the most used support structures (67% and 79% respectively) for these EC RE teachers.
  9. 41% EC RE teachers were content with their salary. A similar number (52%) would like a better work-life balance.
  10.  64% consider their initial teacher education course to be an excellent preparation (19%) or containing lots of useful preparation (45%) for their job as teachers. A further 10% consider it to be not much help, or a complete waste of time (3%), although it should be noted that these were all trainees who subsequently chose not to enter the profession.
  11.  In terms of the academic study element of their initial teacher education, 22% of respondents report this as very helpful, 52% as quite helpful, and 22% as unhelpful or even “wasted time and energy”. Again, most negative responses were provided by respondents who subsequently chose not to enter the profession.
  12.  Most respondents (82%) report being adequately supported in their early career induction period, although this drops to 74% who state satisfaction with the induction and training provided by their particular employing institution.
  13.  Although generally content with the overall support provided by their EC induction programme, 52% indicate that this was not tailored to their individual needs, and only 26% had received any subject specific training.
  14.  Only 12% indicate presently continuing studies for an M level qualification, although 35% plan to complete an M level qualification in the next five years.
  15.  Asked to identify what they considered to be the main aims of RE, the largest number (78%) identify “To enable pupils to appreciate other people’s beliefs and practices”.
  16.  33% report that their view on what RE is for, and what they hope to achieve through the subject, has changed since beginning teaching, with a further one third (33%) unsure if views have changed.

Relevance to RE

Four issues are highlighted for further reflection, some with direct relevance to RE:

  1. Those leaving the profession express very strong condemnation of the school system and of their experience of it. How should the RE subject community stand in relation to this?
  2. Early career induction is generally appreciated by new entrants to the profession, but they indicate that it lacks personalisation and subject-focus. How can more specialist RE input be ensured?
  3. Initial teacher education is generally appreciated as a preparation for entering the profession. However, what more can we learn from the feedback provided by the respondents?
  4. RE teaching attracts a wide range of people of different types and backgrounds. What can we learn from this data to attract the right kind of teachers for the future?

Generalisability and potential limitations

The survey was completed by 31 respondents. As the researcher states in the report, this means only a snap-shot of the experience of a select group; but the findings are of interest and might provide stimulus for further research.

Find out more

The full report is titled: The First Years of Teaching: Final Report on a study of Early Career secondary Religious Education teachers, 2020-2023. It can be accessed at: https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/1063/