Redistributing excellence

This study has used teachers’ own voices to find out about motivations through a national survey of teachers generating over 800 responses and a small number of detailed group interviews with teachers in primary and secondary schools.
Generally teachers are telling us that they find such a scheme interesting. What we have learnt from teachers about why they are interested will be of use to any future workforce planning schemes. Our study found:

• Moral purpose is a key driver for teachers when considering job changes.Teachers interested in a relocation scheme appear more motivated by social justice than those who state they are not interested. All the teachers who would be willing to relocate reported that the greatest incentive to relocate was moral purpose.
• Teachers reported that being able to make a difference was important. The factors that teachers thought would support their ability to ‘make a difference’ included having support structures in place around them, and having the right soft skills alongside their professional knowledge and experience. This highlights the importance of design aspects within such a scheme – getting the right people and supporting them in post is vital to success teachers told us.
• As part of this package of support, teachers feel financial recognition for the work they are carrying out is important; pay or financial incentive is far more important for teachers considering a challenging and demanding relocation scheme than it is normally when considering a new job.
• Teachers also told us that they are looking for better career options ‘in the middle’ (as a teacher) and that relocation schemes that have the specific intention of tackling disadvantage and lower performing schools could help boost teacher retention.