#013- Iesha Small: Teacher retention and talent management

14th December 2017

Iesha Small is a Senior Associate at LKMco, teacher and former school leader. In this episode Iesha is interviewed by guest host, Anna Trethewey, Deputy Director of LKMco. They discuss Iesha’s report The Talent Challenge: The looming teacher retention crisis in England’s state schools and what to do about it.

In this episode Anna and Iesha discuss:

The importance of good line managers in helping teacher retention
How having no training budget shaped Iesha’s thoughts around professional development early in her career
Teacher shortages in primary vs secondary schools
The problems faced by schools in more deprived areas
What schools may have to consider if they want to retain younger ‘millennial’ teachers
The gap between what motivates members of SLT and other teachers
How schools can develop staff by “letting a title follow leadership”
Potential tension between the desire for rapid improvement and long term models of talent management
Iesha’s assertion that generally, “Happy, empowered, skilled teachers are going to teach children well.”
How schools can take a longer term look at development and retention
Why fairness and transparency is important in recognising high potential staff
The lack of development routes for teachers who don’t want to become leaders
How challenging schools can make themselves attractive when recruiting teachers
Why many schools may need to rethink how they performance manage staff

Show notes and links for this episode can be found here.

Music credits:

‘Oui’ by Simon Mathewson and ‘Jump for joy’ by Scott Holmes both from http://freemusicarchive.org