As AI reshapes the global workforce, how can we ensure it narrows – rather than widens – gender gaps? This OECD webinar brings together leading experts to examine AI’s impact on women’s employment opportunities, the role of education in closing digital divides, and strategies to make AI more inclusive. From recruitment algorithms to workplace monitoring, […]
This session will be held on Streamyard, it will be live but the event will be recorded and available for ticket holders afterwards. The event will be reflective, provocative and a call to action. This year’s #IWD2025 themes are: UN: For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment. Corporate: #AccelerateAction Themes we will explore will […]
Professor Catherine Lee MBE, Professor of Inclusive Education and Leadership (Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean), Anglia Ruskin University, UK In this Spring 2025 issue of Impact, contributors help us to navigate the multifaceted concept of teacher professionalism by exploring how the current social, cultural, pedagogical and political climates shape and challenge the educational landscape. As a […]
LAURA MASSON, SENIOR HEADTEACHER, LITTLE DUKES, UK The concept of teacher professionalism is undergoing a significant transformation, necessitating a re-evaluation of its core components. This article explores the intricate relationship between teacher professional identity, autonomy, agency and accountability, arguing for a more nuanced understanding of teacher professionalism that acknowledges the dynamic nature of teacher identity and […]
KATHRYN TAYLOR, EdD CANDIDATE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, UK The term ‘professionalism’ is laden with political values and assumptions (Sachs, 2001). Conceived of and described in complex, conflated and contradictory ways (Law, 2004), teacher ‘professionalism’ has myriad influences, promoting agendas including standardisation (e.g. DfE, 2013), aspirational developmental frameworks (Forde et al., 2016), vocational flourishing (Evans, 2011), practical […]
KAY SHEPHERD, DIRECTOR OF LEARNING, E-ACT MULTI ACADEMY TRUST, UK ‘Teachers. They aren’t what they used to be.’ This sentiment snakes through staffrooms, especially when a new early career teacher (ECT) or initial teacher training (ITT) student begins their journey. It’s a perspective held by some seasoned educators, but is it accurate? And why does this […]
GEMMA HARGRAVES, DEPUTY HEAD (SAFEGUARDING, INCLUSION AND WELLBEING), THE CRYPT SCHOOL, UK Professional curiosity is vital to keep children safe from abuse and neglect, and to help them to thrive at secondary school. It is often defined as the capacity and communication skill required to explore and understand what is happening within a family, rather than […]
RICHARD BUSTIN, DIRECTOR OF PEDAGOGY, INNOVATION AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND HEAD OF GEOGRAPHY, LANCING COLLEGE, UK Introduction It is very easy to leave the grand thinking about curriculum – what we choose to teach our children in schools and why – to others, such as senior leaders, textbook writers and exam authorities. Yet knowing what we […]
JONATHAN KEAY, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND DEPUTY CEO, CREATIVE LEARNING PARTNERSHIP TRUST, UK DI SWIFT, ASSOCIATE LECTURER IN PRIMARY EDUCATION, THE OPEN UNIVERSITY, UK Introduction The purpose of the Creative Learning Partnership Trust (CLPT) is to create transformational educative opportunities in a shared culture of collaboration. CLPT is determined to realise this expectation, not only for the […]
HUW HUMPHREYS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON, UK Both as teacher and as school leader, I have interviewed large numbers of people for teaching roles. When asking the perennial ‘why did you choose to become a teacher?’ question, nobody reports being motivated by the need to fulfil the teachers’ standards (DfE, 2011). These standards, […]
NANSI ELLIS, FREELANCE POLICY CONSULTANT, UK Education policies can strengthen or weaken teacher agency – that is, teachers’ active contribution to shaping their work and their conditions (Priestley et al., 2015) – and teacher agency is key to professional identity. Teacher identity is an ‘important mediating factor in the implementation of educational policies’ (Müller and Cook, […]
SAM LOVATT, SENIOR LECTURER IN PRIMARY EDUCATION, ST MARY’S UNIVERSITY, UK JEMIMA DAVEY, SUBJECT LEAD FOR EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS AND SENIOR LECTURER IN PRIMARY EDUCATION, ST MARY’S UNIVERSITY, UK Initial teacher training (ITT) is complex and challenging. Routes into teaching consist of two distinct but interrelated parts: centre-based training and school-based placements. For our students, centre-based training consists […]
LAURA PAGE, DIRECTOR AND SEND CONSULTANT, SCHOOLS SUPPORTED, UK Since the Plowden Report (1967) recommended teacher ‘aides’ in primary schools, the role of teaching assistants (TAs) has been consistently present but inconsistently understood. The counterintuitive finding of Blatchford et al.’s DISS (deployment and impact of support staff in schools) research (2009), indicating that increased time […]
DIANE WARNER AND ZOE CROMPTON, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY, UK Context As senior lecturers organising school placements, we noticed that a disproportionate number of South Asian student teachers were failing or struggling while on placement. In this case study, we offer insights into the difficult experiences that these student teachers experienced during initial teacher […]
FOLA ADEKOLA, ASSISTANT HEADTEACHER, EDMONTON COUNTY SCHOOL, UK; DOCTORAL STUDENT, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, UK I arrived in the UK in 2005, with a teaching degree from Nigeria, as an ambitious young woman who had graduated top of my class in the university and rarely doubted my competence or capabilities. I was relatively confident (or so I […]
ANNE-MARIE WHALEY, ASSISTANT HEADTEACHER, MALMESBURY SCHOOL, UK Introduction ‘That’s a personal question,’ I say, as I mentally sift through my scripted responses in case of a follow-up, and risk-assess the situation. In 2017, the NAHT told us to ‘come out to students if we want to’ and called for the support of school leaders. However, coming […]
ADAM KOHLBECK, CO-FOUNDER, EDUPULSE; DEPUTY HEADTEACHER, BIRKBECK PRIMARY SCHOOL, UK The United Kingdom has one of the youngest and least experienced teaching workforces in the developed world (OECD, 2020). This represents an experience loss not only for students but also for new teachers coming into the profession, with mentors necessarily taking on their roles earlier in […]
BECKY MANTON, SENIOR LECTURER AND PROGRAMME LEADER FOR BEd, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY, UK CHARLOTTE MOSEY, ASSISTANT HEAD OF DISCIPLINE PRIMARY ITT/E, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY, UK AMY THORNTON, SENIOR LECTURER AND SCIENCE SUBJECT LEADER, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY, UK This perspective piece is a response to the Chartered College of Teaching working paper ‘Revisiting the notion of teacher professionalism’ (Müller […]
DANIEL SUMNER, BECTON SCHOOL, UK Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN, 1948, preamble Teachers uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards […]
HAYLEY MURPHY, DIRECTOR OF TEACHING AND LEARNING, EVERSFIELD PREPARATORY SCHOOL, UK Teacher identities are shaped by the complex interplay between personal values, professional experiences and educational contexts. These identities are shaped as teachers interact with policies, colleagues, students and school cultures, influenced by accountability measures. Teachers navigate shifts in professionalism, adjusting their identities to accommodate changes […]
