Best Schools - Teaching is 'number one' career choice for young people

A new study has identified teaching as the most popular career choice for young people in Britain, with a third saying they are considering or planning a career in education. By Amy Gibbons, Tes.

Teaching is the most popular career choice among young people in Britain, according to a new study.

A survey has found that a third of Generation Z – those aged 14 to 24 – say they are actively considering or planning a career in education.

'Why we should all love our school research leads'

In the Tes Leadership podcast, Rebecca Foster talks to Wellington College's Carl Hendrick about being a research lead

Reading research doesn’t give you certainty.

In fact, according to Carl Hendrick, author and English teacher at Wellington College, it does the opposite: it gives you uncertainty.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Tes Leadership Podcast, he discusses the importance of the research lead role in ensuring that teachers become evidence-informed.

And this, he argues, is a professional responsibility.

One of the roles of the research lead, he says, is to be a “broker of research”, someone in the middle who can introduce staff to particular ways of thinking.

He also sees research leads as an important buffer against things that might not work.

“A function of the role is to challenge leadership and to be a check and balance against the excesses of leadership,” Hendrick says.

“The first value of someone in schools who’s knowledgeable about research is that they can begin the school on a track that is at least grounded in evidence and reason.”

There are many teachers who have never read any research, and perhaps have no interest in doing so. So how can they be engaged?

However, the results were significantly skewed by gender – with 27 per cent of young men choosing teaching, compared with 40 per cent of women.