Children could have a say in the recruitment of teachers if findings from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) are heeded.
The NFER figures showed that two-thirds of the 2,000 children surveyed said they wanted some sort of involvement in the selection of their teachers, with 18 per cent admitting that they had already been involved in some sort of teaching recruitment.
The children’s commissioner for England, Maggie Atkinson, said that she was fully behind involving children more in making sure the most appropriate teachers are selected for roles.
“I congratulate the schools that already involve their pupils in selecting teachers, and would strongly encourage more schools to start doing it,” she said. “Young people are a school’s customers, and they see lots of different teaching styles over the course of a school career.”
She said it was not about putting children in charge of the process, rather using their first-hand experience of what methods have worked best for them in the past.
The general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Christine Blower, said that while children should not have the power to veto any appointments, having their input in the process could prove valuable to future productivity and relationships.
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