The January football transfer window is open. For football fans, this signals a time of excitement and speculation.
Supporters of struggling teams have a glimmer of hope - a chance for their club to turn the tide with a few strategic signings. Meanwhile, clubs juggle negotiations and try to secure talent amid fierce competition.
The stakes are high and the resources considerable.
In another arena with equally high stakes but far fewer resources - education - school leaders are navigating their own version of the transfer window.
Teacher retention challenges
Between January and May, school leaders face mounting challenges in retaining staff while also recruiting for roles that are increasingly hard to fill. Thousands of teachers may be weighing up their options, asking themselves whether they should stay in their roles or seek change.
Unlike football managers, school leaders cannot offer lucrative contracts or signing-on bonuses. Teachers do not have agents advocating for them, and financial incentives for recruitment are limited and often short-lived.
Nationally led recruitment strategies have tended to focus on financial incentives, such as bursaries, to attract new teachers.
However, such measures do little to address the core challenges of the teaching profession.
In fact, offering large financial incentives can sometimes reinforce the perception that the teaching profession is so unappealing that it requires extraordinary compensation even to be considered.
This approach misses the opportunity to offer a richer, more compelling vision of what teaching could be: a profession where individuals can expect to flourish.
A different vision of education
In our 2024 paper, , co-published with the Catholic Education Service and Confederation of School Trusts (CST), a vision is proposed for rebuilding education around the central concept of “flourishing”.
This draws from the ancient idea of eudaimonia - the pursuit of a meaningful and full life, echoed in the vision of “life in all its fullness” from the Gospel of John.
The current school system is far from flourishing. Many school leaders describe their experience as one of survival, with constant pressures to do yet more things with yet fewer resources.
Our paper outlines “10 seeds of flourishing” - long-term goals to help foster a flourishing system. These include tackling child poverty, improving services around schools, reforming accountability and pursuing equity, diversity, inclusion and justice.
The right to flourish
At the heart of our vision is the belief that education should be a career where adults can expect to flourish.
Research underpinning the paper shows that to flourish, adults need a strong sense of purpose, meaningful relationships, opportunities for professional and personal growth, adequate resources and a focus on wellbeing.
To support this vision, we are today launching the Flourishing Leaders Programmes, a new suite of leadership development courses designed to develop flourishing educational leaders at five levels: system leaders, aspiring headteachers, emerging leadersl, leaders of equality, diversity and inclusion, and a programme for groups of trustees.
These programmes, which complement our existing National Professional Qualifications, aim to deepen leadership development by focusing on five evidence-led domains of flourishing - purpose, relationships, resources, learning and wellbeing.
Already, about 900 schools, dioceses and FE colleges have committed to piloting these courses, which will commence in autumn 2025.
We are already working with a range of partners on developing these programmes, including the CST, the Chartered College of Teaching, the Reach Foundation, University College London and the Harvard Flourishing Program in the US.
Nurturing teachers
Alongside this, we are launching our new Flourishing Teachers Programmes, partnering with teaching school hubs and school trusts to provide a more holistic and innovative approach to teacher development.
These programmes will include a reimagined and locally tailored early career framework experience focused on the flourishing of new teachers, as well as an advanced CPD pathway for teachers who wish to excel in the classroom without pursuing leadership roles.
This programme will also highlight the importance of flexible or part-time teachers, recognising their crucial contribution to the system’s long-term success.
Central to all these programmes is the understanding that flourishing educators are essential for flourishing students. A system where teachers and leaders flourish can create the conditions for young people to achieve their full potential.
A moral imperative
Focusing on the wellbeing and professional growth of teachers is not just a retention strategy, it is a moral imperative.
By presenting teaching as a career in which individuals can expect to flourish, we can inspire a new generation of educators and offer hope to those already in the profession.
While we may lack the millions of pounds available to football clubs in the transfer window, we have something far more valuable: a well-supported, credible vision of flourishing together as adults and children.
This vision could be the most powerful lever for recruitment, retention and renewal in our schools.
Andy Wolfe is executive director of education at the Church of England
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