There is a passionate consensus behind a Royal College of Teaching

It is the simple notion that we need to raise the status of the profession of teaching, and that to do this, teaching needs a Royal College.

Again and again studies confirm that the quality of teaching and teachers is the most factor in improving education. So instead of continuing to talk about it, the education profession is coming together from all directions to do something about it.

Almost exactly one year ago, the Education Select Committee on which I sit published a report on how to attract, train and retain the best teachers. As the daughter of a doctor, I wrote in The Telegraph of the need to make a key recommendation come to life - the establishment of a professional body of teaching, along the lines of many of the Medical Royal Colleges – like the Royal College of Surgeons or Physicians.

However, politicians suggesting things to the teaching profession does not boast a happy history, and I duly expected a barrage of replies from teachers saying how out of touch this all was. But instead, teachers and educationalists got in touch wanting to explore how it could be set it up. The result is that a year on, the Royal College of Surgeons is hosting a potentially historic consensus in education as we launch a short book, “Towards a Royal College of Teaching” with contributions from across the educational spectrum, and beyond .

We want to get teachers themselves talking about the concept and feeding back on what they think and want – because crucially, a Royal College of Teaching cannot come from a politician like me, but from the profession itself and it cannot happen unless teachers actively want it. Momentum is building. At the same time as this book is being launched, there is support from the existing College of Teachers, and the Prince’s Teaching Institute is bringing together key groups and individuals from across education in an independent commission, to look at the practical realities of making it happen. In collaboration, responses to this colourful new book will feed into this major, long term piece of work.

But why has this idea now found its time? For teachers, a Royal College is an opportunity to put teaching on a more even footing with other professions, so that gaining ‘Qualified Teacher Status’ is not the end of training and development, but just the beginning . It presents an opportunity to create a publicly recognised career progression ladder for teachers who do not want to go off into management as they become more senior, and an opportunity to ensure teachers experience more than a repetitive cycle of marking homework and racing to get lesson plans in place, but an enriching career of personal development.

As schools and teachers become more autonomous, a Royal College could perform a valuable role in providing a single home for support, research and evidence-based guidance on the best teaching methods. For schools (especially those which are not part of an academy network)looking to negotiate the huge wealth of information and resources on what works best in teaching, this could be an invaluable resource and community. But crucially, after many decades of steady state encroachment into education, it is an opportunity for teaching to regain ownership and responsibility for its profession.

For the Unions, a Royal College could be a valuable and complimentary body to aid in their desire to raise the status of teaching - which is reflected in the fact that the new book features contributions from all the teaching unions. Unions perform a necessary role in protecting and promoting the interests of their members. But a Royal College could aid the Unions in their purpose by raising the status of teaching in the eyes of the public, not by encroaching on the role of the Unions, but focussing solely on excellent teaching practice, to the benefit of the pupil, not the practitioner.

For politicians who believe in keeping the state and politics out of the classroom as much as possible, this is an opportunity to see the creation of an organisation dedicated to constantly making teaching better in order to make sure that pupils get the very best; an organisation which the teachers themselves will respect because it is run not by Whitehall or Westminster, but by members of the teaching profession who have a track record of improving education and using rigorous evidence-based practices to do so.

Of all professions, teaching is perhaps the most important quite simply because the quality our workforce and professionals of tomorrow depends so heavily on the quality of teaching and teachers in our schools today. Therefore, raising the status of the profession must be a priority. But the task will not be easy, and there is a lot to do. A Royal College cannot repeat the mistakes of the General Teaching Council. The GTC had little support from the teachers it was supposed to serve, and from whom it exacted mandatory membership and fees. Instead, the success of the idea depends upon teachers actively choosing to be part of an organisation which makes their profession and vocation more enriching, and more effective.

Equally, anyone wanting a short-term quick-fix will be disappointed. The formation of a Royal College of Teaching will not take place within the short-term timetable of the ‘instant win’ political world, but may take many years to grow and establish fully. However, in the words of one of those on the new Independent Commission, “The fact that it will take a long time is not an excuse not to do it, but it is a reason to start now.”