By james art A global comparison of 18 countries suggests that teaching needs to become more attractive to a wider range of graduates to tackle shortages in the profession.
Research from our education experts shows that the level of pay compared to other higher education professions, lack of resources and poor student behavior all play a role in recruitment and retention problems.
They also found that popular quick-fix strategies used around the world to attract and retain teachers, such as scholarships, bursaries and performance-related pay, were not working.
Prestige of teachers
The global analysis recommends putting much more emphasis on those with the potential to be teachers but who may not currently be interested, rather than simply offering current teachers more of what they want.
This should include raising the profile and prestige of the profession, raising pay and providing schools with better resources.
I feel valued
Research shows that teacher shortages are a problem in many European countries despite years of investment in teacher recruitment and retention. In England, the situation is particularly dire for secondary schools, as pupil numbers have grown and initial teacher training recruitment has failed to meet its intake targets for several consecutive years.
The survey found that only 25 per cent of teachers in England felt they were valued by society and only 10 per cent felt they were valued by politicians. Countries such as England, France and Japan, where teachers are less valued, are significantly more affected by teacher shortages.
In ccountries such as Singapore, South Korea, and Finland, teachers are more valued by the government and the public, and these countries generally do not report major teacher supply problems.