Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics - IEA

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PART 2: SWITZERLAND 153 lesson. Applicants for primary and lower-secondary schools submit their applications directly to the communal school committee, while those wanting to teach at the uppersecondary level apply directly to the schools they are interested in (OECD, 2004a). Cantons have been experimenting with different ways of increasing recruitment and ensuring the necessary number of teachers. For instance, 23 cantons are encouraging part-time teachers to increase their number of contact hours, 16 cantons are encouraging leavers to return to the profession and offering in-service professional development courses for teachers wishing to change their teaching level, and 10 cantons are increasing the number of places in initial teacher education programs. These endeavors are not, however, targeted specifically at mathematics and science teachers, who are in particularly short supply. Moreover, there are currently no premiums or bonuses for mathematics science teachers, although there is the possibility of introducing salaries as a function of the subject taught to reflect labor market shortages in certain cantons such as St. Gallen (OECD, 2004a). All school teachers in Switzerland must complete education at the tertiary level (OECD, 2004a). Training routes vary depending on the level and type of program for which a candidate is preparing. 24 The initial preparation of teachers for primary and lowersecondary schools takes place in a single location, typically haute écoles pédagogiques (HEP) or pädagogische hochschulen (PH), which are institutes attached to universities or are universities themselves. The initial education of teachers at the upper-secondary/ gymnasium level combines a general education at a university or federal institute of technology, leading to an academic degree in a given discipline, with pedagogical and didactic preparation in a HEP or PH, in faculties of educational sciences of some universities, or in tertiary-level institutes of teacher education (OECD, 2004a). Although the teacher education programs offered by the 15 different HEPs and PHs vary considerably in design, they generally offer courses covering a set of disciplines and the educational sciences (e.g., pedagogy, didactics, and educational psychology) as well as a field-level component (practicum) carried out in schools. The latter must take up 20% to 30% of the total study time (OECD, 2004a). Today, teacher education programs place greater emphasis than previously not only on instruction that is interdisciplinary and involves open workshops and group- and project-based activity, but also on applied educational research. Pre-service education for teachers intending to work in primary schools lasts at least three years. For those wanting to teach in the lower-secondary schools, the period of study covers four and a half years. Gymnasium (high school) teachers’ pre-service education covers five or (more usually) six years. As of 2001, 99% of teachers at the primary level had the appropriate teaching certificate; the figure was 90% for teachers at the lowerand upper-secondary levels. There is considerable variation in the percentages, however, from canton to canton. 25 In Lucerne, for instance, in the early 2000s, the percentage of teachers at the lower-secondary level was 30% (OECD, 2004a). 24 The typical structure of education in Switzerland consists of five to six years of primary school, three to four years of lower-secondary school, and three to four years of upper-secondary (gymnasium) schools. Primary schooling and lower-secondary schooling are compulsory in Switzerland. 25 The Swiss political structure consists of three different levels: the confederation, the cantons, and the communes. The confederation is at the top of the hierarchy, the cantons in between, and the communes at the bottom.
154 TEACHER PAY AND STUDENT MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT Teacher salaries Teachers in Switzerland generally are paid according to a salary scale that corresponds to the school level in which they teach and their initial education. Advancement for an individual teacher occurs within their initial salary scale and typically depends only on years of service. The formal employer of teachers in Switzerland is the canton or the commune (OECD, 2004a). Terms of employment, including the salary scale, is therefore determined by one of the two. Also, teachers are not offered a lifetime contract, a practice that guards against teachers becoming complacent and motivates them to continuously improve their performance. In general, teachers’ salaries for a particular set of characteristics are set uniformly within a canton, but there is considerable variation across cantons to reflect differences in number of lessons taught and costs of living (OECD, 2004a). Teachers’ working time is defined in terms of teaching hours. These vary by canton, from 1,900 hours to 2,000 hours per year. On average, the hours are broken down as follows: classroom-based teaching (50%), preparation (23%), planning and evaluation (11%), administration and counseling (8%), and continuing education and joint activities (8%) (OECD, 2004a). In the early 2000s, primary school teachers earned less than teachers at higher levels, but at $US35,059 per annum, their starting salary was nevertheless the second highest among the commensurate salaries of all OECD countries. The starting salaries of secondary teachers and upper-secondary teachers, which were $US41,358 and $US49,484, respectively, ranked the highest among the starting salaries for teachers of all OECD countries except Luxembourg (OECD, 2004a). This situation had not changed by 2007 (OECD, 2007). Some cantons, such as Zürich and St. Gallen, have moved away from seniority-based pay to pay based on performance. This development is a recent one. In both cantons, salary increments are provided over a period of years rather than on the basis of annual reviews of work. In Zürich, the assessment includes classroom observation, an interview with the teacher being evaluated, and a report describing his or her pedagogical approach. In St. Gallen, the assessment focuses on three skill areas: organization and delivery of lessons; interactions with students, parents, and teachers; and participation in in-service professional development. Neither place emphasizes subject-specific merit pay. An analysis of salaries conducted early this decade and taking into account hours of work, age, professional development, experience, geographic region, and gender, showed teachers’ salaries comparing favorably with salaries in other professions (OECD, 2004a). Teachers’ salaries in comparison to GDP per capita were high. At the lower-secondary level, for instance, a comparison of the salaries of teachers who had been teaching for 15 years with GDP per capita placed Switzerland in third place among 29 OECD countries. Pay in certain sectors, such as finance and insurance, were higher, but in other sectors, such as wholesale and the retail trade, hospitality, health, and social work, pay levels were lower (OECD, 2004b). No differences in salary by gender were evident. However, because there are more male teachers than female teachers in the lower-secondary and upper-secondary levels of the school system, and given that the pay is higher in these sectors of the education system than in the primary sector, the average male teacher is likely to earn more than his female counterpart. Tables 43 and 44 and Figures 58 to 61 show the median salaries of Swiss teachers compared to the salaries of Swiss mathematics-oriented professionals for two years, 1996 and 2004.
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