Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics - IEA

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PART 2: UNITED KINGDOM 165 United Kingdom Background Although the Labour Force Survey used for this analysis encompasses all four countries of the United Kingdom, educational policies differ in each one. In Scotland, educational policy is distinct from that of the rest of the United Kingdom. In Wales, government services recently devolved to local authorities, but Wales and England jointly govern teachers’ pay and service conditions. Although Northern Ireland has its own department of education, London directs many of the country’s executive and legislative decisions. In terms of population, England makes up just over 83.5% of the United Kingdom’s population of nearly 60 million, followed by Scotland (almost 8.5%), Wales (just under 5%), and Northern Ireland (3%) (Ross & Hutchings, 2003). Composition of the teacher labor force According to statistics from the Department for Children, Schools, and Families, the number of public school teachers in England in 2007 was about 440,000. The corresponding numbers were 26,503 in Wales, 20,474 in Northern Ireland, and 48,870 in Scotland. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of teachers increased in each country; in England and Northern Ireland, growth of the teacher workforce actually outpaced growth of the student population. For example, the overall teacher–student ratio in 2007 in England was 1:17, down from 1:18.6 in 1997; the average class size in 2005 in the United Kingdom as a whole was about 25 (OECD, 2007). However, an aging trend among the United Kingdom’s teaching force suggests the possibility of a teacher shortage over the next decade. Between 1992 and 2000, the percentage of lowersecondary teachers 50 years of age or older increased from 17% to 24% (OECD, 2004). In England, 45% of all current teachers are likely to retire by 2018, including 50% of all male teachers. Moreover, the number of new teachers and trainee teachers is generally not sufficient to replace the number of teachers on the verge of retirement. The schoolage population is projected to fall until around 2018, after which it is likely to increase until 2025 (Ross & Hutchings, 2003). Historically, England has experienced periodic teacher shortages, particularly in urban areas and within and near London, while Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland have had fewer problems with shortages of teachers. Nevertheless, by 2007, England had an overall teacher vacancy rate of only 0.6%, higher than the vacancy rates in Wales (0.4%) and Scotland (0.1%), but only one-half the rate in 2002. In England, the most difficult area to staff with teachers is inner London, which had a vacancy rate of just over four percent in 2001, just over three percent in 2002, but only a little more than one percent by 2007. Filling teaching vacancies continues to be a problem in areas surrounding London, as well as in England’s southern and southeastern regions, where economic growth has led to relatively high wages in the private sector. To address the potential for shortages, policymakers in England introduced incentive programs to attract prospective teachers into teacher education programs and to recruit former teachers who have left the profession. In Scotland, initiatives to improve teaching conditions and workloads are part of measures to attract and retain new teachers (Ross & Hutchings, 2003). Anecdotal and other evidence suggest these measures are reducing vacancy rates.
166 TEACHER PAY AND STUDENT MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT The teaching profession in the United Kingdom is not only aging but also becoming increasingly feminized, as male teachers become increasingly older and few young males enter teaching. As in other European countries, the primary teacher labor force is more than 80% female. The secondary school teacher labor force is much less so, but it is still 60% female, higher than in countries such as Germany, and about the same as in France. As of 2003, 83% of English primary teachers and 55% of secondary teachers were female. If recruitment of male teachers continues at the same rate as during the past 20 years, the percentage of male teachers will drop to just over 40% by 2018. In Scotland, 93% of primary teachers and 53% of secondary teachers are female. In addition, 59% of male secondary teachers are 45 years of age or older and 77% are over 40 (Ross & Hutchings, 2003). Even so, the UK teacher labor force is younger than the teacher labor force in the rest of Europe and somewhat younger than the teaching cohort in the United States; 45% of United Kingdom primary teachers and 42% of secondary teachers are in their 20s and 30s. Teacher education Teachers in England and Wales must earn qualified teacher status (QTS), generally by completing an undergraduate or a postgraduate teacher education program. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, teachers must earn a recognized teaching qualification. Since the early 1990s, the proportion of future teachers pursuing undergraduate degrees in both primary and secondary fields decreased, while participation in postgraduate degree programs increased. In England, for example, the percentage of primary preservice teachers pursuing undergraduate degrees decreased from 66% in 1992 to 45% in 2003, while the percentage of students in undergraduate secondary courses decreased from 24% to 8%. In addition, employment-based routes into teaching have become increasingly popular in England and Wales (Ross & Hutchings, 2003). Teacher recruitment and hiring Teachers in the United Kingdom are generally hired through a competitive process in which individual schools recruit and assign teachers. In Scotland, local authorities or individual schools in the independent (private) sector are responsible for recruiting teachers. Teacher shortages in particular subject areas are generally not a problem in Scotland and Northern Ireland. England and Wales, however, have developed several incentive programs to attract teachers to subject areas where teachers are in short supply. These include, in particular, mathematics, science, business, and technology. Potential teachers with backgrounds in these fields generally have attractive alternative opportunities in industry, a situation that makes teacher recruitment in these areas even more difficult. Teachers with these shortage backgrounds qualify for a number of programs. Among them are the Secondary Shortage Subject Scheme, which provides grants of up to £5,000 in England, a loan write-off program in England and Wales, a “Golden Hello” program in England that provides a grant to new teachers of up to £4,000, and a teaching grant for pre-service teachers of up to £6,000 in Wales (Ross & Hutchings, 2003). Financial incentives and programs of this kind are not available in Scotland.
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