Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics - IEA

PART 1: SALARY RELATIVITIES
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Table 2: Summary of Country Case Studies of Teacher Labor Markets (contd.)
Country Main Characteristics of Teacher Main Characteristics of Teacher- Salaries of Teachers and Mathematics- Indicators of Mathematics
Labor Force Education System Oriented Professionals Compared Teacher Supply
Italy
Although the student population is
decreasing, the teacher force continues
to increase, due mainly to changing
policies for disabled students and subject
offerings. Ninety-five percent of primary
teachers are women; 60% of secondary
teachers are women. The waiting lists
for teacher assignment are even more
feminized. The majority of the teaching
force is over 45 years of age.
Since 1998, primary teachers have
needed a university degree. Secondary
teachers must have an undergraduate
degree in the subject they are teaching
and a postgraduate degree plus an
examination pass in that subject and
in teaching. Many teachers have only
secondary-level degrees. Hiring is based
on a competitive examination, but many
teachers take short courses that allow
them to teach “temporarily.”
Italian female teachers with university
degrees are relatively well paid compared
to personnel in the science professions,
but male teachers earn less than engineers
and scientists. Overall, net salaries in all
these professions are not high.
Shortages of qualified teachers exist in
border areas and rural areas. There are
some shortages overall of secondary school
mathematics teachers, although a declining
student population should assure an
adequate supply of teachers in the future.
Korea
Teachers are 72% female in primary
school, but only 32% in high schools.
The socioeconomic status of those who
become teachers has declined in recent
years. The recession of the late 1990s
increased the number of those applying
to become primary teachers. Achievement
levels of student teachers have increased,
and there is oversupply in secondary
schools.
Most primary teachers are trained in
the teachers’ colleges of the National
University of Education. Secondary
teachers are trained mainly in departments
of education, colleges of education, and in
universities. All prospective teachers must
take subject courses. Even elementary
teachers have to take many mathematics
courses; secondary teachers take even
more. Teachers must also sit a national
employment examination.
It seems that secondary mathematics
teachers earn as much or more than do
scientists and engineers with Bachelor’s
degrees. Primary school teachers earned
somewhat less in 1996. Relative salaries
changed little between 1996 and 2004.
Teachers with a Master’s degree earn less
than employees in competing professions.
Some shortages occurred in the early 1990s
in primary schools, but not in secondary
schools or middle schools.
Mexico
The teaching force is less feminized than
it is in other countries, with only 65%
of primary school and 43% of basic
secondary school teachers women.
Although the supply of teachers is
strongly influenced by the main labor
union, there is continuous relative growth
of private education, especially at the
secondary level. Teachers hired by primary
schools are not unionized.
Primary school teachers were traditionally
trained in normal schools, but since
the mid 1980s, all teachers have been
required to obtain university-level
degrees, at either a university or a postsecondary
normal school. Secondary
teachers usually obtain university degrees
with a specific subject major, but a 2004
survey showed a significant percentage
with lower levels of schooling.
Teacher salaries rose relative to those of
other professionals in the early 1990s,
but fell somewhat in the late 1990s.
The annual earnings of male secondary
teachers are considerably lower than the
earnings of personnel in mathematicsoriented
professions for males but are fairly
comparable for female secondary teachers.
Both males and females lost relative
ground during the period 1996 to 2004.
There is a considerable shortage of
qualified mathematics and science teachers,
particularly in rural areas, smaller cities, and
poorer states. This situation is evident despite
the fact that salaries for teachers—especially
female teachers—are competitive with
the salaries of female workers in other
professions.
Norway
The teaching force is 73% female at the
primary and lower-secondary levels. There
are more males at the upper-secondary
level. Average age is quite high, with many
teachers near retirement, especially at the
upper-secondary level.
All teachers must have a tertiary-level
degree from a teacher-education college
or a university. More than 90% of
teachers take a “short course” (three to
four years) university degree. Only six
percent of teachers are unqualified.
Teacher salaries are lower than those of
scientists and considerably lower than
those of engineers. The salary gap for
male teachers is higher than it is for
females.
Shortages exist for teachers of mathematics,
English, and Norwegian. About 20% of the
economically active teachers work in sectors
other than schools.