ST_OCTOBER_18

EDUCATION
The Global Search For Education -
Should Teachers Earn More? Top Teachers Around the World Weigh In
By C. M. Rubin
Why do teachers become teachers in the first place?
Research indicates it’s for a number of reasons,
including the variety the job offers, love of their subject
or a great experience in their own schooling that inspired them to
make a difference in the lives of others. Research also indicates
that to improve the quality of candidates for teacher training
programs and to motivate teachers to enter and stay in their
profession, it’s essential to offer competitive pay.
Teacher compensation varies around the world. This month we
asked our Top Global Teachers, if we make teaching a more
financially attractive career, will it improve global education
overall?
“In India, the workload of teachers is too much in comparison to
the salaries paid to them. In some classrooms the student teacher
ratio is 1:100,” writes Rashmi Kathuria (@rashkath). “Making
teaching more lucrative will improve the global education overall.”
“Back in April, I was fortunate enough to travel to London to lead
workshops and take part in a TES debate on teacher retention,”
writes Craig Kemp (@mrkempnz). “Many (teachers) expressed
feeling appreciated – most notably by students, but undervalued,
in particular with their local and global communities.
motivation; and also, in symphony with the intrinsic motivation
and rewarding salaries, we need nice, collegial and positive
learning environments in the schools and societies.”
“Investment in teacher salaries is just that – an investment,”
writes Adam Steiner (@steineredtech). “Simply spending money
on the stuff of 21st-century learning – networks, devices, and
applications – will not produce results if we don’t also invest in
people.”
“New Zealand has just announced it needs 400 more teachers in
2019 than it has and this target is increasing each day as young
teachers give up trying to make do, and the experienced retire
to avoid the increasing demands from a public sector starved of
practitioners,” writes Richard Wells (@eduwells)
“Instead of control, competition, stress, standardized testing
and a list ranking our schools, we have warm relations with our
students and we collaborate well with our colleagues. We feel we
get highly professional teacher-led mentoring and assessment,”
writes Maarit Rossi (@pathstomath) in Finland. “Of course we
would like to be better paid! But if you had the choice of the above
conditions or a better salary, which one would you choose?” ST
“I believe the real, unspoken question that is being asked is,
“Is it worth investing in our teachers?” writes Michael Soskil (@
msoskil). “Is it worth taking money away from all the other places
we spend it in order to pay teachers more? The only way to
answer those questions is to examine what the trade-offs would
be.”
“Without raising salaries to ensure the quality of life for teachers,
it is difficult to attract good people into the pedagogical profession
and in the long run, innovation, improvement of education quality
will inevitably fail,” writes Nam Ngo Thanh (@mrnamvas).
“Why do teachers want to become teachers in the first place?” asks
Eduardo Andere (referred by Elisa Guerra (@ElisaGuerraCruz).
“We need higher salaries to reinforce, not to supplant intrinsic
Credit: www.cmrubinworld.com
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