Social and Political Underpinnings of Teacher Recruitment and Certification

Social and political underpinnings of teacher recruitment, certification and evaluation

Recruiting and certifying the most competent teachers is a pre-requisite for an effective education system (Guarino et al., 2006) and attracts the interest of policy-makers in most countries around the world. It is indicative that, in a recent book on education policy reforms in G20 countries (Wang, 2013), almost half of the country-specific chapters discussed issues related to the recruitment of teachers. However, providing enough motivation (e.g. desirable working conditions and high salaries) to attract the best teachers is only part of the story. Perspective teachers need to be certified, often via expensive written examinations and even when they are hired, their effectiveness still needs to be monitored and evaluated.

Academics and policy-makers developed and evaluated many teacher recruitment approaches (See et al, 2020) and both centralized and de-centralized systems are used in countries around the world.

This session aspires to bring together scholars who study the social and political underpinnings of teacher recruitment, certification and evaluation. Political agendas, teacher union tactics, and the attitudes of various other stakeholders interact to shape policies and different countries. It is important to understand how to optimize all these social and political dynamics for the benefit of educational systems.

See, B. H., Morris, R., Gorard, S. & El Soufi, N. (2020) What works in attracting and retaining teachers in challenging schools and areas?, Oxford Review of Education, 46:6, 678-697

Wang, Y. (Ed.). (2013). Education Policy Reform Trends in G20 Members. Heidelberg: Springer.