The International Schools Review Forum

I ran across this article in Flipboard that reports there is a teacher shortage in the UK. To the extent that schools are phoning past pupils to encourage them into the teaching field. Does anyone have any firsthand accounts as to whether this may be true or not. If it is indeed true, I question if this will have any impact on future international teachers who wish to find employment in the UK? Would they still face barriers because they are not UK or EU citizens?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... rtage.html

To assess teaching shortages in the UK, you need to look at Tesjobs.co.uk during half-term and term breaks, when most positions are posted. The number of positions will give you an idea of how true this statement is.

To give you an idea -when I moved to the UK back in the early oughts to teach, at April term break (so hiring for the starting September) there were THOUSANDS of jobs posted on tesjobs.

There is a teacher shortage in the UK, but its only within certain areas (hard science/maths) and non metropolitan areas (outside London).

The visa/citizenship issue isnt a problem for outside hired DTs/ITs in the UK. Its that the vast number of schools accounting for the shortages are DSs and they have no OSH package. The best you will likely find is that a single IT may get a plane ticket. Otherwise all the DS is going to do at best is help you get a visa, and find housing, you will have to pay for everything. Thats not going to change the IT market at all.

Lastly, these DSs with the real shortages are some of the hardest schools to work in, they cant find local teachers because they have better options at better DSs/ISs, these are the schools only the desperate will work at.

In the mid 2000's, there was a reasonably strong teacher shortage in the UK in which schools would explicitly hire overseas candidates from countries such as Australia and NZ. I almost myself became one of these people - but then realised I'd be leaving my home country with no money and would be taking a sizeable paycut at the time.

Some companies are still employing overseas hires, but not to the extent they were a while back.

So yes - there is probably a teacher shortage. But this is probably limited to hard to employ subjects and hard to staff areas. I've not heard of a large exodus of international teachers heading back home to the UK market. It's fair to say that there is a glut in the international market for some subjects in some countries - but I'd don't want to do too much reading into a crystal ball

I hear the same from the US. Is it true? And will it help?

The UK government are throwing money at people with good degrees in chemistry, physics and maths to become teachers. So there are your shortage areas. Someone with a first class degree in physics can get 20000 pounds to train as a teacher.
In other areas such as primary there is a glut of teachers, except in schools where no one wants to teach. If you read the TES unemployed teachers forum, you'll see that's it's not uncommon to have more than 100 applicants for a single primary teaching position. So unless you are trained in one of the shortage areas you are going to find it very difficult to get a teaching job.

A school I worked at in London actually hired alot of overseas trained Primary teachers (from Canada, US, Australia, NZ, South Africa etc) and supported their visas. There has been a decrease in applicants in previous years, whilst more schools are being built to keep up with demand of a growing population. Although we always had UK applicants too, they just weren't always very good! So we looked at experienced teachers from abroad.

@shadylane

Its the same scenario as it is in the UK. The shortage is in at risk inner city DSs, very rural DSs and in the hard sciences and maths. The shortage will effect the IE market even less than the UK since the UK has made reforms to bring in outside ITs. The US has done nothing as far as immigration options to bring in outside ITs, and states have little pull as far as obtaining visas.

Use an agency, they will know the schools likely to be able to sponsor applicants. You will pay a lot to move though and it will all be out of pocket. I had about 5000 in visa fees, plane tickets, and settling in costs for my move this summer.

I've heard the schools there are full of Canadians. I'd like to go, but I also hear the money is not great, and frequently, the conditions are shit; OFSTEAD breathing down your neck, awful students and parents, oppressive planning and outside work, mediocre pay, high stress. I'd love to hear from those actually in the system, to see if it's as bad as some have made it out to be, though, as it's somewhere I'd consider when my current, admittedly tier 1 in asia, gig gets stale.

You would take a pay cut and a tax hike. It's a hard row to hoe, because you don't get offered jobs at the best schools. You can't work at schools in special measures, but you work at bargepole schools (as in, "I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole"). That said, if you know your stuff, can engage students, redirect behaviour, use the system to its fullest, not blow your cool or let the students get to you too much, you can have a lot of fun, make great friends, go on wonderful adventures, meet lovely people, and learn a lot about the UK. Just my two pence.

shad

@notyouraverageturd

All very true, working in the UK at a DS is essentially the same as a DS at home, its just in a different country, and youre going to find the same range of experiences.

Lots of Australian, South African, Canadian teachers about because of visas they are eligible for.

It is tough, less prep/plan time and often more grade levels to teach. The national curriculum has just changed, as has how work has to be graded and not a lot of guidance has come out. You spend ages on exam prep. Ofstead pressure is high, you pretty much have to ignore it I think to manage. We've been expecting a visit for a while, but it's not happened yet. I'm in from about 7 to 5 and still don't do everything Ofstead would look for and with already spending such a long time there I can't care anymore beyond that. I have to leave and have at least 6 to 10 to myself.

No-one mentioned the extortionate rents you'll be paying near major centers of employment...

@PIEGUY

Extortionate rent is a reality everywhere, try finding an apartment in San Francisco, Manhattan, London, Kowloon, Tokyo, SG, that isnt very high rent.