Exploring Teacher Recruitment and Retention: Contextual Challenges from International Perspectives

This thought-provoking collection examines the challenge of teacher shortages that is of international concern. It presents multiple perspectives, and explores the commonalities and differences in approaches from around the world to understand possible solutions for the current teacher workforce crisis.

Acknowledging that solutions to attract and retain teachers vary by country, region and in some cases locality, the contributors scrutinise a range of workforce planning interventions at local and government level, including financial incentives and early career support.

The book draws on different perspectives to understand a range of problems that negatively affect teacher recruitment and retention, unpicking key challenges, including links between the disadvantages of location and access to teachers for coastal and rural schools, rising pupil numbers, declining school budgets and the role of professional learning in raising teacher status.

Abundant in critiques, research-informed positions and context-specific discussions about the impact of teacher workforce supply and shortages, this book will be valuable reading for teacher educators, educational leaders, education policy makers and academics in the field.

Tanya Ovenden-Hope is Provost and Professor of Education at Plymouth Marjon University. She has three decades experience as a teacher, teacher educator, senior leader and educational researcher. Her research focuses on identifying and finding solutions for inequity in education.

Rowena Passy is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Plymouth. She has a wide range of research interests that focus on understanding and improving different aspects of our children’s education.