Comparative analysis of teacher policies across international education systems to understand the complex factors shaping teacher demand and supply

该项目解决了教师短缺问题，这是许多国家普遍关注的政策问题，其政策应对措施往往侧重于教师相对较低的工资和工作条件。这是因为许多研究仅基于现有/培训教师的观点，将这些因素报告为关键（参考案例支持）。然而，针对非教师的研究和强有力的因果研究表明，货币政策和减少教师工作量都不能有效改善教师招聘和留任。英国政府承认，尽管对这些举措进行了投资，但仍无法解决问题，并建议寻找长期的循证方法。因此，迫切和重要的是考虑更广泛的政策，不一定与薪酬和工作条件有关。我们目前的esrc资助项目已经确定了一系列因素，如政府对教师供应的规划和公共部门的就业结构，这些因素可能会对教师供应产生影响。目前，在解决教师短缺问题的政策反应中很少考虑到这些问题。以前的研究曾试图分析国际数据，以确定成功的教育制度的共同和一般特征和教育政策，看看可以学到什么来解决这个问题。这些先前的研究往往没有考虑到与教师供应有关的政策适用的国家的相关政治、文化和经济背景。忽略这些背景因素可能会导致误导性的结论。以前的比较分析也没有考虑到在不同的教育体系中是如何考虑短缺的。例如，一些班级规模大的国家报告没有教师短缺，而在一些欧洲国家和英国，班级规模大是教师短缺的一个指标。理解“短缺”的定义是很重要的，因为它可以改变政策和媒体处理和描述“短缺”的方式。可以用一个替代“短缺”的术语来更好地定义这个问题。我们还将使用短缺的共同定义来评估数据。因此，这项新研究的目标是：1。在理解什么是师资短缺、师资短缺意味着什么、师资短缺在不同的时间和地点有何不同、师资短缺如何衡量等方面，做出阶段性的改变。2. 2 .更好地了解影响教师供需的背景因素（如文化、政治、经济表现、教师就业结构和工作环境），这些因素在面临教师长期短缺的国家和没有教师长期短缺的国家之间存在差异。确定触发短缺或没有短缺的关键因素/上下文（以及短缺的类型）。这将在理解如何管理教师供应方面取得理论进展，并为政策制定者和从业者提供建议。为了实现这些目标，我们将使用多维定性比较方法（QCA）分析国际数据（例如经合组织教学与学习国际调查和Eurydice调查）和政策文件，该方法检查了各国的模式，但也考虑了案例的多样性及其在相关条件和背景下的异质性。将采用进一步的分析来确定解释短缺类型的关键因素（例如国家、区域、特定学科、长期/短期供应过剩）。由于不同国家对“教师短缺”的定义不同，我们还将使用教师短缺的通用指标（包括英国使用的指标）来分析数据（如学生：教师比例、班级规模、教师资格和教师空缺），以了解这可能如何改变国际上关于教师短缺的说法。研究结果有可能影响未来和当前的政策实践。

This project addresses the issue of teacher shortages, a pervading policy concern in many countries, with policy responses that often focus on teachers' relatively poor pay and working conditions. This is because many studies based only on the views of existing/training teachers report these factors as key (references in Case for Support). However, studies that ask non-teachers, and robust causal studies, suggest that neither monetary policies nor reduction in teachers' workload are effective in improving teacher recruitment and retention. The UK government has acknowledged that despite investments in these initiatives it has been unable to address the problem, and recommended looking for longer-term evidence-based approaches. It is therefore both urgent and important to consider a wider of range of policies, not necessarily related to pay and working conditions. Our current ESRC-funded project has identified a range of factors, such as government planning for teacher supply and the employment structure within the public sector, that can have an impact on teacher supply. These are currently rarely considered in policy responses to addressing teacher shortages.Attempts have been made in prior studies to analyse international data to identify common and generic characteristics and education policies of successful education systems, to see what can be learnt to address the issue. These previous studies often do not consider pertinent political, cultural and economic contexts of the countries within which policies relating to teacher supply apply. Ignoring these contextual factors can lead to misleading conclusions. Previous comparative analyses also do not take account of how shortages are conceived in different education systems. For example, some countries with large class sizes report no shortages, whereas in some European countries and England, large class sizes is an indicator of a shortage of teachers. Understanding how "shortage" is defined is important as it can alter the way "shortages" are addressed and portrayed in policy and by the media. An alternative term to "shortage" could be developed to better define the issue. We will also assess the data using a common definition of shortageThe objectives of the new study are therefore to:1. Create a step change in understanding what teacher shortages are, what they mean, how they differ over time and place, and how they can be measured. 2. Understand much better the contextual background factors (e.g. culture, politics, performance of the economy, teacher employment structure and working environment) that influence teacher demand and supply between countries that face chronic shortages of teachers and those that do not.3. Identify key factors/context that trigger shortages or no shortages (and types of shortages). This will lead to theoretical advances in understanding how teacher supply can be managed, and provide advice to policymakers and practitioners.To achieve these objectives, we will analyse international data (e.g. OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey and Eurydice survey) and policy documents using a multidimensional qualitative comparative approach (QCA), which examines patterns across countries but also considers the diversity of cases and their heterogeneity with regard to the relevant conditions and contexts. Further analyses will be employed to determine key factors in explaining the types of shortages (e.g. national, regional, subject-specific, oversupply long/short term).As "teacher shortage" is defined differently in different countries, we will also analyse the data using common indicators of teacher shortages, including those used in England (such as pupil:teacher ratios, class sizes, qualifications of teachers and teacher vacancies), to see how this might change the international narrative around teacher shortage. The findings have the potential to influence future and current policy practice.