In many professions, it’s easy to overstate the importance of the job. But in the case of our educators, it’s more likely that people will underestimate the importance of teachers in our society.
For those who have dedicated their lives to teaching others, it’s good to reflect on the vital importance teachers play in shaping the world and learners.
In the debate about how to improve educational attainment, the role of teachers is critical. In deed ,it has become widely accepted in recent years that attracting good quality and well qualified people into teaching is a prerequisite for raising standards. In some of the very developed countries where standards are highest, teachers are recruited from the most qualified graduates all with at least a second degree.
The Global Teacher Status Index is based on in-depth opinion in 35 countries that explores the attitudes on issues ranging from what is a fair salary for teachers to whether they think pupils respect teachers to how highly people rank their own education system.
The global teacher status index started by Varkey Foundation in 2013 and tries to compare the status of teachers across the world.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
1. Which occupation is most similar to a teacher in terms of status?
2. Do you think students respect teachers?
3. Would you encourage your child to become a teacher?
4. How many hours do you think teachers work in a week? And how much should they be paid?
SOME FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH:
1. The research showed that, the better teachers are paid, the greater students outcomes.Looking at teachers salaries can tell a little bit about how well the teachers are treated. Over 20 countries have better teacher salaries than the US relative to other graduates. South Korea, Spain, Canada, Portugal and many others are ahead of US. Italy, Hungary, Chile, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic are behind the US regarding teachers salaries.
2.Money is not everything for teachers. Many people choose this profession for respect. Teachers have the highest status in China, Turkey, Greece, and South Korea. Teachers in countries such as the Czech Republic, Brazil, and Italy don’t command high respect.In the United States, France, Turkey and China, primary teachers are regarded more highly than the secondary teachers. In Greece and China, head teachers are seen as administrative staff and ranked below primary and secondary teachers.
3.The status of educators is examined by finding whether people want their children to become teachers or not.
In China, 50% parents encourage their children to become teachers whereas, in Israel, only 8% parents want their children to choose this profession. In the United States, about 35% parents would encourage their children to become teachers.
4. In US, Brazil, France, and Turkey, people consider the role of teachers similar to librarians. In New Zealand, the teaching job is seen as similar to the nursing job. In Japan, people think teachers to be similar to government managers. In China, people compare teachers with doctors.
5. Among the bottom five is Ghana where Teachers are least respected. A few African countries were used for the research and among them, Ghana came last in terms of teacher prestige or value.
With the current concern about low teacher status or prestige in Ghana, it seems quite reasonable for educational planners and in the new reforms to consider placing great emphasis on raising the prestige or status. And this can be done through deliberate policies in our arts,movies, music, drama, high salaries as China have done.
Now we can say beyond doubt that respecting teachers isn't only an important moral duty, its essential for a country's educational outcomes.
Also, presenting teaching as a profession in which social respect is the only reward is doomed to failure. There is no free lunch for government that want teachers to do more for less.
No comments:
Post a Comment