8th July 2014 12:00
By Blue Tutors
New research has shown that few teachers in developed countries feel that the teaching profession is valued. The study, carried out by the OECD, examined the working lives and perceptions of teachers in 34 education systems, and found that morale was shockingly low. Another significant finding was a large disparity between European and Asian countries, in which the teaching profession is valued far more in Asia than in Europe. Overall, the teaching and learning international survey found that only 31% of teachers felt that their work was valued, a statistic which has significant bearing on the likelihood of attracting excellent new teachers into the profession.
The findings for Europe were particularly shocking, with teachers across the board feeling significantly undervalued by society. In France, only 5% of teachers surveyed felt valued, and said that the profession as a whole was not considered important in their society. In France, Sweden and Spain nine out of ten teachers said that the teaching profession was not respected. The results for Asia were markedly different, with the majority of teachers in Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore reporting that the profession was widely respected.
The study which also looked at working practices showed that teachers in England work some of the longest hours of teachers in the world, working 46 hours a week compared with the international average of 38 hours. The OECD think tank said that the findings were alarming, and that Europe needed to rethink its approach to teaching. They highlighted that OECD research suggests that respect for the teaching profession correlates strongly with students’ results.