Teacher shortages have intensified across several OECD countries, making this an urgent priority for education systems. Between 2015 and 2022, the share of students whose principals reported shortages rose from 29% to 46.7% on average across the OECD. Simultaneously, rapid technological advances, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and broader…

The Danish free school tradition has entailed a large degree of associational freedom for non-governmental schools, religious as well as non-religious. Until the late 1990s, the non-governmental schools were under no strict ideological or pedagogical limitations; they could recruit teachers and students according to their own value base, and were…

The vast majority of studies concerning the implementation of quality assurance in higher education institutions have been conducted from a national perspective, with few cross-national studies. This study aimed to explore the implementation of quality assurance standards in Europe from a comparative perspective. A questionnaire based on…

This article provides an overview of the main sociological approaches applicable to the study and analysis of teaching, teachers and teacher education. Analytical perspectives from sociology are then compared to research on teachers from two other disciplines, education economics and educational psychology, which have produced the lion's share of…

To better understand the status of the teaching profession, we present a conceptual framework outlining the 4 domains of knowledge-worker professionals: professional benchmarks, professional discretion, room for promotion, and workplace conditions and use the TALIS 2013 survey data to show that these domains exist globally and vary within…

This article reports the results from a study on reasons for choosing social education for a profession when you are a man. The study concluded that multiple job opportunities and caring for others is a strong motive for men along with possible further studies. The study also disclosed that many men still encounter incomprehension when stating…

This report aims to provide insight into the realities faced by higher education academic staff at a time of fast-moving change and increasing societal demand. Fluctuating student numbers, new funding and steering mechanisms are among the features of today's European higher education landscape, but not enough is known about how academic staff are…

This study gathers evidence on policies that aim to raise students' learning outcomes through incentives and support measures to enhance teacher quality. A central concern is to identify policies that are effective and efficient. These include incentives and support systems to ensure that high-quality candidates are recruited to initial teacher…

Against the background of differing admission selectivity, structure, and status of teacher education in Denmark and Finland, we analyze the extent to which beginning teacher education students differ with respect to previous educational pathways, socio-demographic characteristics, academic self-concepts, and occupational motivations. In both…

A gender-diverse workforce is becoming the global goal for high-quality early childhood programming. Having a balance of female and male early care and education (ECE) professionals supports greater flexibility in the gender role expectations of young children and helps girls and boys avoid stereotypic assumptions about gender. This article lists…

What are quality vocational teachers? This article analyzes the different factors exerting an influence on the professional knowledge, practices and performance of teaching staff involved in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). The international variety of vocational teacher education patterns, profiles and recruitment practices…

Intercultural Policies and Education is concerned with educational challenges in multicultural societies. Educational policies, practices and strategies for fruitful coexistence in the multicultural school and classroom are explored and analysed through a collection of chapters designed and selected to provide readers with international,…

This international survey is the "consolidated report," bringing out problems raised and the means adopted to overcome persistent disequilibrium between the supply and demand for teachers, based on eleven "country studies" describing the situation in selected member countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy,…