How High Achieving Countries Develop Great Teachers
How High Achieving Countries Develop Great Teachers
How High Achieving Countries Develop Great Teachers
sco e
Stanford University
School of Education
Barnum Center, 505 Lasuen Mall
Stanford, CA 94305
http://edpolicy.stanford.edu
scope@stanford.edu
650.725.8600
These practices stand in stark contrast to those in the United States where,
with sparse and fragmented governmental support, teachers typically enter:
With dramatically different levels of preparation, largely unsupported
by government funding, with those least prepared teaching the most
educationally vulnerable children,
Strong Beginnings
All of the highest achieving nations have overhauled
teacher education to ensure stronger programs
across the enterprise, and to ensure that able candidates can afford to become well-prepared as they
enter the profession. In Scandinavia, for example,
teacher candidates in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and
the Netherlands now receive two to three years of
graduate-level preparation for teaching, completely
at government expense, plus a living stipend. Typically, this includes at least a full year of training in
a school connected to the university, like the model
schools in Finland which resemble professional development school partnerships created by some U.S.
programs. Programs also include extensive coursework in content-specific pedagogy and a thesis
researching an educational problem in the schools.
This is also the practice in Asian nations like Singapore and Korea, and in jurisdictions like Hong Kong
and Chinese Taipei, where most teachers prepare in
four-year undergraduate programs, although graduate programs are growing more common. Unlike the
United States, where teachers either go into debt to
prepare for a profession that will pay them poorly
or enter with little or no training, these countries invest in a uniformly well-prepared teaching force by
overhauling preparation, recruiting top candidates,
and paying them to go to school. Slots in teaching
programs are highly coveted in these nations, and
shortages are virtually unheard of.
Once teachers are hired, resources are targeted to
schools to support mentoring for novices. Induction
programs are mandatory in many countries, such as
Australia, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea,
New Zealand, and Switzerland. Generally, induction
programs in high achieving nations include: (1) release time for new teachers and mentor teachers to
participate in coaching and other induction activities, and (2) training for mentor teachers.
In a model like that found in a number of Asian
nations, the New Zealand Ministry of Education
funds 20 percent release time for new teachers and
10 percent release time for second-year teachers to
observe other teachers, attend professional development activities, work on curriculum, and attend
courses. Mentor teachers also have time to observe
and meet with beginning teachers. In places like
Singapore, mentor teachers receive special training
and certification and additional compensation in the
salary schedule.
Countries like England, France, Israel, Norway, Singapore, and Switzerland also require formal training
for mentor teachers. Norwegian principals assign an
experienced, highly qualified mentor to each new
teacher and the teacher education institution then
trains the mentor and takes part in in-school guidance. In some Swiss states, the new teachers in each
1000
803
800
664
600
400
200
0
U.S. Average
Projects; and (3) State and Territory Projects. Teaching Australia facilitates the development and implementation of nationally agreed upon teaching standards, conducts research, and communicates research
findings, and facilitates and coordinates professional
development courses. The National Projects include
programs designed to identify and promote best
practices, support the development and dissemination of professional learning resources in priority
areas, and develop professional networks for teachers
and school leaders. The State and Territory Projects
4. U
nderwrite mentoring for all beginning
teachers, featuring in-classroom coaching by
trained mentors, and shared collaboration
time for novices.
sco e
To read more, see the full report: Wei, R. C., Darling-Hammond, L., Andree, A., Richardson, N., Orphanos, S. (2009). Professional learning in the learning profession: A status report on teacher development in the
United States and abroad. Dallas, TX. National Staff Development Council. The report can be downloaded
from: http://edpolicy.stanford.edu. This project is supported by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation.