ABSTRACT
The case of Israel is an interesting one as the country simultaneously faces a teacher shortage in the Jewish sector and a teacher surplus in the Arab one. Both phenomena have severe implications for the Israeli education system. The teacher shortage in the Jewish sector has led to the employment of numerous unqualified teachers. The teacher surplus in the Arab sector has led to significant unemployment and to the hiring of part-time teachers, which contributes to job insecurity, burnout and lower job satisfaction.
To address these two contradictory challenges, several national policy actions have been enacted in recent years. The policies aimed at addressing the shortage in the Jewish sector focus on recruiting and retaining teachers. The policies endorsed to cope with the teacher surplus in the Arab sector have largely concentrated on limiting the number of student teachers in initial teacher education. Despite these efforts, neither phenomenon has improved in the past decade.
