ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the basis of the current crisis in recruitment and retention of teachers. Arguing that many of the underlying factors are the result of its relatively low status, the chapter moves to a consideration, supported by international comparators, of how this might be addressed. Countries in which teaching is held in high regard are, not without coincidence, also countries that enjoy high achievement against such benchmarks as PISA. We propose a model of teacher education, supported by the UK’s Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, that exemplifies the nexus between teaching and research in terms of the content and design of teacher education programmes and also the role of teacher educator as both consumer and producer of research. This model demonstrates that intellectual, research-informed, career-long teacher education can be the foundation for enhancing the status of the teaching profession. We argue that in turn this can ultimately lead to successful and sufficient recruitment to and retention in the teaching profession.
