South African teachers as mobile knowledge workers in a global labour market
Globally, the popularity of South African teachers is increasing. The recruitment of South African teachers has become an easy solution to fix a shortage of teachers in many industrialised countries. It is being speculated that the aggressive recruitment has a negative impact on South Africa as a source country. This theoretical study addresses South African teachers’ motives for migration, marketing strategies of recruitment agencies, the implications for South African teachers due to the revised migration policies of the United Kingdom, and the impact of teacher migration on the South African education system. Career dissatisfaction, poor salaries and unemployment were identified as push factors. Higher salaries, international teaching experience, family or friends overseas, travel opportunities and recruitment agency persuasion were identified as pull factors. Recruitment agencies are using several methods to recruit teachers such as direct marketing activities on university campuses, online marketing, newspapers and magazines. Online ‘pitching’ to schools and teachers is discussed. It is predicted that South African teachers will seek greener pastures (especially the United Arab Emirates) due to the implementation of the recent United Kingdom Youth Mobility Scheme. South Africa’s education system is being stifled by international recruitment. Huge loss of teachers to receiving countries has a serious negative impact upon the education system of South Africa.
Understanding the exit of teachers from South Africa : determinants of trans-national teacher migration
Globalisation has allowed people with scarce skills to cross national borders with ease. Given their specific skills base professionals are prone to trans-national migration. The trend is for professionals from developing countries, such as South Africa, to fill gaps in the labour market in developed countries such as the United Kingdom. The literature on migration focuses on the impact of teacher loss on source countries and the consequences for receiving societies. A limited number of studies, however, focus upon the exit of experienced and novice teachers from South Africa. In this paper I highlight trans-national migration determinants for South African teachers by presenting the demographic profiles of exiting teachers, and their motivations for leaving South Africa. The evidence presented was part of a study undertaken from 2001-2005, which examined novice and experienced teachers' reasons for exiting South Africa, their experiences abroad, and their reasons for returning. The need to understand migrant teachers' decision-making is salient : first, as a step in creating avenues for discourse on the production of teachers for export and, second, in attracting ex-patriots back to their home country.
Globalization, Immigration, and Changing Social Relations in U.S. Cities
The current process of globalization, with deep historical roots, has had a significant impact on social problems in U.S. cities. My focus is the links between globalization, immigration, and urban social relations. At the heart of this linkage is an economic restructuring across societies and in the U.S. city that has potent social consequences for immigrant populations. Such people, induced to migrate by changing economic circumstances, find growing ghettoization, isolation, and cultural antipathies in their new settings. In the new globality, immigrant populations are commonly fingered as the other, the invading and ominous people threatening time-tested social norms and economic principles.