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.
Globalisation and Transnational Teachers: South African Teacher Migration to the UK
SUMMARY The globalisation of the world markets has paved the way for the movement of people with scarce skills such as teachers across national boundaries with relative ease. This paper focuses on the migration of teachers from South Africa to the UK using a qualitative, ethnographic approach. It argues that there are socio-cultural complexities in the transnational migration of SA teachers. It begins by identifying the reasons for teachers exiting the SA teaching fraternity to work in schools in London in the UK. Teachers’ experiences in the UK schools are then explored. The study revealed that teachers leaving SA had multiple reasons for going abroad. The migration of teachers from SA to the UK was influenced by the declining economic status of teaching as a profession in SA, and global labour market conditions. The majority of the migrant teachers who were interviewed had an existing social network in the UK, either friends or relatives. However, the gravity of teaching in a foreign country without next of kin took its toll and teachers spoke at length of the loneliness of being apart from immediate family. An overwhelming majority of migrant teachers experienced a culture shock in UK classrooms, especially discipline problems. Migrant teachers felt powerless, as UK policies tend to protect children, even if they misbehaved in the classroom. The paper concludes by highlighting the commodification of teachers; those who are able to trade their skills in a global market in return for socio-economic and career gains. The arrival of this breed of teacher is also facilitated by what D. Harvey terms the “time-space compression” of global society.
Migration, Labor Mobility, and Relocation Assistance: The Case of the American Indian
This article, an example of "indirect" program evaluation, utilizes a 1/100 public use sample of American households from the 1970 U.S. census to examine family welfare levels among three categories of Indian families: (1) nonmigrant families living in traditional areas of Indian population concentration; (2) families in areas not receiving relocation assistance through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); and (3) migrant families moving to urban areas with BIA relocation assistance. The article concludes that the population of migrants receiving relocation assistance has a substantially higher level of economic welfare in both absolute and relative terms and that earnings are the principal source of increased welfare. It is suggested that such assistance might be utilized on a wider basis to assist other migrating populations.