The supply, recruitment, and retention of teachers

Challenges to the supply of well-prepared and effective teachers persist across diverse education systems. This chapter considers the sociopolitical and technical complexity of reconciling demand and supply in the recruitment and retention of teachers. Within finite expenditure, workforce planning must balance need across school phases, subjects, and localities, taking into account teacher mobility and turnover, changing demographics, curriculum policy, and future learning needs. As a result, it is not uncommon for teacher shortages, underrepresentation, and oversupply to coexist. This chapter outlines the impact of patterns of differential attrition on teaching quality and educational equity, and considers alternative policy strategies to secure and diversify the teacher workforce.