“The discourse on the shortage of teachers makes it possible to generate greater flexibility in the system”
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Xavier Pons is a professor of education sciences at the University Claude-Bernard-Lyon-I. He participates in a European research project that compares teacher career management policies in France, England and Belgium.
Why is the teacher recruitment crisis common to many European countries, when the school systems are very different?
This question takes different forms depending on the country. In England, where the contract is the norm, it is above all a question of retaining the teachers already in post because the resignation rates at five and ten years are between 30% and 40%. In France, the question of attractiveness dominates, with the drop in the number of candidates for the civil servant competition.
Overall, the place of teachers in the social hierarchy has evolved. The profession attracts less the middle and upper social classes, who opt for other professions, in a context where the remuneration of teachers is structurally less important than in other sectors. There is thus a real disconnect in terms of purchasing power, reinforced by a certain endogamy: more and more teachers are in a relationship with another teacher, which further weakens their standard of living.
Why is the term “shortage” not appropriate in your opinion?
The recruitment crisis is not new. There was no exogenous shock in 2022. It’s a bit like global warming. The latter did not suddenly appear this summer. Please note that I am not denying the situation – the indicators are eloquent – but to speak of a shortage of teachers is a way of formulating the problem in terms of matching supply and demand, management of flow. This discourse makes it possible to generate a certain type of emergency political response based on an increased flexibility of the system and prevents the construction of more lasting solutions to secure professional careers. The increased hiring of contract staff in France over the past ten years is thus not a symptom of existing problems, but a possible remedy.
In your opinion, the questions of attractiveness of the teaching profession and the extent of recruitment are not necessarily linked…
Yes, and it is interesting in this context to look at the debates around these two parameters since the 2000s in France. At the very beginning of the XXIe century, the teachers’ unions sounded the alarm, but the demand for higher positions and salaries was seen as a posture of defense of the profession.
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