Shaping the Future of Teaching Profession

Abstract

In the context of education debates, systemic and program solutions, the teacher undoubtedly plays a crucial role. It is the teacher who is assigned a strategic role in the functioning and effectiveness of the education system. This is confirmed by various global and our domestic educational reports in Poland, where it is emphasized that the quality of the school and the pupil's educational results largely depend on the quality of the teacher's work, while the quality of the teacher's work depends on the quality of their education (see Madalińska-Michalak, 2017). Without a doubt, the strength of current research is that it notices something that has long been known in pedagogical discourse and has often been ignored in practice: teachers play a vital role in the educational process to which pupils are subject (Darling-Hammond, 2017). This role is particularly vital when we perceive it through the lens of learning and development at school.In this paper I put forward the thesis that reinforcing the socio-professional position of a teacher -a teacher perceived as an actor on the educational stage

Teacher Education Policy Issues in Poland: Recommendations for Building a High-Quality Teaching Profession

“…At the same time teacher education is more likely to be effective in supporting high quality teachers who are dedicated to response to increasing demands on schools to prepare students for a changing world and foster holistic student learning and well-being when it also plays a powerful, deliberate, and consequential role in developing teacher professionalism. Teaching must become, and be seen to become, a well-rewarded and highly valued role that attracts some of the best graduates into a teaching career (Madalińska-Michalak, 2019b).…”

“…The teacher has been assigned a strategic role in the functioning and effectiveness of the education system. Playing this role, should be supported by state actions to build high-quality teaching profession (see: Madalińska-Michalak, 2019b).…”

Teachers’ motivation to choose teaching and remain in the profession: A comparative mixed methods study in Jamaica, Poland and Turkey

“…Over the past two decades, the minimum teacher earnings were at the national average level (for appointed teachers), above it (for certified teachers) and below it (for the teachers at the beginning of their career: trainee teachers and contract teachers). It is difficult to argue that such salaries would meet the ambitions of one of the best-educated professional groups in Poland (Madalińska- Michalak, 2019).…”

“…On the other hand, it is possible to observe among teachers a feeling of decline in the social prestige of the teaching profession related primarily to low wages and government policy. The average teacher salary in Poland froze in 2012, and the average teacher salary and the average in the national economy equalized in 2017 (Madalińska-Michalak, 2019; Piwowarski, 2018). Over the past two decades, the minimum teacher earnings were at the national average level (for appointed teachers), above it (for certified teachers) and below it (for the teachers at the beginning of their career: trainee teachers and contract teachers).…”