Enhancing Teacher Professionalism and Status
Promoting Recognition, Registration and Standards

Ensuring that teachers’ professionalism is appropriately recognised and rewarded is a challenge, especially at a time when that professional status itself is often under threat.
The fifth Commonwealth Teachers’ Research Symposium brought together teachers, researchers and education policy-makers to share experiences from developed and developing countries both within and outside the Commonwealth. This event was a further contribution to ensuring that teachers with professional qualifications of good standard are able to move freely between countries of the Commonwealth and the wider world, having those qualifications and skills recognised and valued.
Contents
Summary
Symposium Statement
Opening of the Symposium
Launch of the Commonwealth Secretariat Publication Fair Trade for Teachers: Transferability of Teacher Qualifications in the Commonwealth by Professor Jonathan Jansen and Dr James Keevy
Opening address from Professor Jonathan Jansen
Symposium Day One
Session 1. Commonwealth Welcome Message and Keynote Address
The Commonwealth message
Introduction of keynote speaker by Dr James Keevy
Keynote address by Professor Jonathan Jansen
Response from Dr Carol Anne Spreen
Discussion and deliberations
Session 2. Researching Teacher Professionalism and Status: The South and Southern African Context
Promoting teacher recognition and status in Southern Africa
Transnational migration, gender and teacher status
The role of the South African Qualifications Authority in the professional qualifications and research context: New opportunities for South African teachers and the South African Council of Educators (SACE) to further improve the professional status of teachers
Discussion and deliberations
Session 3. The Commonwealth Teacher Experience with Professional Status and Recognition in the Context of International Teacher Mobility
Researching Commonwealth teacher qualifications: Some country cases
One teacher’s story – Personal agency and professional development and status in Commonwealth teacher migration
Discussion and deliberations
Economics and education: Labour markets and human capital development in small states
Discussion and deliberations
Symposium Day Two
Review of Day One
Session 4. Research Initiatives in International Teacher Professional Recognition, Qualifications and Quality Assurance
Quality assurance and professional qualifications: the role of UNESCO
Addressing harmonisation of teacher qualifications in the Caribbean region
Importing educators: implications and outcomes of the research for US education
Discussion and deliberations
Session 5. ‘‘Fish bowl’‘ forum theme: Teachers and the future in addressing professional recognition, status and qualifications
Panel 1 – Teacher status and professional recognition
Panel 2 – Teacher qualifications, recognition and comparability
References
Appendices
1. Symposium Programme
2. List of Delegates
Browse subjects
- Agriculture Expand or collapse me
- Democracy and elections Expand or collapse me
- Debt and finance policy
- Economic development Expand or collapse me
- Education, gender and health Expand or collapse me
- Law and human rights Expand or collapse me
- Oceans and natural resources Expand or collapse me
- Public administration and governance Expand or collapse me
- Small states Expand or collapse me
- Sport for development and peace
- Taxation
- Trade Expand or collapse me
- Youth policy