Perspectives and Perplexities Regarding Transnational Teacher Migration Between South Africa and the United Kingdom

Abstract

No country is untouched by the forces of globalization (Fancourt Commonwealth Declaration, 1999), which has created a myriad of opportunities for highly skilled professionals by facilitating their swift and dynamic movement across national borders. South Africa (SA) has recently emerged from isolation due to apartheid (1948–1994) and begun participating in the global labor market, but is already losing workers in critical fields. As a developing country, SA is not in a unique position; many developing countries are faced with the challenge of addressing the migration of homebred professionals to developed countries. More than two-thirds of the world’s teachers are in developing countries, and (Ochs 2003) has revealed that there could possibly be a national shortage of forty thousand teachers in the UK. The UK is faced with the challenge of attracting and retaining teachers, as 60% of the teachers currently in the UK are over the age of forty (Ochs 2003). This chapter presents a selection of the perspectives and debates that abound in the effort to understand teacher migration between South Africa and the UK. As teacher migration is generally couched in terms of discourse on brain drain, gain or circulation, the chapter locates the discussion within this framework.