Do the letters after your name matter?

International schoolteachers are enjoying a seller’s market.

The post-COVID recruitment churn may have settled somewhat, but many schools are still chasing teachers. As I write there are 3,500 jobs being advertised on the TES and posts such as this show the challenges some schools face.

Teachers who found themselves ‘stuck’ due to COVID have moved on. From China especially, but elsewhere too. Many have returned to their ‘home’ countries, or at least closer to home. For some schools, there simply aren’t enough qualified professionals to go around.

In this seller’s market, the best jobs, in the best schools, in most attractive countries, should go to the best teachers, right?

Not necessarily.

There is another factor at work. Credentials.

For reasons related to brand, perceptions of quality, and to meet legal requirements, the wheat still gets winnowed from the chafe by teaching qualifications.

The best teacher may not get a job in the best school if they don’t have the ‘right’ credentials – the right letters after their name.

What Counts As Qualified?

The ‘traditional’ route to appropriate qualification has been an undergraduate education degree or a subject-related degree and a post-graduate teaching certificate. With qualification/s in hand, a few years’ experience under their belts, and the right passport ‘fully qualified’ teachers have broad access to the lucrative and exciting world of international schooling.?

What though for those not able to access this ‘traditional’ route? What options exist for those whose qualifications don’t grant automatic entry to international schools? What about those training to teach in later life? And, what about specialist?English as an Additional Language?teachers or sports coaches looking to gain formal teaching qualifications?

Once upon a time, the option was a year spent studying in the UK, US or Australia. Yet, for many, with roots established, families started, and economic commitments made, full-time overseas study was an impossibility – financially, personally, and practically.

For these aspiring teachers, and certainly those looking towards British credentials, until recently most roads led to the PGCEi.

PGCEi’s have given thousands of teachers access to international schools.

However, unfortunately and often unfairly, the PGCEi has been much maligned. In part, this is due to varying content and differing quality. Some PGCEi’s are generic; in contrast to PGCEs, they are not generally awarded in specific subjects. Some universities, Warwick for example, award by phase (early years, primary etc) but not all.

The lack of an assessed teaching component on some courses has also limited employability. Better schools prefer courses with robust face-to-face moderation procedures, as do some countries (Hong Kong notably).

In short,?some?(with emphasis on?some) PGCEi’s do not adequately replicate the experience of studying a full-time UK-based PGCE (or equivalent). With the argument against them being that they fuel an influx of decidedly average, but licensed teachers, seeking employment in international schools.

However, the same argument can be levelled at most (all?) teacher qualifications. A teaching?certificate?is no guarantee of teaching?quality?– just ask the Head of any school in the UK, US or Australia. There are some very poor ‘qualified’ teachers, and some excellent ‘unqualified’ ones.

Acknowledging this, to date, many international schools (particularly those with a British orientation) have used?Qualified Teacher Status?(QTS) as a benchmark.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

Teachers holding a PGCEi have the same?academic?qualification as those holding PGCEs (i.e. the academic elements of the course are broadly the same). The critical difference is that PGCEis do not accrue QTS.

In theory, QTS affirms that a teacher can teach. They don’t just have an academic certificate, they have proven they can cope in the classroom.

In very simple terms, QTS is achieved by undertaking assessed teaching practices in appropriate schools. Experienced colleagues and university staff guide and support trainees in improving their pedagogy against a set of standards codified, for those training in England, by the UK government.

Why though is QTS relevant internationally?

QTS may represent (a particular view of) teacher quality, but holding QTS does not necessarily equate to knowledge, skills, or experience appropriate to?international?schools.?QTS demonstrates an ability to teach in UK-based and UK-centric schools. Teachers holding QTS may be ill-prepared for life in international schools.

There is also the issue of diversity.

By privileging QTS, schools favour teachers coming from the UK. Implicitly, if not explicitly, this precludes from employment potentially excellent teachers from different nationalities and different backgrounds. Yet, should?international?school teachers not, by very definition, represent diversity?

Enter iQTS.

International Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS)

iQTS is a new, UK government-backed international teaching qualification, recognised by the Department for Education (DfE) as equivalent to QTS.

The course is mapped against the iQTS Teachers’ Standards and Core Content Framework, closely mirroring the requirements of a UK-based PGCE. At the same time, there is a degree of latitude. Providers can, to some extent, adapt the course to local contexts – it is QTS, but with an?international?flavour.

Additionally, iQTS is different from a PGCEi in a few ways:

• Whereas the PGCEi is generic (usually offered by phase, Primary or Secondary), the PGCE iQTS is phase-specific (Primary or Secondary).
• And, for Secondary, iQTS is subject specific. Warwick, for example offer: Art, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, English, Humanities, Mathematics, MFL (inc EAL), and Physics. In terms of course admissions, this means that proof of subject knowledge (via an appropriate degree or relevant experience) is set at a higher benchmark than for PGCEi’s.
• A teaching practicum is compulsory and is longer than for PGCEi’s (120 days rather than 90).
• Admissions qualification requirements are stricter. These vary by University, but a 2:2 (Hons) degree plus English, Maths and, for Primary trainees, Science qualifications are the baseline.
• Mentors are required to undergo detailed training and, whilst the workload isn't onerous, are required to support the trainee with reflection exercises and assessment tasks in addition to lesson observations.
• Documents are required to be notarised; safeguarding checks are mandatory.

Notably, and much to the chagrin of many, most providers are only offering iQTS in combination with a PGCE. In practical and financial terms this precludes it as an option for those who already hold a PGCEi.

At least for now.

The hope is that a standalone iQTS option will eventually become available…watch this space.

For readers interested in finding out more, Warwick University has a useful ‘eligibility checker’:

The end of PGCEi’s?

Does the introduction of iQTS mean the end for PGCEi’s?

Probably not. For many people QTS hasn’t ever mattered.

The PGCEi remains a strong qualification for those who are unlikely to ever teach in the UK or who, for whatever reasons, are unlikely to seek employment in the very upper echelons of international schooling, especially those with British orientations.

The lower entrance requirements and more flexible modes of delivery also make the PGCEi applicable to a wider range of contexts – and, critically, to a greater diversity of teachers.

PGCEi's are also cheaper, by quite some margin.

The PGCEi then has an important place in the market; it serves the needs of aspiring teachers who do not want or need iQTS, may not be able to afford it, and may not be in contexts where it is relevant.

The cautionary note is that PGCEi’s are not all created equal. Teachers are advised to choose those which include an assessed teaching component – the small additional cost will be more than offset by later employability.

In turn, schools are encouraged to embrace the shifting realities of teacher recruitment. There are thousands of high-quality PGCEi-qualified teachers, who, in many regards, may be more suitable for your school than a those brandishing QTS or iQTS.

At their best, PGCEi’s offer thorough, and internationally relevant, teacher preparation.?

The letters after your name matter

Yet, if you aspire to teaching in top-tier international schools or in the UK, can afford the fee, and work in a setting which can meet the requirements, undoubtedly, PGCE iQTS is the new ‘gold standard’ – after all, the letters after your name matter.

Dr. Denry Machin is an educational consultant specialising in teacher training and new school start-ups. His latest book ‘International Schooling: The Teacher’s Guide’ can be accessed?here.

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