How teachers are rated in 21 countries around the world
Teacher pay, the influence of unions and levels of respect are looked at in a global survey on how teachers are viewed
Whether people think unions have too much influence over teacher pay was one of the questions asked in the global survey. Photograph: Sang Tan for Associated Press
Teachers in China have the greatest respect from people in their country, according to research examining attitudes to teachers around the world. It was the only country where people compared teachers most closely to doctors, with the majority of places opting for social-workers, and in the case of the US, Brazil, France and Turkey, librarians.
The UK and the US ranked in the middle of the Global Teacher Status Index, and were beaten by South Korea, Turkey, Egypt and Greece, which all valued their teachers more than any European or Anglo Saxon country. Israel was at the bottom of the index, which was based on a survey of 21 countries.
The index, written by Professor Peter Dolton and Dr Oscar Marcenaro-Gutierrez, is the first comprehensive attempt to compare the status of teachers across the world and is published by the Varkey GEMS Foundation. In each country, 1,000 people were asked about whether teacher earnings were fair, if they'd encourage their own children to become teachers and whether unions had too much power.
Below, we've pulled out some of the most interesting findings below.
1. The status of headteachers is higher in the UK than in any of the other countries polled.
2. Parents in China, South Korea, Turkey and Egypt are most likely to give encouragement to children to become teachers. Whereas parents in Israel, Portugal, Brazil and Japan are least likely to provide positive encouragement. The UK scored in the middle.
3. Teacher salaries are at their highest in Singapore, with an average of $45,755. South Korea, USA, Germany and Japan are all above $40,000. The UK is at $33,377.
4. People in 95% of the countries polled support a higher salary for teachers than they currently earn. However, Japan, France and US judge that teacher pay is between 6% and 55% higher than is considered fair.
5. Across Europe there are higher levels of pessimism on students' respect for teachers than in Asia and the Middle East. In China 75% of respondents believe that students respect teachers, compared to an average of 27% per country.
6. In all 21 countries, more than 59% of people think teachers ought to be paid according to the performance of their pupils. The average across countries was 75%.
7. Opinion was divided on the influence teaching unions have over teacher's pay and conditions. In the UK, and in many European countries, the majority of people support unions having a greater influence. However, countries where there is the most recent history of teacher unrest – such as Japan, Greece, France and the US – believe unions have too much influence.
8. In the UK, the actual wage of teachers is lower than what people perceive to be fair. Respondents thought teachers ought to be awarded pay that is 15% more than current teacher wages. Some 74% of respondents thought teachers should be paid according to their pupils' results.
9. Finland, Switzerland and Singapore have the most faith in their education system, and South Korea, Egypt and Japan have the least. The UK comes seventh.
10. Teachers are given satisfactory or positive trust ratings in every country polled. The average trust rating is 6.3 out of 10 and no country gave a rating below five. Finland and Brazil have the most trust in their teachers. While Israel, South Korea, Egypt and Japan hold the least.
