Teacher Migration Impact: A Review in the Context of Quality Education Provision and Teacher Training in Higher Education in Southern Africa

Overview & Synopsis

Teacher mobility has become a common feature of the cross-border flows and transnational networks that constitute globalisation. International and intraregional migration of teachers is an important factor in education provision and management in countries in the Southern Africa region, for example Botswana and South Africa. In an increasingly global context of teacher migration, education practitioners continue to strive for quality education. But has the mobility of teachers mediated the quality of education, and what are the implication of this for teacher education and training in higher education? This article explores teacher migration trends and dimensions of quality education, and assesses the impact that such teacher mobility has on education quality dimensions. The implications of teacher migration for teacher training in higher education are also explored. The article argues that teacher mobility negatively impacts education quality dimensions as well as the demand dynamics on higher education institutions for teachers in the migration origin countries. These concerns represent one of the major exclusions in the existing reflections on quality education provision and teacher supply and demand. (Contains 1 figure.)