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The Labour Market - Activity

Most discussions of the labour market assume that labour operates in a free market. The use of such a model is that it allows us to look at issues in reality and ask why wage rates might not behave in the way that the theory might predict - in other words there are market imperfections that we must take account of.

This Activity is focusing on the market for teachers in schools. Recruiting teachers has not been easy in recent years. The conditions of service, the pay and the perception of teaching have not been held in high regard by prospective employees. As a result, the government have attempted to introduce a number of initiatives to try to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers.

People queuing

Incentives were required as candidates were not exactly forming a queue for teaching jobs. © Dreamtime.com

Aim:

The aim of the Activity is for you to research the structure of the payment system for the teaching profession and to evaluate the efficiency of the market for teachers.

The most recent plan by the government is to provide incentives for teachers to take up posts in 'challenging' schools. A challenging school may be one where discipline is poor, where the social mix of the student population is varied, and where the social environment the school resides in may be difficult - high levels of poverty, lack of parental support and so on.

The so called 'super teachers' who will work in these schools will get financial benefits and additional training to deal with the situations they will face.

Similar problems were experienced in trying to recruit teachers to 'shortage' subjects like maths and sciences. The solution was, again, to provide some financial incentive but such suggestions have not been universally popular with teaching unions and teachers themselves.

Teaching a class of students

Image: Filling teaching vacancies in some schools and in some areas of the country is not easy - should the government interfere with the labour market to seek to correct the 'market failure'? Copyright: Tim & Annette

Questions:

  1. What factors could affect the level of the demand and supply for teachers?
  2. The market for teachers is not a free market. Use the links provided to find out how teachers' pay is determined and what the main structure of the teachers' salary scales are.
  3. Most teachers work in the public sector. Using the information gathered in question 2, comment on the view that market rates for teachers are unlikely to ever reach levels where recruitment and retention problems will ever be solved.
  4. Use supply and demand analysis to examine the likely impact on market wage rates for teachers of the government's proposals on 'Super Teachers'.
  5. What problems will the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) have in attempting to estimate the marginal revenue product of a teacher?
  6. Is offering higher pay the best way of securing additional teachers in shortage subjects and in challenging schools?

Related Web sites for Research:

Extension Work:

  • Are the pressures on private sector workers such that their salary levels are justifiably higher than those in the public sector for equivalent roles and levels of responsibilities?
  • What constraints exist for pay award bodies like the STRB in meeting the demands of teachers and how do they seek to cope with solving the conflicts that exist?
  • Would a free market in teachers' salaries solve the problem of teacher shortages in certain subject areas and in 'challenging' schools?