Cross-nation research into mutual recognition of teaching qualifications

Abstract

The General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW), acting on behalf of the General Teaching Councils’ (GTCs’) Five Nations Group, commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to conduct research into the contents of the standards and routes to teaching qualifications in England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in order to provide the GTCs with evidence on the comparability of the different systems, and to enable them to work towards greater equivalence by refinements to working practices and/or changes to legislation. The research was conducted in two stages from December 2005 to March 2006: the first stage was a desk-based analysis of existing matrix documentation and information supplied by the GTCs for each of the five countries, contextualised with additional information from other sources. Five in-country sections examining current practice in England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales were compiled. The second stage of the research was a comparative analysis of the data documented in the five in-country sections. A thematic overview report has been produced which highlights convergence and divergence between the five countries. The report concludes with issues to consider in future if equivalences are to be established between these systems and greater complementarity is to be achieved.