Qualified Teachers ?

by Editor on 2009/11/12

in News

It’s disappointing when statistics are used against the school.

Statistics don't tell the whole story

Statistics don't tell the whole story


Take Stockholm.se’s information about Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet. According to their statistics, there are only 29% qualified teachers at the school.

As anyone who goes to the school will tell you, this figure is incredibly misleading; Skolverket does not consider teachers who are, say, qualified teachers in Canada, the UK, the USA, etc, to be qualified teachers in Sweden. Even though they may have gone through a longer, more rigorous teacher-training.

To combat the stats, many of our foreign teachers are in the process of getting accredited in Sweden by taking Swedish B. In a year or two these statistics won’t be so negative.

In the meantime, Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet is proud of its international AND Swedish teachers. That’s why we don’t hide our qualifications. You can check them out for yourself on our Staff page.

  • Maral Shahnazari

    It is good that you are trying to explain why the statistics show that there isn’t so many accredited teachers in IEGS. It made me rethink many times about my decision of choosing IEGS. It is therefore essential to inform the visitors at open house about this, this may be the cause of certain 9th graders to not apply for IEGS due this matter.

  • http://www.engelskagymnasiet.se editor

    Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate you sharing them here.

  • http://www.overpweredgaming.tk Kristian Dam-Jensen

    Typical Swedish bureaucracy to consider teaching education from outside of Sweden “unqualified”.

  • http://www.engelskagymnasiet.se editor

    Cheers Kristian. It can be frustrating, I know. But at least we’re trying to do something to counter this. I personally think it would be good if there was a standard qualification at least across Europe.

  • Caroline

    The best teachers I’ve had through my now 12 years of school have all been at IEGS. I had kind of given up the hope of finding fun, engaging teachers and so the statistics didn’t bother me one bit. I figured hey, I’ve had no luck with accredited teachers so far, might as well give it a shot, and I’m incredibly happy I did.
    I love all my teachers, and some of the best are the ones who have no or very little pedagogic background. I think it’s more a matter of finding teachers that are good at what they do, and interested in it.

  • http://www.engelskagymnasiet.se editor

    Some great points Caroline. Thanks for sharing. Having worked for many years in and around education and studying all the way up to PhD myself I have to say that the best teacher I ever had was a small, dynamic English lady who taught me when I was 15. Compared to the professors I came across later in life she would have beaten them hands down. Her readings of Shakespeare were inspiring and the fact I did well at university and even as a lecturer myself at university owed a huge amount to her.

    Great teachers stay with you for life and from talking to students at IEG —both past and present— I know the school has the kind of people like the lady that once inspired me. That’s what thrills me so much about IEG.

  • Christoffer

    The problem is that even if we would have 100% “qualified” teachers it wouldn’t tell us that much because you don’t have to be a good teacher to be qualified.

    This “qualified teacher diploma” doesn’t really tell me anything about the quality of the teacher, especially in the case of foregin teacher (which most part are in our school).

    We have teachers interested in the education and well being of the students and THAT is something you never learn at “teaching school”.

  • Alexander B

    It’s the same thing in Täby where it’s all very misleading. We have great educated teachers, working to become “behöriga” in Sweden.

  • http://www.engelskagymnasiet.se editor

    @Alexander
    Thanks for joining in the conversation. I know you have some great people over in Täby. And a fabulous school building too!

    @Christoffer
    Great point!
    Several of us at the gymnasium used to teach teacher-candidates when we worked at the university so we know a lot about the quality of the “qualified” ones here in Sweden. You’re right. The term can be very misleading. Nevertheless, I understand what Skolverket is trying to do so it’s a case of getting on with the job in hand.

  • http://www.engelskagymnasiet.se Andrew Maier

    It is nice to see students joining in this discussion and sharing their thoughts on IEGS’s teachers. I’m another one of the “unqualified” teachers. I only spent 7 years getting my “unqualifications” which in my case is a BA in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Education. Oh well, some people are picky. I think the true test whether someone is really qualified is on the result and when put to the true test. Our teachers I believe will always measure up on top when you talk with our students and ask them if their teachers are “qualified”. In my years as a counselor I have met people who have gotten better advice on the park bench from an elderly couple than the high end office of the most “qualified” psychologist!!

  • http://www.engelskagymnasiet.se editor

    Great comments Mr Maier. I appreciate you joining in the discussion here. You’re right. So-called qualifications can sometimes give a false sense of security. I guess that’s why we at IEG try to be as open about our backgrounds and the work we do. We’re happy to show how successful all kinds of our students have gone on to be.

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