Responding to the Teacher Shortage Crisis Through the Professional Integration of Internationally Educated Teachers

Thousands of internationally educated teachers (IETs) apply for certification in Canada each year. Few succeed, often due to substantial systemic barriers. This qualitative study examines factors involved in the professional integration of IETs in Canadian K-12 classrooms. Participants include 21 IETs enrolled in a pilot graduate course designed to provide experiential learning opportunities in Canadian schools, 8 host teachers, 5 school leaders, and a teacher educator. Data from IETs was collected through online surveys and focus groups and through individual interviews with host teachers, school leaders, and one teacher educator. Thematic analysis revealed four themes: shared understandings and transferable skills and dispositions, the importance of leadership and other supports during experiential learning, barriers to professional integration, and the emergence of relational and professional trust through reciprocity. These findings suggest that addressing teacher shortage crises and the needs of culturally diverse classrooms through the recruitment of IETs would require the development of institutional capacity to receive, recognize, support, and retain IETs; leadership practices play a key role in creating these conditions.