Teachers and Teaching

Teacher migration and mobilities: Routes, Roots, and Rights

Teacher migration is a contested but not a novel phenomenon. More than a decade ago, Caravatti and colleagues (2014) published the first international study on teacher migration commissioned by Education International. Being exploratory in its nature, the study emphasised further investigation on topics such as the lived experiences of migrant teachers, national impacts of out-migration, and the implications of an increasingly feminised nature of teacher migration. Relatedly, the authors also highlighted the challenge of collecting comparable data to define the teacher migration phenomenon at a global scale. In 2023, the Geneva Graduate Institute and the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner published findings from the project, ‘Migrant Teachers, Academic Freedom and the Right to Education’ (Boulmirate et al., 2023) indicating the lack of visibility in human rights protection for migration teachers.

The intensification of teacher migration is often connected with the global teacher shortage crises, where migrant teachers are positioned as a ‘solution’. Yet Boulmirate and colleagues (2023) contend that ‘the urgent need for overseas teachers to fill the domestic teacher shortage in some countries does not extend to how they value the contribution of migrant teachers in practice’ (p. 21). Much of this discourse emanates from the movement of teachers originating from the Global South to Global North countries. However, existing research on education and migration reveals that migration patterns can also occur from North to South, South to South, or internally within a nation state (e.g., urban to rural areas and vice-versa) (Arnot, Schneider & Welply, 2013). Migration and mobility frameworks denote that global human movement bear complexities that require diverse representations of theoretical perspectives, methodological innovations, and subjective experiences.

Possible areas of contribution:

This special issue is designed to capture diverse perspectives on teacher migration and mobility through a global collection of research articles. For this special issue, we are taking a broad definition of teacher migration as the movement of teaching expertise across geographic boundaries (e.g., across and within nation states, urban to rural areas, etc.) and mobilities as the capacity for individuals to move within social structures. The editors are looking to gather papers that fall along the themes: routes, roots, and rights.

‘Routes’ denote the different pathways for teacher migration. We invite papers that include, but not limited to, the various motivations, journeys, and factors influencing the movement of teachers across national borders and within national contexts. We also encourage articles that locate teacher migration as related to broader societal issues such as political polarisation, climate change, digital transformation, and health-related concerns such as the pandemic.

‘Roots’ refer to the ways that migrant teachers are transitioning, settling into, and establishing themselves in destination contexts. We invite papers that discuss the lived experiences of migrant teachers in their new contexts. We encourage papers centring the voices of ethnic minority migrants, the movement of migrant teachers from Global North to Global South countries, and mobilities across and within borders.

‘Rights’ refer to a socially-just perspective about teacher migration. Under this theme, we invite papers that examine teacher migrants’ rights contextualised in either home or host countries. We encourage engaging with policy frameworks, theoretical lenses, historical perspectives, and narratives of activism that illuminate issues of disadvantage and speculate on future directions to move forward a social justice agenda for teacher migration.

Following assertions about the lack of research on teacher migration, particularly those that centre diverse cohort experiences (e.g., ethnic/cultural backgrounds, age, gender identity, primary and secondary settings)  (Bense, 2016), the editors are particularly interested in papers that employ qualitative methodological approaches that engage with empirical data (e.g., interviews, ethnographic case studies, policy and textual analysis). Additionally, aligned with a socially just commitment embedded in this collection, we highly encourage papers that engage with and foreground sociological and critical theorisations.

If you are interested in contributing to this Special Issue, please confirm your intention to submit with an extended abstract of a minimum of 500 words (excluding references) by 17^th July 2026, and indicating the name/s and institution/s of co-author/s. Please send to Bonita Cabiles - [email protected].

Submission of the completed paper is in December 2026.

Proposed timeline

References:

Arnot, M., Schneider, C., & Welply, O. (2013). Education, mobilities and migration: people, ideas and resources. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 43(5), 567-579.

Bense, K. (2016). International teacher mobility and migration: A review and synthesis of the current empirical research and literature. Educational Research Review, 17, 37-49.

Boulmirate, H., El Wali, M., & Liu, X. (2023). Migrant teachers, academic freedom and the right to education. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/education/cfi-leaders/cfi-education-leader-Report-Migrant-Teachers.pdf

Caravatti, M., Lederer, S., Lupico, A. & Van Meter, N. (2014). Getting teacher migration and mobility right. Education International. https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/25652:getting-teacher-migration-and-mobility-right