Where are the teachers? A call to transformational education

In this 11-minute podcast, TeachBeyond President David Durance talks about the need for more teachers to serve globally, the trend for national teachers to serve in their home countries, and the increasing number of cross-cultural teachers who come from outside North America. This podcast originally appeared on the MNN website.

David Durance, president of TeachBeyond, says that even in the last two years, there has been a decline in teachers coming out of North America who were ready to be placed around the world. “One of the things that we see as a major challenge for us is matching the ever growing need globally with a smaller number of US and Canadian teachers that are willing to come serve.”

Unfortunately, TeachBeyond is not the only group noticing the trend. Even in public schools in the United States, fewer and fewer candidates are applying for jobs.

Why?

There are many reasons. Gap years between schooling and work are gaining popularity. Some college graduates with take non-traditional instructing roles. Overall, there may be fewer people pursuing degrees as teachers. In response, TeachBeyond is taking new steps to help people passionate about transformational education get their credentials.

Durance says, “TeachBeyond sees an opportunity to provide a lot of this equipping as teachers come to us, as members come to us that have a heart for education and maybe don’t have the license or the education. And it provides TeachBeyond the opportunity to actually provide the education to equip them to provide the teaching service that we’re looking [for] around the world.”

For these teachers, schooling is about more than just a standard education; it is ministry.

Support from New Places

While TeachBeyond works to recruit and train teachers, God is providing educators from places that haven’t sent staff in the past. Recruits for TeachBeyond ministries are pouring out of South Africa, the Philippines, and Brazil. Local nationals are also catching TeachBeyond’s vision and joining schools in their homelands.

In fact, new opportunities pop up all the time in places that Durance never before thought were possible. He explains, “In Bangladesh we’re doing some amazing work there in an open context. [We’re] doing a Christian school in the middle of the heart of a Muslim community. And the Muslim parents are sending their kids to our school there to participate in Christian education because they believe it is going to be best for their kids.

“Now I cannot think of anything else that is more missional than that context and more aligned with the great commission to be telling others about the good news of Jesus Christ.”

A Call to Go

The mission is clear and the students are ready, but the need for staff is great.

Are you an educator? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you if He is leading you to join TeachBeyond. Learn more about open opportunities here.

Give toward the ministries of TeachBeyond by supporting their missional staff.

Durance also asks for prayer. Ask God to call graduating students to teach in transformational education around the world.

“We also are asking people to be praying for other teachers in other contexts.” Durance explains, “So, think about the local national teachers in south Africa, the local national teachers in the DRC in the Philippines, in China, in Germany. You know we need to be praying for the whole Christian movement, that it’s not just a bunch of Canadians and Americans that respond to this, but there would be this response all around the world from local Christians who want to participate in transformational education.”