This study focuses on the ever-recurring teacher shortage. Teacher shortages are a global problem, and the reasons highlighted are many but nevertheless similar around the world. UNESCO (2022) has raised concerns about the global teacher shortage crisis, urging governments worldwide to increase support for the teaching profession. The organization has warned that school authorities risk losing staff and may struggle to attract new teachers. Garcia and Weiss (2020), for example, state that the situation with teacher shortage has worsened. Similarly, most European countries are experiencing significant teacher shortages (Federičová, 2020). The shortage of teachers in Sweden has become an increasingly pressing societal issue over the past decade. The rapid and historically unforeseen development has taken school authorities and other stakeholders by surprise. As Bertilsson (2018) notes, the availability of teachers presents a challenge of historical significance. In the so-called Nordic Green Belt, which is a part of Sweden and Norway, three universities, Mid Sweden University in Sweden, North University, and Queen Maud University College in Norway, started a joint research project called “Teachers Without Borders - recruiting and retaining teachers and student teachers in the Nordic Green Belt” in 2024. The main goal of the project is to create conditions for cross-border collaboration between municipalities, teachers, universities, and student teachers to reverse the development regarding the increasing problem of recruiting and retaining teachers and student teachers in the Nordic Green Belt. This study is a part of that project.

In this study, we want to shed light on the development and change of the teacher shortage in Sweden from 1990 to 2024, nationally, regionally, and locally, and what efforts have been taken from a political perspective.

The following research questions form the basis of the study:

What differences over time can be identified within the country between different education levels, stages, and subjects?

What are the perceived causes of the teacher shortage, according to politicians?

What efforts have been taken during the time period to prevent teacher shortage?

Using Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) developmental ecology theory enables analysis and discussion at different levels. We believe that the developmental ecology theory will contribute to seeing patterns at different levels relevant to the study's purpose.

The theory is built around a model with several levels of systems that interact with each other. The different levels consist of the microsystem, which is the individual's immediate environment and includes direct relationships and interactions; the mesosystem, which constitutes connections between different microsystems; the exosystem, which consists of environments that the individual does not have direct contact with but that still influence in different ways; the macrosystem, which includes society's overall cultural, economic, political and ideological conditions, e.g. values, norms and laws that have an impact on other levels; the chronosystem, which takes into account the time aspect concerning how the individual's development is affected by changes over time, e.g. life events, social changes or technology. The core of the theory is that development takes place in a complex interaction between the individual and these different systems, where each level influences and is influenced by the others (Bronfenbrenner, 1979).

A descriptive qualitative design was used to identify and discuss the development and change of the teacher shortage in Sweden from 1990 to 2024, nationally, regionally, and locally, and what efforts have been taken from a political perspective. The empirical material consists of documents with both quantitative data (the number of teacher shortages during the period) and qualitative data consisting of policy documents such as government and public investigations, legislative proposals, and teacher education reforms. The material will be analyzed using qualitative text analysis. To achieve a comprehensive interpretation of the empirical material, both researchers will be involved in the analysis work by first analyzing the material separately and then analyzing and comparing their results. This will result in a richer and more nuanced data process. Shared interpretation is, therefore, not aimed at seeking consensus on meaning.

The teacher shortage has varied greatly over time between different regions, stages, and subjects. The extent of the teacher shortage has been difficult for politicians to estimate over time. There have been extensive attempts to reform teacher education and to raise the status of the teaching profession through, among other things, increased credentialing requirements. Teacher education has been expanded significantly across the country.

Bertilsson, E. (2018). Lärarförsörjningen: en utmaning av historiska mått. Vägval i skolans historia. https://undervisningshistoria.se/lararforsorjningen-en-utmaning-av-historiska-matt/. Boström, L., Bostedt, G., & Håkansson Lindqvist, M. M. (2022). Den allvarliga lärarbristen i Sverige – hur kunde detta hända och vad kan vi göra?. Paideia, : 22, p. 6-20. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press. Retrieved from https://khoerulanwarbk.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/urie_bronfenbrenner_the_ecology_of_human_developbokos-z1.pdf Federičová, M. (2020). Teacher turnover: What can we learn from Europe? European Journal of Education, 2020(00), 1–15. DOI: 10.1111/ejed.12429 García, E. & Weiss, E. (2020). A policy agenda to address the teacher shortage in U.S. public schools. The sixth and final report in the ‘Perfect Storm in the Teacher Labor Market’ series. Economic Policy Institute. Washington, DC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611183.pdf Teachers Without Borders - recruiting and retaining teachers and student teachers in the Nordic Green Belt (2024). https://www.miun.se/Forskning/forskningsprojekt/pagaende-forskningsprojekt/larareutangranser/ UNESCO (2016). The world needs almost 69 miljon new teachers to reach the 2030 education goals. UIS fact sheet, October 2016, no. 39. https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs39-the-world-needs-almost- 69-million-new-teachers-to-reach-the-2030-education-goals-2016-en.pdf