Is It Any Wonder That There are Teacher Shortages? - IELTS Reading Answers

The Academic passage, ‘Is It Any Wonder That There are Teacher Shortages?’, is a reading passage that consists of 13 questions.

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The question types found in this passage are:

• IELTS Summary Completion (Q. 28-33)
• IELTS Yes/No/Not Given (Q. 34-37)
• IELTS Multiple Choice Questions (Q. 38-40)

Reading Passage

A Is it any wonder that there are teacher shortages? Daily, the press carries reports of schools going on four-day weeks simply because they cannot recruit enough teachers. But why? There is no straightforward answer. For a start, fewer students are entering teacher-training courses when they leave school. But can you blame young people for the barracking faced by the teaching profession in the UK over the last decade? The attack, relentless in the extreme, has been on several fronts. Government inspectors, by accident or design, have been feeding the media a constant stream of negative information about the teaching establishments in this country. Teachers also come in for a lot of flak from politicians. And the government wonders why there are problems in schools.

B The government’s obvious contempt for the teaching profession was recently revealed by one of the most powerful people in government when she referred to schools as ‘bog-standard comprehensives. Hardly the sort of comment to inspire parents or careers advisers seeking to direct young people’s future. Would you want to spend your working life in a dead-end profession? The government doesn’t seem to want you to either.

C On the administrative side, most teachers are weighed down by an increasing flow of bureaucracy. Cynicism would have me believe that this stops teachers from fomenting dissent as they are worn out by useless administrative exercises. Most teachers must then also be cynics!

DTeacher bashing has, unfortunately, spread to youngsters in schools as the recent catalog of physical attacks on teachers will testify. If grown-ups have no respect for the teaching profession, young people can hardly be expected to think any differently. The circle is then squared when, as well as experienced, competent teachers are being driven out of the profession by the increased pressure and stress; fewer students are applying for teacher-training courses.

E Increased salaries are certainly welcome, but they are not the complete answer to a sector in crisis. Addressing the standing of the profession in the eyes of the public is crucial to encourage experienced teachers to remain in the classroom and to make it an attractive career option for potential teachers once again. It might also be a good idea for the relevant ministers to go on a fact-finding mission and find out from teachers in schools, rather than relying too much on advisers, as to what changes could be brought about to improve the quality of the education service. Initiatives in the educational field surprisingly come from either politician who knows little about classroom practice or educational theorists who know even less, but are more dangerous because they work in the rarefied air of universities largely ignorant of classroom practice.

F Making sure that nobody without recent classroom experience is employed as a teacher-trainer at any tertiary institution would further enhance the teaching profession. If someone does not have practical experience in the classroom, they cannot in all seriousness propound theories about it. Instead of being given sabbaticals to write books or papers, lecturers in teacher-training establishments should be made to spend a year at the blackboard or, these days, the whiteboard. This would give them practical insights into current classroom practice. Student teachers could then be given the chance to come and watch the specialists in the classroom: a much more worthwhile experience than the latter sitting thinking up ideas far removed from the classroom. Then we would have fewer initiatives like the recent government proposal to teach thinking in school. Prima facie, this is a laudable recommendation. But, as any practicing teacher will tell you, this is done in every class. Perhaps someone needs to point out to the academic who thought up the scheme that the wheel has been around for some time.

G In the educational field, there is a surprisingly constant tension between the educational theorists and government officials on the one hand, who would like to see teachers marching in unison to some greater Utopian abstraction and, on the other, practicing teachers. Any experienced classroom practitioner knows that the series of initiatives on teaching and learning that successive governments have tried to foist on schools and colleges do not work.

Questions 16-22

Is it surprising that there are (16)…………… teachers? Schools do not have enough teachers, but what are the reasons for this? To begin with, fewer students are going into (17)………….. after finishing school. But this is not the young people’s fault. The (18)……………. of teaching has been under constant attack over the last ten years. The government’s lack of respect for the profession is (19)………….. . Moreover, administratively, the flow of bureaucracy is (20)…………….. Even pupils in schools have no respect for those who teach them, as a (21)………….. series of assaults on teachers shows. The growing strain and stress mean that, as well as fewer applications for teacher-training courses, teachers who have experience and are (22)……………… are also being driven out.

Questions 23-29

23 More students are entering teacher-training courses.

24 The government is right to be surprised that there are problems in schools.

25 Teachers are too weighed down by administrative duties to stir up trouble.

26 All teachers are cynics.

27 Politicians are not as dangerous as educational theorists, who know even less than the former about educational theory.

28 Any experienced classroom practitioner knows that the initiatives on teaching and learning that governments have tried to impose on schools do not work.

29 The government’s attitude with regard to teachers is of great interest to the general public.

Question 30

Question 30 Which one of the following is the most suitable title for the passage?

A Politicians and teachers.

B A profession undervalued.

C Recruitment difficulties in the teaching profession.

D Teacher training needs improvement.

Is It Any Wonder That There are Teacher Shortages? Reading Answers

16 Answer: Shortage
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 1

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph A states that “Is it any wonder that there are teacher shortages?” Hence the answer is ‘shortage’.

17 Answer: Teacher-training
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3 – line 4

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph A says that “For a start, fewer students are entering teacher-training courses when they leave school.” Hence the answer is teacher-training.

18 Answer: Profession
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 4 – line 5

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph A says that “But can you blame young people after the barracking faced by the teaching profession in the UK over the last decade?” Hence the answer is profession.

19 Answer: Obvious
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph B, line 1 – line 3

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph B says that “The government’s obvious contempt for the teaching profession was recently revealed by one of the most powerful people in government when she referred to schools as ‘bog-standard comprehensives.” Hence the answer is obvious.

20 Answer: Increasing
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph C, line 1 – line 2

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph C says that “On the administrative side, most teachers are weighed down by an increasing flow of bureaucracy.” Hence the answer is increasing.

21 Answer: Recent
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 1 – line 2

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph D says that “Teacher bashing has, unfortunately, spread to youngsters in schools as the recent catalog of physical attacks on teachers will testify.” Hence the answer is recent.

22 Answer: Competent
Question type: Summary Completion

Answer location: Paragraph D, line 3 – line 6

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph D says that “The circle is then squared when, as well as experienced, competent teachers are being driven out of the profession by the increased pressure and stress; fewer students are applying for teacher-training courses.” Hence the answer is competent.

23 Answer: No
Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 3 – line 4

Answer explanation: The following line from Paragraph A says that “For a start, fewer students are entering teacher-training courses when they leave school.” This clearly shows that fewer students are entering teacher-training courses when they leave school. Hence the answer is no.

24 Answer: No
Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph A, line 6 – line 9

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph A says that “Government inspectors, by accident or design, have been feeding the media a constant stream of negative information about the teaching establishments in this country. Teachers also come in for a lot of flak from politicians. And the government wonders why there are problems in schools.” From this, we can infer that the government should not be surprised at the fact that there are problems in schools. Hence the answer is no.

25 Answer: Not Given
Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: Paragraph C says that “On the administrative side, most teachers are weighed down by an increasing flow of bureaucracy. Cynicism would have me believe that this stops teachers from fomenting dissent as they are worn out by useless administrative exercises. Most teachers must then also be cynics!” However it is not mentioned that teachers are too weighed down by administrative duties to stir up trouble. Hence the answer is not given.

26 Answer: Not Given
Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph C say that “Cynicism would have me believe that this stops teachers from fomenting dissent as they are worn out by useless administrative exercises. Most teachers must then also be cynics!” From this we can understand that the writer only speculates that most teachers must be cynics, and it is not a given fact. Hence the answer is not given.

27 Answer: Yes
Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph E, line 7 – line 10

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph E say that “Initiatives in the educational field surprisingly come from either politician who knows little about classroom practice or educational theorists who know even less, but are more dangerous because they work in the rarefied air of universities largely ignorant of classroom practice.” This suggests that politicians are not as dangerous as educational theorists, who know even less than the former about educational theory. Hence the answer is yes.

28 Answer: Yes
Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: Paragraph G, line 3 – line 5

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph G say that “Any experienced classroom practitioner knows that the series of initiatives on teaching and learning that successive governments have tried to foist on schools and colleges do not work.” Hence the answer is yes.

29 Answer: Not Given
Question type: Yes/No/Not Given

Answer location: N/A

Answer explanation: The following lines from Paragraph A say that “Government inspectors, by accident or design, have been feeding the media a constant stream of negative information about the teaching establishments in this country. Teachers also come in for a lot of flak from politicians. And the government wonders why there are problems in schools.” From this, we can understand that the tension between the government and the teaching community has been publicized but it is not mentioned that the government’s attitude with regard to teachers is of great interest to the general public. Hence the answer is not given.

30 Answer: B
Question type: Multiple Choice Questions

Answer location: Paragraph A – Paragraph G

Answer explanation: The passage talks about the teaching profession and how it is greatly undervalued by both the general public and the government in various ways. Hence the answer is B.