The Oversupply of Teachers in Taiwan: Causes and Consequences

台灣的超額教師：原因與後果

本文藉由分析台灣師資培育的歷史發展、教育政策變革與社會情境脈絡的關係，探究國小師資供過於求的原因與後果。本文參照官方出版物、報告與統計資料，並運用文獻資料與個案研究，分析台灣因師資培育政策鬆綁、1994年實施《教師法》後，師資培育機構增加、培育管道多元化，卻因出生率急遽下降（少子化），教師職位嚴重不足，造成教育市場師資供應過剩（這些教師稱為流浪教師）。此外，研究結果指出，台灣小學職場出現超額教師，導因於入學新生數逐年下降、教師退休率低，以及教師當中以年輕教師佔大多數。

This article explores the causes and consequences of the oversupply of primary teaching workforce both in the teaching labor market and in the teaching workplace in Taiwan by examining the historical development of teacher training and its relationship with government policies and social contexts. It uses data from government publications， reports and official statistics， coupled with findings of local Taiwanese research and my ethnographic case study. After the enactment of Teacher Education Act in 1994， there has been expansion of teacher training and diversification of training routes. However， with Taiwan’s declining fertility rate， teaching vacancies for qualified teachers have been scarce， resulting in the oversupply of teachers. This article further argues that the oversupply of primary school teachers is the result of an obvious decline in pupil enrollments， combined with low teacher turnover rates and the prevalence of young teachers among the overall teaching body.