Spanish teachers seeking jobs in Boden

The need for teachers in Boden is great, both due to retirements and the fact that the number of Swedish teacher students is few.
In Spain there are many well-educated and committed teachers, but few permanent positions. Many dream of teaching in the classroom, but competition is tough.

These two needs and opportunities resulted in a collaboration between Boden and Spain where Spanish educators have been prepared for our labor market and get the chance to see what Boden has to offer. Eight Spanish teachers have been visiting to experience Boden and our schools on site. During their days here they have, among other things, met principals, followed Swedish colleagues at several different schools in Boden, and got to see a small piece of what Boden has to offer.

"We have been received wonderfully and have gotten to see what life can be like here. I feel that Boden wants me here. It’s very cozy, I feel at home. I’m willing to come back with my family. I hope that we move here and live here in July–August. My one-year-old son would have a wonderful childhood here, with safety and nature close by. It would mean a lot, she says.

Two other participants are the teacher couple Lara and Roger. They also want to speak Swedish and help each other fill in the words.

“We have always wanted to live abroad and we like the Nordic countries. What decides it for us are two things – professionally, to get to know the school system, and personally, it’s the snow, the nature, and the sports.”

They look at each other and smile, and tell that they want to go skiing, and that Roger loves orienteering, which he has seen he can also do here.

European labor market

Boden already has a collaboration with EURES, the European employment service, which works to facilitate mobility in the labor market within the EU. After advertising in Spain, a careful selection has been made and interviews conducted. The teachers who were selected have been offered to study Swedish in Spain as preparation before working in Boden.

"We are in a situation in northern Sweden where the teacher shortage is becoming more and more visible. An educated teacher is always to be preferred, and taking teachers from other municipalities in the north only creates difficulties in other places, and for us as well in the long run", says Petronella Sirkka, head of compulsory school, Municipality of Boden.

She emphasizes Boden’s international character, good experiences, and high skill in already receiving people from other parts of the world.
"We use that knowledge also in these recruitments."

The visit is an example of how cooperation across borders, both within Europe, employment services, and within the municipality’s different operational areas, attracts competence and creates in-migration.

"The project leads to us having educated, driven teachers who move to Boden and teach in our schools. Some are already here and working, and everyone who is here visiting now is interested, says Stina Burström, process leader for competence supply at the Municipality of Boden."

"Those who are already here are in full service, and our Boden teachers are doing a very fine job of bringing them into the community and into teaching contexts. They are real Boden ambassadors, and that is important both because we must support new teachers but also because we need to be more people living in the Municipality of Boden", states Petronella Sirkka.