England goes shopping abroad for teachers

"We are now in a global economy," he says. "No one can afford to operate a fortress economy."

One London borough that acknowledges a responsibility to developing countries is Tower Hamlets, where about half of the schools have a high proportion of children of Bangladeshi origin. "There has been a decision not to take from developing countries where their need is great," says spokeswoman Eileen Short.

Tower Hamlets also has an active program of "Growing our own" – emphasizing developing links within the local community as a source of recruitment and offering support and training to those interested in teaching.

In its recent report, the government says the teacher shortage is "stabilizing," thanks to measures such as "welcome back" bonuses of up to $6,200 to lure former instructors back into the classroom.

At Buchkova's school, Gloucester Primary School in South London, 17 of the 43 teachers are foreign, coming from eight different countries, including Sierra Leone and China. They were required to be fluent in English and have at least two years' teaching experience, and before arriving underwent three weeks of extra training.

"We were looking for capability and aptitude, with an orientation towards the West," says headmaster John Mann. "But they also needed to have honor and pride in their own country. We did not want people who were disaffected with their own society. We wanted it to be an enriching program, and this is what is happening."

Buchkova works one to one with children who have behavioral and learning difficulties. "I never had delusions that going to work in England would be an easy job," says Buchkova, whose starting pay as an imported London teacher was $32,000.

She says that her study of the poetry of the Brontë sisters, with its emphasis on personal relationships and the exchange of ideas, adds to what she can bring to her job. "It is teaching, as well as counseling and behavioral support," she says.

For Buchkova, leaving a former Soviet bloc country to teach in England has offered not just professional development but cultural insight.

"Coming to terms with the free market is a painful [transition] for us in Bulgaria," she says. "It means taking personal responsibility for yourself from an early age in a way that we never had to do before in a state-controlled society.

"Consequently, in my country we treat children differently than you might do in England or America. We expect children to become adults much earlier. This is a cultural difference that I have had to learn."

In her new posting, Buchkova has found happiness in her personal life, meeting her husband-to-be, Neil, in the poetry section of a London bookshop. "I cannot believe that this has all happened to me," she says. "I now experience such brilliant happiness."

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