Global overview of teaching shown in third TALIS survey

Attracting the best and brightest teachers to the profession will be essential to ensure that young people are given the skills they will need at work, the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) has shown.

About 260,000 teachers and school leaders at 15,000 primary, lower and upper-secondary schools from 48 countries and economies took part in the third edition of the survey.

Little more than half of teachers received training in the use of technology for teaching, and less than half felt well prepared when they joined the profession. Yet two thirds of teachers report that the most useful professional development they took part in focused on innovation in their teaching.

“The acceleration of technological, economic and social changes makes it imperative that our education systems adapt almost in real time,” said Ludger Schuknecht, OECD Deputy Secretary-General, launching the report in Paris. “Policy makers should work closely with teachers and school leaders and leverage their expertise to help students succeed in the future world of work.”

“The quality of an education system can never exceed the quality of its teachers,” said Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills. “Governments should empower their teachers and school leaders with the trust and autonomy they need to innovate and instil a collaborative culture in every school. They also need to better recognise the importance and value of involving teachers in designing better practices and policies to create classrooms fit for the future.”

The vast majority of teachers and school leaders say their schools are open to innovative practices and have the capacity to adopt them. On average across OECD countries in TALIS, 78% of teachers also report that they and their colleagues help each other implement new ideas. However, teachers in Europe are less likely to report such openness to innovation.

The report finds that recent changes in migration flows have affected the makeup of classrooms. Almost one-third of teachers in OECD countries report that they work in schools where at least 1% of the student population are refugees, and 17% of teachers work in schools where at least 10% of the students have a migrant background.

95% of school leaders report that their teachers believe that children and young people should learn that people of different cultures have a lot in common. 80% of teachers report working in schools that have integrated global issues throughout the curriculum, as well as teaching their students how to deal with ethnic and cultural discrimination.

Only just over half of teachers (56%) across the OECD received training in the use of ICT for teaching as part of their formal education or training. ICT training is lowest in Sweden (37%) and Spain (38%) and most common in Chile (77%) and Mexico (77%).

About 18% of teachers across the OECD still express a high need for professional development in ICT skills for teaching.

One in four school leaders report a shortage and inadequacy of digital technology as a hindrance to providing quality instruction.