TALIS 2018 Results

Teachers

• Age and gender
  • Average age of teachers across all TALIS participating countries/sub-national entities was 44, with considerable variation across countries.
  • In a number of countries, the teacher workforce has aged over the last five to ten years, with a few examples of significant age increases between 2013 and 2018.
  • Women account for 68% of the teacher workforce on average across all participating countries.

• Initial education
  • Teaching was the first-choice career for two out of three teachers.
  • This is true for only 59% of male teachers, compared to 70% of female teachers.
  • Ninety percent of teachers stated their motivation to choose this career was the opportunity to contribute to children’s development and society, while 61% said that the steady career path offered by teaching was their main reason to join the profession.
  • During their initial education and training, teachers were instructed:
    • First and foremost on subject content, pedagogy and classroom practice
    • Then on student behavior and classroom management.
    • Training on information and communication technology (ICT) for teaching and teaching in a multicultural setting were rarely included in their training (only for 56% and 35% of teachers, respectively).

• Induction
  • Thirty-eight percent of the teachers participated in some kind of formal or informal induction in their first school upon completing their initial training.
  • Only 22% of novice teachers had an assigned mentor.

• Professional development
  • More than 90% of teachers attended at least one professional development activity in the year prior to the survey.
  • More than 70% of teachers participate in courses and seminars outside of school which is one of the most popular types of professional development for teachers.
  • Only 44% of teachers participate in training based on peer learning and networking.
  • Teachers recognized collaboration and collaborative approaches to teaching as being amongst the most impactful professional development practices.
  • Eighty-two percent of teachers reported that the training had a positive impact on their teaching practices. Teachers who reported this also tend to display higher levels of self-efficacy and job satisfaction.
  • Teachers recognized the following areas where teachers need more training in:
    • Information, communication, and technology (ICT) skills
    • Teaching in multicultural/multilingual settings
    • Teaching students with special needs
  • Around half of teachers reported that their participation in such trainings is restricted by scheduling conflicts and lack of incentives.

• Time
  • Teachers spent slightly more than half (53%) of their working time teaching classes.
  • The share of teaching hours varied greatly across countries, the lowest of which were mainly observed in Eastern countries (Japan, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Viet Nam), but also in Norway, while the highest were observed in Brazil, Chile, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey.
  • Teachers spent less time on planning and preparing for their lessons in 2018 than in 2013.

• Teaching practices
  • At least two-thirds of teachers claimed to use instructional practices in class that enhanced classroom management and clarity of instruction.
  • Practices involving student cognitive activation were less widespread among teachers, with about half of teachers using these methods.

• Assessment practices
  • Teachers reported providing written feedback on student work in addition to a mark more frequently than they did in TALIS 2013.
  • Out of all the teachers surveyed in this cycle, 79% frequently or always observe students and provide immediate feedback; and 77% frequently or always administer their own assessment to students.
  • A mixed global trend was evident regarding actively involving students in their own self-assessment or providing immediate feedback to them with only 41% of teachers letting their students evaluate their own progress.

• Use of classroom time
  • Teachers spent only 78% of their classroom time on actual teaching and learning on average across all participating countries in TALIS.
  • The remainder of the time was spent on keeping order in the classroom or dealing with administrative tasks. In 8 participating countries, primary teachers spent more time on keeping order in the classroom than lower secondary teachers.
  • Teachers spent more of their classroom time on actual teaching and learning as the level of education they taught increased.
  • This statistic was lower for schools with a high concentration of socio-economically disadvantaged homes and classrooms taught by young and beginning teachers.
  • The classroom time spent on actual teaching and learning has decreased in the past five to ten years across in about half of the TALIS participating countries.

• Self-efficacy
  • On average, 83% to 91% of teachers reported high levels of self-efficacy in classroom management.
  • In some countries and economies participating in TALIS, teachers reported lower levels of efficacy in 2018 than in 2013 in at least two of the four different classroom management practices.
  • Evaluating teachers’ self-efficacy in instruction revealed that, on average, around 90% of teachers reported that they felt able to provide an alternative explanation, 85% could vary instructional strategies in their classroom, and 80% felt that they could use a variety of assessment strategies.
  • Evaluating teachers’ self-efficacy in student engagement revealed that, on average, only 68% of teachers reported that they could motivate students who showed low interest in school work, 81% of teachers felt that they could help students think critically to value learning, and 86% felt that they could get students to believe they could do well in their school work.

• Innovation
  • Seventy-eight percent of teachers reported that they and their colleagues help each other implement new ideas. However, teachers in Europe and millennial teachers were less likely to report such openness to innovation.

• Prestige, satisfaction, and stress
  • Only 26% of teachers say that their profession is valued by society. Older and experienced teachers tend to see their profession as less valued by society than younger and novice teachers.
  • On average across the OECD, more than 80% of teachers feel satisfied with their current working conditions, and over 60% of them feel satisfied with their profession in general.
  • Around one in five teachers say they experience stress a lot in their work, on average across OECD countries and economies in TALIS.
  • The main reported causes of stress include having too much administrative work, being held responsible for students’ achievement, and keeping up with changing requirements from government authorities.
  • On average across OECD countries and economies in TALIS, 25% of teachers want to leave teaching within the next five years.
  • Teachers who receive support for their continuous professional development and who participate in school governance tend to be more satisfied with their terms of employment in the large majority of TALIS countries and economies with available data. Teachers who are more satisfied with their terms of employment are less likely to desire changing to another school.

• Working conditions
  • The proportion of teachers reporting that they are employed on a temporary contract of any duration is less than 20%, on average across OECD. But this figure is much higher for teachers under 30 (about 50%).
  • Around 20% of teachers report that they work part-time.  The proportion of teachers reporting that they work part-time has increased significantly since 2013 in 15 of the 32 TALIS countries and economies with available data.

• Collaboration
  • On average across OECD countries and economies participating in TALIS, the two most commonly reported types of collaboration are “discussing the learning development of specific students” (61% of teachers) and “exchanging teaching materials with colleagues” (47%).
  • Professional collaboration that involves more interdependence between teachers, such as observing other teachers and providing feedback, participating in collaborative professional learning, and team teaching, is less frequent. For example, only 9% of teachers in OECD countries and economies in TALIS report providing observation-based feedback to colleagues at least once a month.
  •  Teachers who take part in the more interdependent forms of collaboration also tend to report using cognitive activation practices more frequently for teaching. They also report higher levels of job satisfaction and self-efficacy.

• Feedback and collaboration
  • Teachers across the OECD receive feedback in a number of different ways; about half of teachers (52%) report having received feedback through at least four different methods. The most cited forms of feedback are based on classroom observations and students’ school-based and classroom-based results.
  • On average across OECD countries and economies in TALIS, 71% of teachers who have received feedback found it useful for their teaching practice.
  • Of the teachers who say that they received feedback, an average of 55% across OECD countries and economies in TALIS report that such feedback was particularly useful for improving their pedagogical competencies in teaching their subject.
  • The outcomes following teacher appraisals are changing across the countries and economies participating in TALIS. For example, between 2013 and 2018, the proportion of teachers working in schools where appraisal sometimes results in a salary increase or a financial bonus increased significantly in 18 of the 32 countries and economies with available data.

• Leadership and autonomy
  • Only 42% of principals report that teachers have significant involvement in deciding school policies, curriculum, and instruction. However, more than half of principals report that teachers do have a significant level of responsibility in choosing learning materials and determining course content.
  • More than 90% of teachers report that they have a high level of autonomy in selecting teaching methods, assessing students’ learning, disciplining students, and determining the amount of homework to assign in their class. Eighty-four percent report the same high level of autonomy for determining course content.
  •  Greater autonomy is linked with teachers’ propensity to collaborate professionally and innovate their practice, as well as with their self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and stress levels.
  • On average across OECD countries, only 14% of teachers believe that policy makers in their country/region value their view, and only 24% believe that they can influence education policy.

School leaders

• Age and gender
  • In all TALIS participating countries, principals were generally older than teachers.
  • Average age for a principal was 52 years.
  • Women account for 47% of principals on average across all participating countries.

• Time
  • On average, lower secondary school leaders spent:
    • half of their time on administrative tasks, leadership tasks, and meetings
    • one-third of their time on interactions with students, parents, the local and regional community or business and industry
    • less than one-fifth of their time on curriculum and teaching-related tasks

• Learning environment
  • School leaders reported that 17% to 31% of teachers work in schools with diverse student composition in terms of socio-economic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds or educational needs. This range varied widely across countries.
  • School leaders reported that, on average, more than 75% of schools implement equity-related policies to address gender and socio-economic discrimination.
  • School leaders claimed that the most common policies and practices related to diversity are those embedded in the teaching process.
  • The most common resource issues reported by one-third of principals in participating countries are shortages of:
    • support personnel
    • teachers with competence in teaching students with special needs
    • time for instructional leadership
  • Relations between students and teachers were observed to have improved in most countries since 2013, with 95% of teachers agreeing that students and teachers get along well with each other.

• Professional development
  • More than 90% of principals participated in at least one professional development activity in the 12 months prior to the survey.

• Leadership
  • On average across the OECD, 63% of principals report having significant responsibility for the majority of the tasks in their schools. The percentage increases to 80% if only privately managed schools are considered.
  • Only 42% of principals report that teachers have significant involvement in deciding school policies, curriculum, and instruction. However, more than half of principals report that teachers do have a significant level of responsibility in choosing learning materials and determining course content.
  • Along with more traditional administrative tasks, around half of principals say that acting as an instructional leader is something that they do often in school.
  • More than 90% of teachers report that they have a high level of autonomy in selecting teaching methods, assessing students’ learning, disciplining students, and determining the amount of homework to assign in their class. Eighty-four percent report the same high level of autonomy for determining course content. Greater autonomy is linked with teachers’ propensity to collaborate professionally and innovate their practice, as well as with their self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and stress levels.
  • On average across OECD countries, only 14% of teachers believe that policy makers in their country/region value their view, and only 24% of teachers believe that they can influence education policy.