Since 2008, the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) has gathered information from teachers and school leaders about working conditions and learning environments in over 60 education systems. The survey is the voice of teachers and its results are used by policy makers to improve teaching and learning around the world.
TALIS
TALIS - the Teaching and Learning International Survey - is the world's largest international survey about teachers and school leaders.
About
TALIS 2018 sampled about
260 000
teachers in
15 000
schools across
48
education systems
Next steps
TALIS 2024
TALIS has finished recruiting countries and territories interested in participating in its current data collection cycle in 2024.
TALIS 2024 focuses on ISCED 2 teachers and school leaders, with additional modules focussed on ISCED 1 and ISCED 3 teachers and school leaders, as well as a Teacher Knowledge Survey (TKS) module.
In addition, the Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) focuses on early childhood staff and centre leaders.
Initial results of the fifty-five education systems participating in TALIS 2024 have been released.
TALIS 2030
TALIS will next be administered in 2030. How to join TALIS.
TALIS participation
TALIS participants
Albania, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,1 Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,1 Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.
Territories
Alberta (Canada), Flemish Community of Belgium, French Community of Belgium, Kosovo*, New Brunswick (Canada),1 Québec (Canada),1 and Shanghai (People's Republic of China).
Cyprus2 participates through the IEA International Study Centre
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99 and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
1. Only participate in TALIS Starting Strong (not ISCED 2)
2. Note by Türkiye: The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Türkiye recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Türkiye shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.
Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union: The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Türkiye. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of Cyprus.
TALIS participants
Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United States and Viet Nam.
Territories
Alberta (Canada), CABA (Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires [Argentina]), England (United Kingdom), Flemish Community of Belgium, French Community of Belgium and Shanghai (People's Republic of China).
Cyprus1 and Chinese Taipei participated through the IEA International Study Centre.
1. Note by Türkiye: The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Türkiye recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Türkiye shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.
Note by all European Union Member States of the OECD and the Europea Union: The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nationals with the exception of Türkiye. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
TALIS participants
Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia,1 Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand1, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation,1 Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden and the United States.
Territories
Alberta (Canada), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates, England (United Kingdom), Flemish Community of Belgium and Shanghai (People's Republic of China).1
Cyprus2 participated through the IEA International Study Center.
1. Administered the survey in 2014.
2. Note by Türkiye: The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no single authority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Türkiye recognises the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Türkiye shall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”.
Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European Union: The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Türkiye. The information in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
TALIS Participants
Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Türkiye.
Territory
Flemish Community of Belgium.
Publications
Reports
Working papers and policy briefs
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When families and early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff interact effectively, children can experience improved socio-cognitive outcomes. Family engagement in ECEC can take various forms, including communication about children’s participation in activities, exchanges about how parents can support their children’s development at home, and parental involvement in ECEC centres’ decision-making and operations. Combining different types of family engagement could help ECEC centres to build a more positive relationship with families. However, in some countries, it is not always the norm for ECEC centres to implement multi-faceted family engagement practices. Furthermore, some family engagement practices are more commonly established in centres serving more children from disadvantaged homes in certain countries, but there is no clear pattern suggesting that there are systematic efforts to strengthen relationships between ECEC centres and families in situations of disadvantage. Care needs to be taken to ensure that vulnerable families are effectively engaged in ECEC, or efforts to improve parental engagement could end up benefitting certain families only.Learn more
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Romania’s education system is at a turning point. In 2023, the government passed a new law on school education that sets out significant changes to how schooling is provided, governed and resourced. These changes come at a critical time for the country’s development. While Romania is one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies, its education outcomes remain among the lowest in the European Union. The measures in the new law are crucial for ensuring quality education, fostering economic growth and enhancing inclusivity.This policy perspective offers recommendations on how to take forward planned reforms. It focuses on four specific sets of policies that will be instrumental in improving school quality and equity: school evaluation and support; resources for education; the teaching profession; and the data and monitoring system. At the centre of these are proposals to make teaching a highly skilled and rewarding profession by better connecting performance, promotion and pay, and progressively strengthening schools’ pedagogical leadership through developmental school evaluations and support. At a strategic level, Romania will need a step change in how education policies are funded and evaluated. This implies more strategic planning and budgeting to align resources with long-term policy priorities, and much-expanded analytical capacities to monitor and evaluate implementation and outcomes and hold institutions accountable.Learn more
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The evidence review examines the state of academic careers in higher education systems in OECD countries, providing an overview of available data, research evidence and examples of policy and practice. Key concerns for academics and policy makers include the working conditions of academics, an increasing reliance on precarious and casual contracts, high workloads and negative impacts on work-life balance. Career incentives currently tend to focus on – and favour – research output, often side-lining teaching, engagement, and other duties. Initial academic training generally fails to prepare academics comprehensively for their roles, and more continuous professional learning will likely be needed to support academics to exploit the potential of increasingly digitalised learning environments. Although flexibility in academic career paths has been promoted in some higher education systems, academics tend to remain in academia, with limited inter-sectoral mobility. The review highlights the persistent under-representation of – and challenges confronting – women and marginalised groups in academia. Despite the growth of international mobility and collaboration, the participation of academics in internalisation activities varies considerably within and between institutions and across higher education systems. Furthermore, a troubling decline in academic freedom over the past decade raises substantial concerns.Learn more
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This analytical report was prepared by the OECD Higher Education Policy Team as part of the Education and Innovation Practice Community (EIPC), an action of the European Union’s New European Innovation Agenda, flagship 4 on “Fostering, attracting and retaining deep tech talent”. EIPC seeks to bring together peers from policy and practice to advance understanding of the competencies that can trigger and shape innovation for the digital and green transitions, and the mechanisms through which higher education can contribute to their development in secondary education (Strand 1), higher education (Strand 2), and adult upskilling and reskilling (Strand 3). This report for EIPC Strand 1 examines how higher education institutions (HEIs) can support teachers and school leaders in secondary schools to help their students develop competencies for innovation. Drawing on research evidence, practical examples and insights from the EIPC network and a wide range of OECD and EU education systems, it offers five options for consideration by education policy makers on how to strengthen HEIs’ role in supporting secondary education to develop human capacity for innovation.Learn more
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Intersectionality highlights that different aspects of individuals’ identities are not independent of each other. Instead, they interact to create unique identities and experiences, which cannot be understood by analysing each identity dimension separately or in isolation from their social and historical contexts. Intersectional approaches in this way question the common classification of individuals into groups (male vs. female, immigrant vs. native etc.), which raises important implications for the policy-making process. In education, analyses with an intersectional lens have the potential to lead to better tailored and more effective policies and interventions related to participation, learning outcomes, students’ attitudes towards the future, identification of needs, and socio-emotional well-being. Consequently, as elaborated in this paper, some countries have adjusted their policies in the areas of governance, resourcing, developing capacity, promoting school-level interventions and monitoring, to account for intersectionality. Gaps and challenges related to intersectional approaches are also highlighted.Learn more
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Resource banks support learning in classrooms by improving the quality of teacher instruction and assessment. They are typically online platforms that include examples of curriculum-aligned assessment tasks and complementary instruction, assessment and learning materials. These can be used by teachers, students and parents to improve learning in schools. While resource banks have become an important curriculum and assessment tool in many OECD countries, information about them remains scarce. This policy perspective provides a framework to help educators plan, design and use resource banks. First, policymakers should have a thorough concept of the resource bank and carefully plan its governance and resourcing structure. Second, the definition and development of its content and the platform’s underlying technology should be guided by quality, security and privacy principles that place users at the centre. Thirdly, once released, it is important to promote awareness of the resource bank to key stakeholders and maintain content and IT-support. This will ensure resource banks have a long-lasting and positive impact on educational practices.Learn more
Teaching in Focus briefs
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With many countries struggling to boost the attractiveness of the teaching profession, it is important to understand the sources of teacher stress better. This brief explores data on lower secondary teachers from TALIS 2018 to investigate whether stressors vary according to students’ socio-economic background. In addition, it looks at which stressors are more likely to be associated with teachers’ job satisfaction and plans to continue in the role.Learn more
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The importance of experienced teachers cannot be underestimated. They can help raise the performance of studentsand improve the overall quality of schooling by supporting less-experienced colleagues. This Teaching in Focus: Where to find experienced teachers? analyses the distribution of teachers across schools from two different but complementary angles: equality and equity.Learn more
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From July 2021 to December 2021, the OECD, UNESCO and Education International ran the Teaching for Climate Action Initiative. The main highlights of this initiative are presented in this brief.Learn more
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Information and communication technology (ICT) has become an important tool for school systems as they seek to enhance education and make it more efficient. This has become all the more apparent and urgent with the COVID-19 pandemic. But what degree of access do students from different socio-economic backgrounds have to ICT-based quality instruction?Learn more
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As education systems face a post-COVID-19 world, we must not lose sight of the importance of teachers’ well-being. Already, prior to the pandemic, teachers were struggling to cope with workload and stress, as shown by the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), one of the first international efforts to capture the well-being of the teaching workforce. Nevertheless, schools and teachers have the tools to improve well-being and reduce stress at the work place.The goal of this brief is to provide some glimpses into concrete actions that schools and education systems could take to improve teachers’ well-being and job satisfaction.Learn more
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Supporting teachers’ use of ICT in upper secondary classrooms during and after the COVID-19 pandemicSchool systems around the world are making efforts to enhance and make education more efficient with information and communications technology (ICT). This has become especially urgent due to the current pandemic. Because of its rapidly evolving nature, ICT places unique demands on teachers, requiring a certain level of digital literacy and specialised pedagogical knowledge to integrate it into the classroom.Teacher training in ICT usage and instruction at the collective and official level is key to a successful transition from an old to a new educational system. But efforts and careful analysis will be needed to ensure that the training actually increases teacher preparedness and meets their educational demands. Without proper implementation, ICT use may not only be ineffective but have a negative impact on teaching and learning.Learn more
Technical papers
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The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the world’s largest international survey of teachers and principals. The TALIS 2024 conceptual framework builds on foundations established since 2008 and underpins the survey’s focus on teachers and teaching conditions.Key themes in the framework include teachers’ educational background and initial preparation; their professional development, classroom practices; well-being and job satisfaction; autonomy, terms of employment and intent to stay in the profession. It also addresses emerging themes related to the use of artificial intelligence, increasingly diverse student populations and environmental sustainability education.Learn more
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The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the world’s largest international survey of teachers and principals. In 2024, TALIS added the Teacher Knowledge Survey (TKS), a special module to investigate teachers’ general pedagogical knowledge (GPK). GPK is the specialised knowledge of teachers for creating effective teaching and learning environments for all students, independent of subject matter; it is part of the specialised body of knowledge that makes teaching a knowledge profession. The TKS conceptual and assessment framework underpins the survey, describes its contents and explains its importance. Key themes in the framework include teaching diverse learners, using technology for teaching and supporting social and emotional learning.Learn more
TALIS data and methodology
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DatasetDownload the TALIS 2024 dataset, questionnaires and all materials needed to undertake your own analysis of the TALIS data.
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DatasetDownload the TALIS 2018 dataset, questionnaires and all materials needed to undertake your own analysis of the TALIS data.
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DatasetDownload the TALIS 2013 dataset, questionnaires and all materials needed to undertake your own analysis of the TALIS data.
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DatasetDownload the TALIS 2008 dataset, questionnaires and all materials needed to undertake your own analysis of the TALIS data.
TALIS initiatives
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The Teacher Knowledge Survey (TKS) examines what teachers know about teaching and learning, and how their specialised knowledge of pedagogy relates to their work and training.Learn more
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What does teaching look like? What practices are most impactful? By directly observing teaching, the Global Teaching InSights (GTI) trialled new research methods to answer these key questions, a critical step to better education. Through its detailed study and rich collection for observing teaching, the GTI showcases quality teaching practices to spur reflection, knowledge sharing and peer collaboration among stakeholders at a global scale.Learn more
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Meeting the challenges of the 21st Century means that schools must be empowered to play a more central and active role in leading improvements in education. To support this, Schools+ will bring together major education networks to put schools at the centre of education design.Learn more
Contacts
Two groups are involved in the day-to-day running of TALIS:
- OECD Secretariat: responsible for the day-to-day management of TALIS
- TALIS Governing Board: determines the policy priorities and makes sure they are respected during the implementation of each TALIS survey.