This chapter looks at learning opportunities for teachers to develop their professional expertise and teaching skills, which are crucial resources that are essential for teachers to thrive on the job. The chapter follows teachers throughout their careers, starting with how they acquire their credentials through initial teacher education, continuing with induction and mentoring activities designed to help teachers start their careers on the right track, and then examining opportunities for continuous professional learning. The chapter examines how access to learning opportunities is associated with teachers’ professional outcomes (like well-being and fulfilment of lesson aims) and attempts to inform policies by reporting on teachers’ professional learning needs and the barriers they encounter to participating in professional learning.
Results from TALIS 2024
Abstract
While a large majority of teachers report that their initial teacher education prepared them well to deal with traditional topics like subject content, they feel less prepared in other, less traditional areas. Just 33% of recent graduates (teachers who obtained their first teaching qualification within the five years prior to the survey) feel prepared to teach in a multicultural or multilingual setting, and 44% feel prepared to support students’ social and emotional development. Moreover, the share of recent graduates reporting a high sense of preparedness on subject content, subject pedagogy, general pedagogy and classroom practices has declined in many countries since the previous TALIS cycle conducted in 2018, suggesting, if not necessarily a worsening of the quality of initial teacher education, that teachers hold now a less positive opinion of it than in the recent past.
Mentoring is gaining popularity. On average across OECD education systems, about one in four novice teachers (teachers with up to five years of teaching experience) has an assigned mentor, and four in five work in schools that offer a mentoring programme. The share of novice teachers with an assigned mentor increased between 2018 and 2024 in about one-third of education systems and decreased only in Kazakhstan and Singapore (where mentoring remains more common than in many other countries). In about one-third of education systems, novice teachers with an assigned mentor are more likely to report fulfilling their lessons’ aims and enjoying higher job satisfaction. In about half of education systems, mentoring other teachers is also associated with higher job satisfaction.
While nearly all teachers participate in continuous professional learning, not all of them find that doing so has a positive impact on their teaching. Just 55% of teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the 12 months preceding the survey had a positive impact on their teaching, on average across OECD education systems. Almost all teachers find professional learning impactful in Albania, Brazil, Portugal, and Viet Nam, while only about one-third of them does so in the French Community of Belgium, Finland, France, Norway and Sweden. Teachers' perceptions of the impact of a professional development activity are a stronger predictor of fulfilling their lesson aims than the actual content or focus of the activity.
Many teachers are paying attention to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for teaching and learning. Some 29% of teachers report professional development needs in the use of AI, more than for any other content area surveyed, and 38% participated in professional learning on this topic, on average across OECD education systems. Participation in training on AI is highest in Singapore (76%) and lowest in France (9%). While experienced teachers (those with over ten years of teaching experience) are more likely to report high needs in this area (30%, compared to 24% of novice teachers), a lower share actually participated in AI training (37%, compared to 40% of novice teachers).
Novice teachers need professional support to learn how to manage student behaviour in the classroom. Some 30% of novice teachers report needing training focused on classroom management, on average across OECD education systems. Moreover, the share of novice teachers expressing such need has increased by 6 percentage points since 2018. Teachers reporting a high need for training in classroom management are less likely to report fulfilling their lesson aims. Receiving feedback on how to manage student behaviour can be an effective way for novice teachers to improve their classroom management skills: 76% of novice teachers (compared to 63% of experienced teachers) report that the feedback they received in the past 12 months led to a positive change in how they manage student behaviour in the classroom.
As the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers (Barber and Mourshed, 2007[1]), the best education systems ensure that their teachers have the skills they need to deliver quality education, and that they keep these skills up to date and aligned with diverse and evolving settings and challenges (OECD, 2024[2]). This chapter examines how education systems provide teachers with the necessary learning opportunities to build their expertise at three different stages of their career:
before they become teachers (initial teacher education),
as they start their teaching career (induction and mentoring),
throughout their professional life as teachers (continuous professional learning).
This chapter then explores what teachers think about these opportunities, and how participation in training and professional development activities is related to important professional outcomes, such as well-being, job satisfaction, and the fulfilment of lesson aims.1
Teachers must normally complete some form of initial training or acquire a qualification before being allowed to teach. Teachers can typically acquire their qualifications or credentials by following dedicated post-secondary programmes that cover subject matter, subject-specific pedagogy, general pedagogy and teaching practice. Fast-track or shorter programmes may also exist, whose duration or content is adapted to specific groups of candidates (e.g. candidates with relevant professional experience outside of teaching, combined with strong subject-matter knowledge, or those with previous teaching experience). Finally, in some cases a subject-matter qualification, without any specific training in pedagogy or practice, may be sufficient. The rules governing which qualifications teachers are required to possess vary between countries and over time, so that at any given point, teachers who have followed different paths may coexist. Research has found that untrained or unqualified teachers can be less effective than trained teachers (Metcalf, 1992[3]; Bressoux, Kramarz and Prost, 2009[4]), though a qualification is not a guarantee of teacher quality (Buddin and Zamarro, 2009[5]).
This section describes the pathways that teachers in education systems participating in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) with available data (hereafter “education systems”) have followed to acquire their initial teaching qualification, and it reports on teachers’ views about the quality of their initial training.
How teachers are trained
In most education systems, a regular teacher education or training programme is by far the most common way for teachers to obtain their first teacher qualification: almost four in five teachers follow this path, on average across OECD education system, and in 11 countries the share of teachers doing so exceeds 90%. In only six education systems (Australia, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Romania, Saudi Arabia and South Africa), the share of teachers following this path is below 50% (Table 4.1).
Fast-track programmes and subject-specific education or training are the second most common pathways to obtain a teaching qualification. The relative popularity of these two paths varies significantly across education systems. Subject-specific degrees are quite common in Italy, Kazakhstan, Romania and Saudi Arabia. In these countries, between 40% and 50% of teachers obtain their first teaching qualification in this way (Table 4.1). Fast-track programmes or other specialised teacher education programmes are common in Australia (47% of teachers), South Africa (37%), Iceland (27%), Saudi Arabia (22%) and the United States (20%).
The use of fast-track programmes is gaining popularity in many education systems. As many education systems are experiencing teacher shortages (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2016[6]; OECD, 2024[2]), these programmes may help by preparing new teachers more quickly and by attracting a more diverse set of candidates to the teaching profession. About one in five recent graduates (teachers who obtained their first teaching qualification within the five years prior to the survey) complete a fast-track programme as their first teaching qualification, compared to about one in ten older graduates, on average across OECD countries and territories with available data (hereafter, “on average”). In Iceland, 50% of recent graduates completed a fast-track programme, compared to 24% of older graduates. Similarly, in Latvia and Lithuania almost 40% of recent graduates completed such programmes, compared to 6% of older graduates. Fast-track programmes are also very popular among recent graduates in Australia and South Africa (46% and 40%, respectively), but in those two countries the differences between recent and older graduates are smaller (Table 4.1).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who completed a fast-track programme as their first teacher qualification
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Only education systems where at least 5% of lower secondary teachers completed a fast-track programme are displayed.
Second-career teachers are those with at least ten years of work experience in non-educational roles, for whom teaching was not their first career choice. All other teachers are considered non second-career teachers.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 4.2.
Fast-track programmes may also be designed as a way to cater to the needs of second-career teachers, who transition into teaching after working in other sectors for a significant period.2 Second-career teachers may help address teacher shortages and bring important new perspectives and experience, but they may also present specific learning needs that tailored programmes should address (Paniagua and Sánchez-Martí, 2018[7]; Ruitenburg and Tigchelaar, 2021[8]). For example, they might be experts in content knowledge but struggle with pedagogy and classroom management.3 The percentage of second-career teachers increased in 15 education systems between 2018 and 2024 (Chapter 1, Table 1.16). In 2024 the share of second-career teachers is above 15% in six education systems, peaking at 21% in Iceland (Chapter 1, Table 1.14).
Some 50% of second-career teachers completed a regular education programme on average, compared to almost 80% of first-career teachers. Further, 25% of second-career teachers completed a fast-track programme, compared to 9% of first-career teachers (Figure 4.1). The decision to participate in regular or fast-track programmes is likely due to regulations and programme availability, both of which vary across education systems. In Australia, the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium, Israel and South Africa, between 50% and 70% of second-career teachers completed a fast-track programme. In those same education systems, the share of non second-career teachers who did so is between 19 and 49 percentage points lower.
What teachers think of their initial training
TALIS asks teachers two separate sets of questions to capture their opinion on their initial teacher education. The first asks teachers to what extent they agree with a set of statements about their initial teacher education. The second asks teachers to explicitly rate the extent to which their initial teacher education has prepared them for different aspects of teaching.
Around 75% of recent graduates (teachers who have completed their initial teacher education in the five years prior to the survey), on average, “agree” or “strongly agree” that the quality of their initial education was high overall (Table 4.3). Comparing perceived quality across different pathways is challenging due to the small sample size of teachers who completed non-regular teacher training. With this caveat in mind, there does not seem to be large differences in perceived quality of initial teacher education by type of training. In the Flemish Community of Belgium and Costa Rica recent graduates who completed a fast‑track programme are significantly less likely than graduates of regular programmes to report that the quality of their initial education was high; the opposite holds in Türkiye (Table 4.4).
Recent graduates of regular programmes are on average more likely than graduates of fast-track programmes to report that their initial education provided them with a strong understanding of the subjects they teach. However, such a difference may well be due to fast-track programmes having a different focus, especially if they are catered to the needs of teachers who have already acquired strong subject-matter knowledge through other means.
On the other hand, recent graduates from fast-track programmes are more likely than graduates of regular programmes to report satisfaction with other aspects of their initial teacher education. They are for example more likely (by 7 percentage points, on average) to report that their programme had a good balance between theoretical and practical aspects of teaching (Table 4.4). Nine in ten recent graduates from fast-track programmes in Estonia report this, compared to about six in ten graduates of regular programmes; similar differences are observed in Czechia (67% versus 40%). Graduates from fast-track programmes are also more likely (by 5 percentage points on average) to report that their initial education provided them with ideas for managing classroom behaviour successfully. On this dimension, differences are especially pronounced in Czechia (27 percentage points), the United States (21 percentage points) and Sweden (20 percentage points).
A large majority of teachers across OECD education systems report that their initial education made them feel prepared “quite a bit” or “a lot” on core traditional aspects of teaching, such as subject content, subject-specific and general pedagogy, and classroom practice in the subjects they teach (Table 4.5). On these topics there are generally not large differences between recent and older graduates, suggesting that the ability of initial teacher education programmes to deliver on these core aspects of teaching has not changed much over time.
Comparing the assessment of initial teacher education of teachers with different levels of experience may be problematic, though. Teachers who graduated a long time ago might have an imperfect recollection of their experience. More experienced teachers are also more likely to face different working conditions than their less experienced colleagues, which may affect their perceptions about their preparedness (see Chapter 3). An alternative approach could be used, comparing the perceptions of recent graduates across waves of the TALIS survey. This delivers indeed a different picture: the share of recent graduates reporting that their initial education made them feel well prepared on subject content, subject-specific pedagogy, general pedagogy and classroom practices declined in many education systems (Table 4.6). The fact that the perceptions of recent graduates about their initial education have deteriorated over time does not necessarily imply that the quality of initial teacher education has worsened. This change in perceptions could be due to various factors, such as recent graduates having higher expectations than in the past, or perceiving higher professional demands that their initial training did not address adequately. The largest average decline is in classroom practice (9 percentage points on average). On this dimension, large declines are observed in Slovenia (45 percentage points) and Austria (36 percentage points), as well as in 13 other education systems. Only in Saudi Arabia and Shanghai (People’s Republic of China, hereafter “China”) the percentage of recent graduates reporting high sense of preparedness on this topic has increased between 2018 and 2024 (Figure 4.2).
Percentage of recently graduated lower secondary teachers who report that their formal education made them feel prepared “quite a bit” or “a lot” for classroom practice in some or all subject(s) they teach
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Recent graduates refer to teachers who completed their initial teacher education in the five years prior to the survey.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 4.6.
A similar pattern is observed for subject content, subject-specific pedagogy and general pedagogy, with average declines between 6 and 7 percentage points. More importantly, a consistent pattern of declining sense of preparedness emerges in most countries, with only a few exceptions like Saudi Arabia (for all three dimensions of subject content, subject-specific pedagogy and general pedagogy), Lithuania (for subject content only) and Finland (for general pedagogy).
In 2024 teachers feel far less prepared for emerging areas of teaching than for traditional topics. Only 33% of recent graduates, on average, report feeling prepared to teach in a multicultural or multilingual setting; 44% feel prepared to support students’ social and emotional development; and 57% feel prepared to use digital resources and tools for teaching (Figure 4.3). Fewer than one in five recent graduates feel prepared to teach in a multicultural or multilingual context in Slovenia (11%), France (15%) and Japan (17%). Similarly, fewer than one in five recent graduates feel prepared to support students’ social and emotional development in France (13%), the French Community of Belgium (17%), Norway* (18%) and Austria (19%).
Percentage of recently graduated lower secondary teachers who report that their formal education made them feel prepared “quite a bit” or “a lot” for various aspects of their teaching
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Recent graduates refer to teachers who completed their initial teacher education in the five years prior to the survey.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 4.5.
* For countries highlighted with an asterisk (*), estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias. See the Reader's Guide and Annex A for more detail.
Recent graduates feel more prepared to teach in multicultural contexts than older graduates in 16 education systems. Differences are particularly large in Denmark (44% of recent graduates feel prepared, compared to 20% of older graduates) and Iceland (33% versus 14%). This result is confirmed when comparing recent graduates in 2024 to recent graduates in 2018, with statistically significant increases in the share of recent graduates reporting to feel prepared in eight education systems (although declines are observed in Australia, Alberta (Canada)*, Chile and Slovenia) (Table 4.6).
Recent graduates also report feeling more prepared than older graduates to support students’ social and emotional development in 15 education systems, particularly in Costa Rica (73% versus 56%), the United States (51% versus 35%), Alberta (Canada)* (42% versus 27%) and the Flemish Community of Belgium (47% versus 34%) (Table 4.5). In seven other education systems, however, the opposite seems to be true, with older graduates feeling more prepared than recent graduates to support students’ social and emotional development.
In about 70% of education systems recent graduates are more likely than older graduates to report that their initial education and training made them feel prepared to use digital resources and tools for teaching (Table 4.5). However, it is difficult to disentangle the role played by initial teacher education programmes themselves from the one played by broader familiarity with digital tools in the society at large. On average, the share of recent graduates reporting feeling well prepared in the use of digital resources declined by 3 percentage points between 2018 and 2024; this average however is not very informative as it masks large increases in some countries (e.g. Saudi Arabia) and large declines in others (e.g. Slovenia) (Table 4.6).
While teachers can have opportunities to concretely practice teaching during their teacher education, receiving dedicated support when starting a new job can still be important. This is true not only for novice teachers: more experienced teachers starting at a new school may also need support to better integrate into a new working environment, with new students and colleagues. This initial support often takes the form of induction, coaching or mentoring programmes.
Induction programmes for beginning teachers have been shown to increase teaching quality (as perceived by students) (Maulana, Helms-Lorenz and van de Grift, 2015[9]) and to reduce teacher attrition (Smith and Ingersoll, 2004[10]; Helms-Lorenz, van de Grift and Maulana, 2016[11]). The most effective induction programmes seem to be those that provide multiple types of support, including mentoring (Ingersoll and Smith, 2004[12]; Ingersoll and Strong, 2011[13]). The literature has also found that mentoring can improve teacher retention and student achievement (Rockoff, 2008[14]) and can facilitate knowledge transfer from highly skilled teachers (Papay et al., 2020[15]).
On the other hand, it may be challenging to scale up mentoring programmes while maintaining effectiveness: in a meta-analysis pooling data from 60 causal studies of teacher coaching programmes, Kraft, Blazar and Hogan (2018[16]), find that small trials (conducted on less than 100 teachers) had larger positive effects on instructional and achievement outcomes than larger programmes implemented at scale. One likely reason for this finding is that it is not easy to build a sufficiently large corps of teachers capable of coaching a large set of colleagues, possibly with diverse professional learning needs. These programmes remain promising, however, and technology may help address some implementation challenges by facilitating the recruitment of coaches and the efficient matching of mentor and mentees. Policy makers are increasingly conscious of the positive effects that these programmes can have, and Box 4.1 provides some examples of recent policy initiatives in some education systems participating in TALIS.
Professional learning approaches that foster deep collegial relationships have been identified as powerful drivers of teacher development, offering multiple benefits, including competence development and engagement, job satisfaction and enhanced self-efficacy, creative thinking and experimentation. For novice teachers, in particular, mentoring and induction can facilitate smooth transitions into a new position, thereby increasing their commitment to and understanding of the profession.
Czechia
In 2019, Czechia introduced a two-year structured induction system to better support beginning teachers. New teachers received mentoring, an adaptation period, and regular evaluations. Mentors were also supported through training, reduced workloads, and financial compensation – measures designed to strengthen early career retention and professional growth. In 2023, both the induction period and the mentor position were legally enshrined.
The Netherlands
Beginning primary school teachers in the Netherlands are supported through structured, continuous mentoring that extends from their teacher training into the first years of practice. Schools and training institutions collaborate to design tailored induction plans that include classroom coaching, peer support, and professional development, with the goal of improving teacher retention, well-being, and professional confidence. Teachers particularly value mentoring from dedicated coaches.
Teacher education institutes collaborate with schools that are identified as professional development schools – schools that play a central role in training future teachers. Together, they ensure a close connection between training and practice. Up to 40% of the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) curriculum can be conducted in these schools, including teaching practice, lectures and group work on methodology. These schools receive additional grants and are included in the teacher education accreditation process.
Singapore
Instructional mentoring is a central feature of teachers’ professional learning in Singapore. First introduced as a form of structured support for new teachers, it is now also a key professional learning option for all teachers. All beginning teachers are paired with an instructional mentor in the first two years of their career. The mentor supports and helps them grow in their teaching practices via mutual lesson observations and regular professional conversations on enhancing teaching and learning. Experienced teachers looking to deepen their teaching practice can partner with a mentor for mutual professional learning and growth.
The Singapore Instructional Mentoring Approach (SIMA) guides instructional mentors in their practice and articulates the vision and mission of instructional mentoring. SIMA has the mission of supporting all mentees towards pedagogical excellence by focusing on three key areas: promoting mutual growth, relationship building and localising mentoring.
Türkiye
Given the young profile of the teaching workforce, helping new professionals to succeed in the early stages of their practice is particularly important for Türkiye. The Teacher Induction Programme (2016) assigns a mentor to teachers in their first six months of practice, along with various development activities both inside and outside the school setting, and assessment support. A formal probation appraisal at the end of the programme includes evaluations by the principal, the mentor and an inspector, in addition to a written examination. Candidates who successfully complete the programme gain certification, while unsuccessful candidates can repeat the induction process in another school. The programme, which was initially implemented for 30 000 teachers from early childhood education to secondary education, was mostly well-received, with classroom observations seen as particularly valuable.
Source:
European Commission (2015[17]), Shaping career‑long perspectives on teaching: a guide on policies to improve Initial Teacher Education, https://ec.europa.eu/education/library/reports/initial-teacher-education_en.pdf.
Eurydice (n.d.[18]), Czechia - National reforms in general school education, https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-education-systems/czechia/national-reforms-general-school-education.
NCEE (2016[19]), “Singapore: A teaching model for the 21st century”, https://ncee.org/empowered-educators-how-high-performing-systems-shape-teaching-quality-around-the-world/.
NCEE (2016[20]), ”Preparing profession-ready teachers”, https://ncee.org/empowered-educators-how-high-performing-systems-shape-teaching-quality-around-the-world/.
OECD (2024[2]), Education Policy Outlook 2024: Reshaping Teaching into a Thriving Profession from ABCs to AI, https://doi.org/10.1787/dd5140e4-en.
OECD (2023[21]), Taking stock of education reforms for access and quality in Türkiye, https://doi.org/10.1787/5ea7657e-en.
Participation in induction programmes
Induction programmes can be formal (e.g. regular supervision by a principal, reduced teaching load, formal mentoring arrangements with an experienced teacher) or informal (e.g. unstructured or unplanned activities comprising general introductions to a school and the work, informal peer work with other new teachers, a welcome handbook, etc.). On average almost seven in ten teachers report having taken part in induction programmes in their school (Table 4.7). Among teachers who have started working in their current school in the past five years, participation in informal induction programmes is more prevalent (57%) than participation in formal activities (44%).
To some extent, formal and informal programmes are substitutes: where participation in formal programmes is relatively low, participation in informal programmes tends to be relatively high, and vice versa. For example, participation in formal programmes among teachers who have recently joined their current school is lowest in Hungary and Portugal (19%), France (23%), Sweden (24%), and Denmark (28%), but in all these education systems participation in informal programmes is close to average levels if not above, ranging from 48% in France to 64% in Portugal (Figure 4.4). Similarly, participation in informal programmes is lowest in Türkiye (19%), Viet Nam (25%) and Japan (27%), but in these countries participation in formal programmes is much more frequent (47% in Türkiye, 63% in Japan and 74% in Viet Nam).
Shanghai (China), Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan are the education systems where participation rates in formal induction programmes are highest (above 75%). Participation rates in informal induction programmes exceed 75% in Australia, Finland, Singapore and New Zealand*. Restricting attention again to teachers who joined their current school within the five years preceding the survey, the differences in participation rates between formal and informal programmes exceed 40 percentage points in Kazakhstan, Shanghai (China) and Viet Nam. On the other hand, Portugal and Finland place the strongest emphasis on informal induction programmes, with differences in participation rates between informal and formal programmes of 45 and 44 percentage points, respectively (Table 4.7).
Opportunities to benefit from induction activities often depend on the context in which teachers work. In almost one-third of education systems, public school teachers who have started working in their current schools in the five years before the survey have lower chances to benefit from induction activities (whether formal or informal). After accounting for a range of other teacher characteristics (e.g. teachers’ gender, age and teaching experience [hereafter “teacher characteristics”]) and school characteristics (e.g. school location, school governance type, school intake of students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes, school intake of students who have difficulties understanding the language(s) of instruction, and school intake of students with special education needs [hereafter “school characteristics”]), Costa Rica and Romania are where working in a publicly managed school is associated with the largest reduction in the odds of having participated in induction activities in the current school (Table 4.8).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who report having taken part in induction activities when they began at their current school
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
The analysis is restricted to teachers who have started working in their current school in the five years prior to the survey.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 4.7.
Progress has been made since the last TALIS survey, conducted in 2018, as rates of participation in induction activities have strongly increased in all education systems that participated in both cycles of the survey. Participation in any induction programme (whether formal or informal) increased by 31 percentage points, on average (Table 4.9). In more than half of education systems, participation in informal activities increased more than participation in formal activities.
Mentoring
Support for incoming or novice teachers can sometimes take the form of mentoring or coaching programmes, where less experienced teachers are paired with a more experienced teacher who provides advice and support. About one in four novice teachers has an assigned mentor, on average (Table 4.10). The share of novice teachers benefitting from a mentorship programme ranges from 5% in Montenegro to almost 80% in Shanghai (China).
Mentoring is predominantly addressed to novice teachers; only 5% of teachers with more than ten years of teaching experience have an assigned mentor, on average. Some education systems, however, seem to offer mentoring programmes throughout teachers’ careers, with little difference between novice and experienced teachers. This is the case in Bahrain, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan, where more than 30% of experienced teachers have an assigned mentor.
As the TALIS questionnaire only asks whether teachers are currently involved in mentoring, it does not capture mentoring experiences that teachers may have been involved in, at other points of their careers. This may for example underestimate the involvement of novice teachers in mentoring in cases where mentoring programmes are only offered for a limited number of years at the very early career. As the analysis in this report defines novice teachers as all teachers with up to five years of teaching experience, it does not capture the mentoring that a teacher who started their career four years ago had in the first two years of their career, for example.
Percentage of novice lower secondary teachers who have an assigned mentor
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Novice teachers refer to those with up to five years of teaching experience.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 4.11.
Unfortunately, the TALIS sample size makes it challenging to further disaggregate the analysis of novice teachers. An alternative approach may consist of relying on the answers that principals gave about the presence of mentoring programmes in their school. This measure of (potential) “exposure” to mentoring, however, has its shortcomings, as it does not allow for an assessment of the actual uptake of mentoring programmes. On average, almost four in five teachers work in schools offering some mentoring programmes, with a small difference of 3 percentage points between novice and experienced teachers (Table 4.10). Exposure to mentoring is nearly universal, with rates of exposure above 70% in 44 education systems. Only in Chile, Colombia and Costa Rica is the rate of exposure to mentoring programmes below 50% (at 34%, 43% and 46%, respectively).
Opportunities for novice teachers to benefit from mentoring increased between 2018 and 2024. In about half of education systems that participated in both cycles of TALIS, novice teachers saw an increase in the likelihood of having an assigned mentor (Figure 4.5). The share of novice teachers with an assigned mentor increased by 17 percentage points in Lithuania, and by more than 10 percentage points in Austria, Czechia, Italy, Shanghai (China), Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Viet Nam; however, it decreased from 59% to 43% in Kazakhstan and from 54% to 42% in Singapore. Even larger increases were recorded in the share of novice teachers working in a school offering some forms of mentoring programmes.
Continuous professional learning is designed to support the professional development of all teachers throughout their careers. As schools need to prepare students for the evolving needs of rapidly changing societies, teachers need to regularly update their knowledge and skills. This means, for example, aligning the content of the curriculum with labour market demands, or changing teaching methods and adopt those proven effective by scientific research on how students learn.
Organisation and structure
Participation in some form of continuous professional learning is nearly universal: the share of teachers reporting that they participated in at least one professional development activity in the 12 months preceding the TALIS survey ranges from 87% in Kosovo to 100% in Albania, Alberta (Canada)*, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand*, Shanghai (China), Singapore and Viet Nam (Table 4.12). Rates of participation in continuous professional learning seem to be higher for teachers than for other comparable professions (Box 4.2). Professional learning activities most commonly take the form of traditional courses, workshops or seminars: 84% of teachers participate in such activities on average.
While almost all teachers in all education systems participated in at least one learning activity, the number of activities they participated in varies substantially. In the French Community of Belgium, Finland and France teachers participated in fewer than three learning activities on average, while in Albania, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Shanghai (China), the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, the average number of activities ranges between 6 and 7.3.4 Lack of information on the actual duration of such activities, however, calls for some caution in interpreting this information. In particular, the number of activities cannot be taken as a proxy for intensity of participation in training if teachers who engage in fewer activities also tend to engage in longer activities.
Data from the Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), provide valuable comparative insights across professions, as the Survey collects a rich set of information on participation in adult training by the entire adult population, including teachers.1 On average across OECD countries and economies participating in PIAAC, 73% of teachers report having participated in training activities, compared to 63% of adults in other professions (Table 4.13). Differences in participation rates between teachers and non-teachers are substantial in Austria, Croatia, Estonia and Korea, exceeding 20 percentage points. In the Flemish Region (Belgium), Hungary, Ireland, Norway and Portugal teachers participated in fewer learning activities than other adults in the 12 months preceding the survey, whereas the opposite is true in Austria, Croatia, Korea, Lithuania and Singapore (Table 4.14).
The number of hours spent in training indicates training intensity. This information is available in PIAAC for the last training activity undertaken by the respondent.2 Adults working in other professions tend to engage in longer training activities than teachers. Across OECD countries and economies, the last training activities teachers participated in lasted 26 hours, compared to 32 hours for non-teachers (Table 4.16). This pattern can be observed in many countries, but the estimates are surrounded by a large margin of uncertainty: only in Ireland, the Flemish Region (Belgium) and Switzerland is the number of hours spent in the last training activity significantly lower (statistically) for teachers than for adults working in non-teaching profession. The opposite is observed in the Slovak Republic, where teachers’ last training activity lasted 25 hours, compared to 19 hours for the last training activity of adults in other professions.
Satisfaction with the last training activity, measured by the percentage of respondents who found it “moderately” or “very” useful is on average similarly high for both teachers and non-teachers, at about 83% (Table 4.15). Teachers in Japan, Poland and the Slovak Republic are more likely than non-teachers to find their training useful, while the opposite holds in France and Norway.
Finally, despite the high rates of participation, teachers are more likely than adults in other professions to report that they were unable to participate in some training activities they wanted to attend. About 34% of teachers on average report unmet demand for training, compared to 24% of adults working in other professions (Table 4.17). Differences between teachers and non-teachers in the likelihood of reporting unmet demand for training exceed 15 percentage points in Austria, Chile, Croatia, Finland, Japan, Lithuania and the Netherlands.
Note: 1. See the Reader’s Guide for more detailed information on how PIAAC data are used for this analysis.
1. In this report, the analysis of questions on the last training activity is restricted to job-related training activities.
Source: OECD (2024[22]), Survey of Adult Skills 2023 (PIAAC) database, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/piaac-2nd-cycle-database.html.
Novice and experienced teachers show a similar propensity to participate in professional learning activities, with differences in participation rates that, while statistically significant, are negligible on average (95% of novice teachers participated in at least one professional learning activity in the 12 months prior to the survey, compared to 96% of experienced teachers) (Table 4.19). In some education systems these differences are more pronounced, however: rates of participation of novice teachers are for example between 4 and 6 percentage points lower than for experienced teachers in the French Community of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Portugal, and in 11 systems the difference in the number of different types of activities ranges between 0.5 and 0.9 percentage points. The lower engagement of novice teachers in professional learning might be worrisome for education systems like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which have ageing teacher populations (Chapter 1, Table 1.4) and where many young teachers are likely to leave the profession (Chapter 7, Table 7.1). Novice teachers have lower rates of participation in professional learning activities in Estonia and Latvia, and in all three countries they participate in a lower number of different activities (Table 4.19).
The most evident difference between novice and experienced teachers is in the type of learning activities they participated in. Novice teachers were more likely to be enrolled in formal qualification programmes (attended by 29% of novice teachers and by 15% of experienced teachers on average), and to attend training focused on reflections on lesson observations (attended by 50% of novice teachers and by 48% of experienced teachers on average) (Table 4.18). More than half of novice teachers were enrolled in formal qualification programmes in Uzbekistan (52%), Romania (56%), Viet Nam (59%) and Saudi Arabia (76%). On the other hand, less than one in ten novice teachers were enrolled in such programmes in Japan (9%) and Denmark (6%). Such differences are likely due to different regulations governing the accreditation of qualified teachers. Rates of participation in all other types of professional learning activities are generally higher for experienced than for novice teachers in most education systems. More research should be undertaken to better understand the reasons behind these differences, in particular whether they are driven by higher barriers to participation for novice teachers or by differences in professional learning needs, or simply by differences in the type of activities novice teachers need and engage with. For example, one possible explanation for the lower participation of novice teachers in many of the activities surveyed in TALIS might simply be the fact that novice teachers are more likely to be enrolled in formal qualification programmes, which are likely more demanding in terms of time and leave fewer opportunities for participating in other activities.
Most professional learning activities are predominantly attended in person or hybrid form (a blend of in-person and online participation). In some cases, this is due to the nature of the activities, which do not lend themselves naturally to a virtual environment (e.g. visits to other schools or organisations).
Virtual or online participation is relatively more common for self-initiated learning activities (on average 36% of teachers who participated in such activities did so virtually or on line), teacher networks and formal qualification programmes (33% of teachers), and education conferences (30% of teachers) (Table 4.12).5 In some education systems, though, virtual or online participation in these activities is particularly common, often surpassing in-person participation. In Colombia, Costa Rica and Romania, virtual or online participation is more common than in-person participation in activities such as courses, seminars, workshops, education conferences, formal qualification programmes, formal and informal teacher networks, or self-initiated learning activities.
The possibility of online participation can potentially alleviate the barriers that some teachers face and that are often linked to personal situations or environmental circumstances. Teachers working (and living) in rural areas, for example, can take advantage of new technological possibilities to participate in activities that are not offered in their location. Teachers with parenting, caring, and/or personal responsibilities that restrict their ability to flexibly attend in-person training might find online participation attractive.
This is indeed what emerges in the TALIS data. Among teachers working in urban schools who participated in courses, seminars or workshops, for example, 44% of them did so in person, compared to 38% of teachers working in rural schools, on average (Table 4.20). Similar results hold for participation in education conferences (50% versus 44%) and for self-initiated learning activities (45% versus 40%). Brazil is the only country where teachers working in rural schools are more likely than teachers working in urban schools to participate in these activities in person.
Similar differences emerge for all three learning activities according to gender. Female teachers who participated in courses, seminars or workshops, in education conferences, and in self-initiated learning activities were less likely than their male colleagues to do so in person (Table 4.21).
Professional learning activities tend to focus on traditional topics. The most common topic included in professional learning activities teachers attended, for example, is subject-specific knowledge and understanding (included in training activities of 74% of teachers, on average) (Figure 4.6). Only in the French Community of Belgium did fewer than half of teachers (43%) report that this topic was covered in their training.
However, there is some evidence that training on traditional topics is declining. Participation rates decreased between 2018 and 2024 by 2 percentage points for learning activities focused on subject-specific knowledge and by 6 percentage points for learning activities focused on subject-specific pedagogy, on average (Table 4.23). Participation in activities focused on student assessment practices slightly increased on average, but this is the result of large declines (between 16 and 23 percentage points) in Iceland, Finland and France and large increases (of about 20 percentage points) in Czechia and the Slovak Republic. Similarly, the small average increase in participation in training focused on classroom management for student behaviour masks large cross-country differences, with strong increases in Saudi Arabia (16 percentage points) and the Slovak Republic (21 percentage points) and large declines in Estonia (19 percentage points).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who report that the following topics were included in their professional learning activities during the last 12 months
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 4.22.
Consistent increases in participation (of about 8 percentage points, on average) were recorded in most countries in training focused on teaching students with special education needs and on teaching in a multilingual or multicultural setting (Table 4.23).
Regarding emerging issues, the use of digital resources and tools, whether focused on technical or pedagogical skills, is the most common focus of professional learning, with more than 60% of teachers attending training in either of these areas (Table 4.22). A larger share of teachers attended training focused on pedagogical skills for incorporating digital resources and tools into teaching (67% on average, compared to 62% of teachers attending training focused on technical skills for the use of digital resources and tools).
Between 2018 and 2024, participation in professional learning focused on digital resources and tools increased significantly in almost all education systems (Table 4.23). The average increase amounts to 12 percentage points, but the changes are much larger (between 25 and 36 percentage points) in Brazil, Czechia, the Flemish Community of Belgium, Portugal and Romania. In contrast, participation in training focused on information and communication technology (ICT) declined in France (by 6 percentage points), Iceland (by 11 percentage points), Sweden (by 16 percentage points) and Finland (by 25 percentage points).
Classroom management for student behaviour is where differences in participation between novice and experienced teachers are larger, possibly reflecting the higher needs of novice teachers in this area. TALIS shows that, on average, 57% of novice teachers attended training on this topic (as compared to 49% of experienced teachers), with only nine education systems having fewer than half of novice teachers attending such training (Table 4.22). Even in education systems where participation is lowest (Austria, the French Community of Belgium and Slovenia), more than one-third of novice teachers attended this type of training.
Half of teachers, on average, participated in training focused on supporting students’ social and emotional learning (Table 4.22). Although there are no comparative data to assess how this has evolved since 2018, this relatively high rate of participation likely reflects the recent attention given to developing students’ social and emotional skills. More than four out of five teachers in Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Shanghai (China), the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam attended learning activities focused on methods for supporting students’ social and emotional learning, while only one in five did so in the French Community of Belgium and France.
Participation in training focused on the use of AI for teaching and learning is another indicator for which no previous data are available. Given how recent the diffusion of artificial intelligence is, it may be surprising that almost 40% of teachers across OECD education systems were trained on this subject in 2024 (Table 4.22). This could be seen as a positive example of how the offer of professional development activities can quickly adapt and respond to societal and technological evolutions. Rates of participation in training focused on AI exceeded 60% in four countries (Kazakhstan, Korea, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates). They were particularly low in France (9%) and the French Community of Belgium (16%). AI is also one of the topics where differences between novice and more experienced teachers are more pronounced, likely reflecting the higher sensitivity of novice teachers to the use of modern tools.
Impact of professional learning and outstanding professional learning needs
TALIS provides teachers with the opportunity to express their views on professional learning activities, specifically the impact that the activities they participated in had on their teaching, the learning needs they continue to have and the barriers they face in participating in further training activities. It is, however, important to keep in mind that interpreting this information is not always straightforward. Expressing high professional learning needs on a topic, for instance, may be driven not only by lack of actual skills in that area, but also by the circumstances and the environment in which teachers operate.
Not all teachers find that their learning activities have a positive impact on their teaching. On average, just over one out of two teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the 12 months preceding the survey had a positive impact on their teaching “quite a bit” or “a lot” (Figure 4.7).6 Younger (under the age of 30) and novice teachers are generally more likely to judge the learning activities they participated in as impactful (i.e. as having a positive impact on their teaching). Differences between novice and experienced teachers are largest in Costa Rica (18 percentage points), North Macedonia (17 percentage points) and Serbia (15 percentage points).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the last 12 months had a positive impact on their teaching “quite a bit” or “a lot”
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Novice teachers refer to those with up to five years of teaching experience. Experienced teachers refer to those with more than ten years of teaching experience.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 4.24.
Professional learning is a useful tool for teachers to upskill and improve their teaching, provided it is of high quality. Teachers who report that the professional learning they attended had a positive impact on their teaching are also more likely to report that they have fulfilled their lesson aims. This association holds in most education systems, and for teachers at all levels (Table 4.26).
In 12 out of 15 education systems with available data for primary and lower secondary education, primary teachers are more likely to report that their professional learning activities were impactful, compared to lower secondary teachers. The largest differences are observed in the Netherlands* and New Zealand* (Table 4.24). Among primary school teachers, women and novice teachers are more likely to report that professional learning was impactful compared to men and more experienced teachers. The largest differences are in New Zealand* (where the share of female teachers reporting their learning was impactful is 26 percentage points higher than for men) and France (with a difference of 16 percentage points between novice and experienced teachers).
Upper secondary teachers report that their professional learning was impactful at similar rates to that of their lower secondary colleagues. Also, among upper secondary teachers, women and novice teachers are more likely than men and experienced teachers to report that their professional learning was impactful.
Skills for using AI for teaching and learning is the area where the highest share of teachers across OECD education systems (29%) report having a “high” level of professional learning need (Table 4.27). More than 50% of teachers in Costa Rica, Morocco and Shanghai (China) report needing to gain skills for using AI. In comparison, less than 20% of teachers report such need in the Flemish Community of Belgium, Estonia, Italy, the Netherlands*, North Macedonia and Slovenia. On average, more experienced teachers are more likely than novice teachers to report professional needs in this area (30% compared to 24%).
In about half of education systems, attending professional development activities on the use of AI reduces the likelihood that teachers report high levels of need in this area, suggesting the training they attended was effective (Table 4.29). In contrast, the opposite relationship is observed in eight education systems, with teachers who have participated in training on AI being more likely to report learning needs in this area. This counterintuitive result may be due to the training not being of sufficiently high quality or to the fact that teachers undergoing such training become more aware of what they need to learn.
Almost 20% of teachers report learning needs in the use of AI and did not participate in training in this area (Table 4.30). This could signal barriers to participation or a lack of alignment between what is offered and what teachers need. Just a bit more than half of teachers in Morocco, and about one-third of teachers in Chile, Costa Rica and Türkiye report learning needs in the use of AI and did not participate in training in this area. On average, such misalignment between learning needs and the content of professional training is more prevalent among experienced teachers.
In 5 out of 15 education systems with available data for primary and lower secondary education, a smaller proportion of primary school teachers report the need to learn skills for using AI. The largest difference is observed in New Zealand* (6 percentage points) (Table 4.27). Brazil and Morocco are the only two countries where the proportion of teachers reporting learning needs for the use of AI is larger among primary teachers than among lower secondary teachers. Among primary and lower secondary teachers, the likelihood of reporting learning needs in the use of AI is higher among more experienced teachers. Japan is the only exception to this pattern, at both the primary and lower secondary education levels.
Consistent with the fact that fewer primary school teachers report learning needs in the use of AI, rates of participation in training activities focused on AI also tend to be lower (Table 4.22). The largest differences between primary school and lower secondary school teachers in the propensity to participate in learning activities focused on the use of AI are in Australia (30 percentage points). Korea is the only country where primary school teachers are more likely than lower secondary school teachers to participate in training focused on the use of AI.
Upper secondary teachers, on the other hand, are more likely to report professional learning needs in the use of AI than their lower secondary colleagues, on average. Differences are small, however, and are only statistically significant in the Flemish Community of Belgium* and Portugal (Table 4.27). Large differences exist between upper secondary and lower secondary teachers in the likelihood of participating in training focused on the use of AI. Specifically, upper secondary teachers are significantly more likely to attend training focused on AI in Denmark, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia (Table 4.22).
Teaching students with special education needs is the second most common area where teachers report high levels of professional development needs, with one in four teachers across OECD education systems reporting needs in this area. In Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Morocco and South Africa more than 40% of teachers report high levels of need for professional development in this area, while only 9% do so in the United States (Table 4.27). Needs in this area have increased since 2018 in ten education systems (by 31 percentage points in Kazakhstan) and decreased in eight education systems (by 10 percentage points in Brazil; Table 4.31). In more than half of education systems, novice teachers are more likely than experienced teachers to report needs in this area (Table 4.27).
Slightly more than 10% of teachers on average (and 14% of novice teachers) report learning needs in teaching students with special education needs and do not participate or receive training in this area (Table 4.32). The share of teachers reporting such misalignment between learning needs and actual training participation is highest in Morocco and South Africa (around 30%).
Another area in which novice teachers express particularly high professional learning needs is classroom management for student behaviour: 30% of novice teachers across OECD education systems express needs in this area, compared to only 18% of experienced teachers (Table 4.27). Large differences across education systems exist, though: while more than 60% of novice teachers express needs in this area in Japan, Shanghai (China) and Viet Nam, less than 10% do so in Albania and Türkiye. In more than a third of education systems the share of novice teachers reporting learning needs in classroom management has increased since 2018, and there are no education systems in which this has decreased (Figure 4.8).
Percentage of novice lower secondary teachers indicating that they have a “high” level of need for professional development in classroom management for student behaviour
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Novice teachers refer to those with up to five years of teaching experience.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2018 and TALIS 2024 Databases, Table 4.33.
Helping teachers improve their ability to manage student behaviour in the classroom is particularly important, given that teachers reporting high levels of need on classroom management are significantly less likely to report being able to fulfil their lesson aims (Table 4.34). The association is significant in more than half of education systems and is large (more than one-quarter of a standard deviation) in 12 education systems.
There is some evidence that participating in professional learning activities focused on classroom management reduces the likelihood of reporting high learning needs in this area, although the relationship is not statistically significant in many countries (especially when the sample is restricted to novice teachers, because the smaller sample size increases the uncertainty around the estimates; Tables 4.35 and 4.36). Less formal learning activities, such as receiving feedback from colleagues, the principal, or external individuals, also appear to be effective in helping teachers (especially those with less experience) improve their classroom management practices. On average, two out of three teachers (and three out of four novice teachers) report that the feedback they received had a positive impact on the way they manage student behaviour in the classroom (Table 4.37).
About 14% of novice teachers, and 10% of teachers overall, report high professional learning needs in classroom management but did not participate in training in this area (Table 4.38). Such misalignment between learning needs and actual training attended concerns more than one in four novice teachers in Austria, and more than one in five novice teachers in Estonia, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania and Slovenia.
Approximately one in five teachers across OECD education systems report high levels of need for professional learning focused on the use of digital resources, whether in terms of pedagogical or technical skills (Table 4.27). In these areas, more experienced teachers are more likely than novice teachers to report high levels of need for professional development activities. Despite the large expansion of participation in learning activities focused on the use of digital tools (Table 4.23), the share of teachers reporting learning needs in these areas has decreased since 2018 only in Croatia, Finland, the Netherlands* and Sweden, and it has increased in 27 other education systems, with the largest increases in Shanghai (China) (28 percentage points) and Kazakhstan (23 percentage points) (Table 4.31). This is likely due to ever-increasing demands on teachers to incorporate digital resources and tools in their work.
On the other hand, despite the fact that participation in professional learning focused on traditional topics, such as subject-specific knowledge, pedagogy, and student assessment practices, is particularly high, relatively few teachers report a high level of need for professional learning in these areas (12%, 13%, and 16% on average, respectively). Against this background, more than 40% of teachers in Japan, Kazakhstan, Shanghai (China), Uzbekistan and Viet Nam report a high level of need in all three areas. Furthermore, in a majority of education systems the share of teachers reporting needs in these three areas has increased since 2018. In a majority of education systems novice teachers are significantly more likely than more experienced teachers to report high levels of need in these three areas (Table 4.27).
Barriers to participation
Lack of time due to other commitments or responsibilities is the factor that teachers are most likely to report as a barrier to their participation in professional learning. Some 63% of teachers across OECD education systems “agree” or “strongly agree” that time presents a barrier to their participation in professional learning (Figure 4.9). This is also the reported barrier that increased the most since 2018: the share of teachers indicating time is a barrier increased on average by 25 percentage points, with the largest increases in Australia (43 percentage points) and New Zealand* (41 percentage points) (Table 4.40). Not all teachers are equally likely to face this type of barrier, however. Younger (under the age of 30) and novice teachers tend to be more likely to report a lack of time as a barrier to participation in professional learning (Tables 4.42 and 4.41). The association with age is statistically significant in about half of education systems; when the association is not statistically significant, the estimated coefficients still suggest (in almost all cases) that the likelihood of reporting lack of time as a barrier decreases with age.
Conflicts with the work schedule are the second most commonly cited barrier, by almost 60% of teachers on average (Table 4.39). The share of teachers reporting this as a barrier has also increased since 2018 in about half of education systems, with larger increases (between 15 and 20 percentage points) in Alberta (Canada)*, Australia, the Flemish Community of Belgium, Estonia and Finland. At the same time, fewer teachers than in 2018 reported this as a barrier in Bulgaria, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Saudi Arabia and Shanghai (China) (Table 4.40).
The cost of learning activities is the third most commonly cited barrier, reported by 46% of teachers, on average (Table 4.39). Differences across education systems in this respect could reflect regulations around whether systems or individuals are responsible for funding professional development. The evolution of this indicator since 2018 also varies across education systems: in 15 education systems the share of teachers reporting this as a barrier has declined, and in 15 other education systems it has increased. The largest declines are recorded in Japan (23 percentage points) and Bulgaria (20 percentage points); the largest increases are in Estonia and New Zealand* (13 percentage points) and South Africa (18 percentage points) (Table 4.40).
Percentage of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that the following present barriers to their participation in professional learning
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Table 4.39.
In 31 education systems novice teachers are significantly more likely to report lack of prerequisites as a barrier to participation in professional learning (Table 4.41). The difference is close to 10 percentage points on average, but it exceeds 20 percentage points in Chile and in the Slovak Republic. Azerbaijan is the only country where novice teachers are less likely than experienced teachers to report lack of prerequisites as a barrier to professional learning. This can be a cause for concern, as TALIS provides evidence that younger teachers are often more in need of engaging in professional learning (Table 4.27). Moreover, training seems to be more effective for novice teachers, as they are more likely to report that professional learning activities they participated in, or the feedback they received, had a positive impact on their teaching practices (Tables 4.24 and 4.37).
The characteristics of the school that teachers work in are sometimes related to the likelihood of teachers reporting different types of barriers to participating in professional learning. For example, teachers working in publicly managed schools are more likely to report a lack of digital resources as a barrier to participation in professional learning (with a statistically significant association in 11 education systems) (Table 4.43). They are also more likely to report a lack of offers of relevant professional learning (in 12 education systems) (Table 4.44). Furthermore, teachers working in publicly managed schools are more likely to report a lack of employer support as a barrier to participation in professional learning (with a statistically significant difference with teachers working in privately managed schools in about one-fifth of education systems; Table 4.46). In more than half of education systems, teachers working in schools located in rural areas are more likely to report distance as a barrier to participation in professional learning (Table 4.45).
Chapter 2 of this report examined important (self-reported) professional outcomes, such as teachers’ well-being and work-related stress, job satisfaction and the degree to which they report being able to achieve their lesson aims.7 All these outcomes are measured in TALIS using scales, which combine information from teachers’ answers to batteries of questions. The resulting scales – except for composite scales8 that combine different scales – are standardised to have a standard deviation of two across all education systems participating in TALIS and where value 10 corresponds to the item mid-point value of the response scale.9 This section looks at how participating in learning opportunities at different stages of teachers’ careers is related to these outcomes.
Well-being and job satisfaction
Teacher well-being and job satisfaction do not appear to be robustly and consistently related to the type of initial teacher education teachers attended, one possible reason being that in most countries the majority of teachers followed the same type of education, i.e. a regular teacher education programme. In some countries, however, the type of initial teacher education does seem to be related with teachers’ professional outcomes.
When compared to teachers who attended a regular programme, teachers who followed a fast-track programme tend to report higher levels of well-being in Finland, Iceland, Portugal and South Africa (Table 4.47). A similar result emerges in Albania and the Slovak Republic for recent graduates (Table 4.48). Teachers who attended a fast-track programme also report higher job satisfaction than teachers who attended regular programmes in Colombia, Korea, Latvia, Malta, North Macedonia and the United States (though in some of these systems, participation in fast-track programmes is very low); in Australia and in the United Arab Emirates, however, the opposite result emerges (Table 4.49), including when the analysis is restricted to recent graduates (Table 4.50).
Teachers who attended subject-specific education only report higher levels of well-being than teachers who attended regular programmes in Austria, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, North Macedonia and Romania (Table 4.47); in Croatia, Estonia, Italy, North Macedonia and Portugal a similar result holds for recent graduates (Table 4.48). In the French Community of Belgium, Shanghai (China) and Uzbekistan, however, the opposite result holds, as well as in Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates for recent graduates. Teachers with a subject-specific education only report lower levels of job satisfaction in Albania, Colombia, Singapore, Spain and Uzbekistan, and higher job satisfaction in Hungary, Kazakhstan and North Macedonia (Table 4.49).
Teachers who have recently joined their current school and who have participated in induction programmes (whether formal or informal) tend to report higher job satisfaction, even after accounting for a range of teacher and school characteristics (Table 4.51). The relationship between participation in induction activities and job satisfaction is statistically significant in about half of education systems; and even when the margin of uncertainty is too large to exclude lack of a relationship, the estimated coefficient is never negative. Moreover, the size of the relationship is large, averaging 24% of a standard deviation across OECD education systems and ranging from 17% of a standard deviation in Italy to 72% of a standard deviation in Shanghai (China).
Similarly, there is a positive association between participation in induction activities and well-being for teachers who have joined their current school in the five years preceding the survey: participation in induction programmes is associated with a reduction of about 10% of a standard deviation on the scale of well-being and work-related stress, on average.10 The association is statistically significant in only 11 education systems, however (Table 4.52).
Mentoring also appears to be positively correlated with teachers’ professional outcomes. Novice teachers with an assigned mentor report higher job satisfaction in 20 education systems (Figure 4.10), and higher well-being in 8 education systems (Table 4.54). Although restricting the sample to novice teachers decreases the precision of the estimates, the size of the estimated coefficients is rather large: on average, having an assigned mentor is associated with an increase of 16% of a standard deviation on the job satisfaction scale, and the estimated coefficient is as large as 55% of a standard deviation in the Netherlands*. Moreover, as TALIS only asks whether teachers currently have a mentor, these estimates are likely to be a lower bound of the strength of the correlation between being mentored and professional outcomes, because the data cannot distinguish between teachers who have recently participated in a mentoring programme and those who have never done so.
Mentoring others is also positively associated with job satisfaction in about half of education systems, although the relationship is negative in Colombia and Malta (Figure 4.10).
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Novice teachers refer to those with up to five years of teaching experience. Teachers new to the school refer to teachers who have started working in their current school in the five years prior to the survey.
Statistically significant coefficients are highlighted with filled circles (see Annex B). Filled circles above 0 indicate a positive association between teacher job satisfaction and induction and mentoring, while those below 0 reflect a negative relationship.
1. Standardised scale scores with a standard deviation of 2 and a mean of 10. For more information on the scales, see Annex B.
2. Results based on three separate linear regression analyses, showing the change in the outcome variable associated with a one-unit increase in the explanatory variable. After controlling for teacher (i.e. gender, age and years of teaching experience) and school characteristics (i.e. school location, school governance type, school intake of students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes, school intake of students who have difficulties understanding the language(s) of instruction, and school intake of students with special education needs).
Source: OECD, TALIS 2024 Database, Tables 4.51, 4.53 and 4.55.
Fulfilment of lesson aims
Teachers who report that the quality of their initial teaching education was high are more likely to report that, in their lessons, they can achieve a range of objectives that characterise quality teaching (e.g. presenting content in a comprehensible way, offering opportunities to practice, adapting teaching to meet different students’ needs, or managing student behaviour, to name a few). The association between the perceived quality of initial teacher education and the composite scale capturing achievement of these objectives during lessons is positive and statistically significant in about 70% of education systems. The strength of the relationship varies from 10% of a standard deviation in Italy and Japan to 40% of a standard deviation in Saudi Arabia (Table 4.59).
The relationship between fulfilment of lesson aims and the type of initial teacher education is instead much weaker, and statistically significant in only a few countries. When compared to teachers who attended a regular teacher education programme, and after accounting for a range of teacher and school characteristics, teachers who attended a fast-track programme are less likely to report that they have fulfilled their lesson aims in Chile, France, Morocco and Serbia, and more likely to have done so in the French Community of Belgium, Costa Rica and Denmark (Table 4.56). Teachers who attended subject-specific education only are more likely to report achievement of lesson aims in Austria, Denmark, New Zealand* and the United Arab Emirates, and less likely to do so in eight other education system (with a larger negative association in Israel, Shanghai (China) and Viet Nam). Among recent graduates, teachers who attended fast-track programmes report more often to have fulfilled their lesson aims in Costa Rica and Sweden, but the opposite result holds in Australia, Estonia and France (Table 4.57). Recent graduates from subject-specific programmes more often fulfil their lesson aims in Austria, North Macedonia and the United Arab Emirates, and less often in the Flemish Community of Belgium, Colombia, France, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Türkiye.
Fulfilment of lesson aims is positively related to participation in either formal or informal induction programmes in ten education systems (Table 4.58). Novice teachers with an assigned mentor are also more likely to report higher scores on the scale measuring fulfilment of lesson aims. The relationship is statistically significant in 14 education systems, and the relationship is relatively strong, ranging between 20% of a standard deviation in Kazakhstan and almost 50% of a standard deviation in Costa Rica (Table 4.60).
In 20 education systems, participation in professional learning activities based on reflections on lesson observations is positively associated with the fulfilment of lesson aims, controlling for teacher and school characteristics. A similar association is observable in 24 education systems for participation in self-initiated learning activities (Table 4.61).
The analysis shows no clear pattern linking the content of professional learning activities to fulfilment of lesson aims (Table 4.62). Rather than the content or focus of these activities, whether teachers themselves report that the activity had a positive impact on their teaching seems to be statistically associated with reporting higher fulfilment of lesson aims. In all education systems (except in the Netherlands* and New Zealand*) there is a strong and positive association between participation in impactful professional learning and the fulfilment of lesson aims (Figure 4.11). Teachers participating in impactful activities score on average 0.6 points higher on the fulfilment of lesson aims scale, corresponding to 30% of a standard deviation. The strength of the relationship ranges between 13% of a standard deviation in Denmark and 60% of a standard deviation in Shanghai (China).
Targeted learning activities can be related to the likelihood of achieving relevant lessons aims. For example, participating in activities covering methods for supporting students’ social and emotional learning double, on average, the odds that teachers report having been able “quite a bit” or “a lot” to help students manage their own emotions, thoughts and behaviour (Table 4.63). The association is positive and significant in all education systems (except in the Netherlands*), and is particularly strong in Brazil, Italy, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Viet Nam. Similarly, participating in learning activities focused on classroom management for student behaviour increases by 50% (on average) the odds that teachers report having been able to manage students’ behaviour; the relationship is statistically significant in all but nine education systems (Table 4.64).
Change in the scale of lower secondary teachers’ fulfilment of lesson aims1 associated with teachers reporting that the professional learning activities they participated in during the last 12 months had a positive impact on their teaching “quite a bit” or “a lot”2,3
Note: * Estimates should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.
Statistically significant coefficients are highlighted with filled circles (see Annex B). Filled circles above 0 indicate a positive association between fulfilment of lesson aims and teachers reporting that the professional learning activities they participated in had a positive impact on their teaching, while those below 0 reflect a negative relationship.
1. Standardised scale scores with a standard deviation of 2 and the value of 10 corresponding to the item mid-point value of the response scale. For more information on the scales, see Annex B.
2. Binary variable: the reference category refers to “not at all” and “to some extent”.
3. Results based on linear regression analysis, showing the change in the outcome variable associated with a one-unit increase in the explanatory variable. Teacher characteristics include gender, age and years of teaching experience; school characteristics include school location, school governance type, school intake of students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes, school intake of students who have difficulties understanding the language(s) of instruction, and school intake of students with special education needs.
Source: OECD (2024), TALIS 2024 Database, Table 4.26.
Ensuring that teacher professional development remains relevant and responsive to teachers’ needs is essential. TALIS shows that only participation in high-quality training that teachers themselves judge to have a positive impact on their teaching is associated with important professional outcomes, such as fulfilment of lesson aims. This box highlights how Serbia, Korea and Japan tailor training opportunities to teachers’ professional development needs.
Serbia
In 2019, the Serbia Institute for Improvement of Education (IIE), in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), launched the National Education Portal (NOP). A central component of the portal is the ZUOVEdu distance-learning platform, which hosts professional development programmes for educators. All trainings are public, aligned with national education priorities, and allow participants to register electronically and receive official certification. From 2019 to 2024, nearly 360 000 teachers, school counsellors, and principals participated in over 5 000 training sessions on the ZUOVEdu distance-learning platform—averaging at least four trainings per educator.
To align training with educators' real needs, the IIE surveyed teachers to collect information on their attitudes and perceptions regarding professional development. Findings suggest that Serbian teachers valued the trainings that were practical, flexible, and applicable to their classroom needs. However, barriers such as financial constraints, lack of time, and uneven institutional support remained important obstacles for many teachers, and many teachers called for more relevant and accessible opportunities.
Korea
Korea’s teacher training platform, Knowledge Spring (see Box 1.4 in Chapter 1 for more details), not only allows users to select content and resources based on their needs, but the platform is becoming increasingly sophisticated: Korea will launch a tool whereby teachers can self-assess their professional competencies and receive personalised training recommendations and will introduce digital badges to certify learning at four levels of interaction (“beginner”, “doer”, “mentor”, “expert”).
Japan
In 2022, Japan revised its system of teacher professional learning, seeking to tailor activities to individual, school and regional needs. To support this effort, in 2024, Japan launched the Platform for Teachers and Staff Development which includes the following:
a recording system, which enables teachers to record their participation and/or completion of programmes
a catalogue of development opportunities from which teachers and leaders can select those that best respond to their own and their school’s needs
a library of video teacher development programmes developed by universities, boards of education, and public-interest corporations, among others.
tests to check teachers’ acquisition of knowledge and skills or practice reports and reflective tasks that will help participants relate learning to their own practice.
mechanisms for sharing development content and evaluating performance.
The platform can facilitate system-level monitoring and policy evaluation. By centralising the national professional learning offer, Japan can more easily ensure the quality of learning content and its alignment to national goals. There is also scope to collect data on teachers’ learning pathways and evaluations at the system level.
Source:
Central Council for Education (2020[23]), Realising a “New Way of Learning for Teachers” and Promoting Diverse Expertise,
https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20221219-mxt_kyoikujinzai01-1412985_00004-1.pdf.
OECD (2024[2]), Education Policy Outlook 2024: Reshaping Teaching into a Thriving Profession from ABCs to AI, https://doi.org/10.1787/dd5140e4-en.
OECD (2024[24]), “Policy dialogues in focus for Brazil: International insights for strengthening resilience and responsiveness in lower secondary education”, https://doi.org/10.1787/e99f8322-en.
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← 1. A more detailed analysis, including definitions, of these professional outcomes can be found in Chapter 2.
← 2. This report defines second-career teachers as teachers with at least ten years of work experience in non-education roles and who reported that teaching was not their first career choice.
← 3. This hypothesis is unfortunately difficult to test with TALIS data, as ideally one would need data at the moment second-career teachers enter fast-track or other types of programmes or are at the least at the very early stages of their career. Insufficient sample size prevents conducting a fine-grained analysis of second-career teachers in the very early stages of their teaching careers. The best approximation consists in comparing the professional learning needs of second-career teachers with those of other teachers (Table 4.28). When doing so, significant differences between second-career teachers and other teachers emerge only in a handful of countries, and the patterns are not always consistent. In four education systems (Austria, the Flemish and French Communities of Belgium and the United States) second-career teachers are indeed significantly more likely to report higher learning needs in classroom management for student behaviour (but the opposite is true in Portugal). Second-career teachers express higher learning needs in subject-matter pedagogy in Austria and Czechia, but the opposite is true in Kazakhstan and the United States. In the Flemish Community of Belgium second-career teachers express a higher learning need for subject matter content knowledge, but the opposite result holds in the United States.
← 4. Note that these numbers should be interpreted as a lower bound of the number of activities teachers actually participated in. TALIS in fact does not ask explicitly how many learning activities teachers attended, but whether or not they participated to any of ten different types of learning activities (those reported in Table 4.18). As a result, the number of activities, by construction can’t exceed ten.
← 5. Note that these are relative frequencies not reported in Table 4.12. They can be easily obtained by dividing the share of teachers who participated in a given activity virtually or on line by the total share of teachers who participated in that activity.
← 6. In the previous cycle of TALIS, conducted in 2018, 82% of teachers reported a positive impact on their teaching practices from their participation in continuous professional development activities (OECD, 2019, p. 160[25]). However, the data across the two cycles are not comparable, because of changes in how the question is formulated. In 2018, teachers were asked: Thinking of all of your professional development activities during the last 12 months, did any of these have a positive impact on your teaching practice?, to which they could answer either “Yes” or “No”. In 2024 the question read: Thinking of the professional learning activities in which you participated during the last 12 months, overall to what extent did they have a positive impact on your teaching?, to which they could answer “Not at all”, “To some extent”, “Quite a bit” or “A lot”.
← 7. See Chapter 2 for a more extended discussion, definition and analysis of teachers’ well-being and work-related stress, job satisfaction and fulfilment of lesson aims. For more information on the scales, see Annex B.
← 8. There are two composite scales at the teacher level: the scale of self-efficacy (overall) (T4SELF) and the scale of job satisfaction (overall) (T4JOBSAT). These two scales are standardised to have a standard deviation of two across all education systems participating in TALIS and a mean of ten.
← 9. Results presented in this section are mostly based on linear regression analysis. While the annex tables present regression coefficients, the text mostly expresses the estimated associations in terms of standard deviation changes in the scale (this is done by simply dividing the estimated coefficient by 2). This is meant to facilitate interpretation, as all associations are expressed on the same metric. For more information on the scales, see Annex B.
← 10. Higher values on the workplace well-being and stress scale reflect lower levels of well-being.