Results from TALIS 2024

Executive summary

The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) is the world’s largest survey of teachers and principals. Starting in 2008, TALIS has collected representative and comparable data about teaching and learning conditions around the world. The results from TALIS 2024 illustrate what is happening, what is working (and where) and what can be improved.

How teachers are doing

Despite the challenges of the last years, the teaching profession overall is strong. Almost 90% of teachers are satisfied with their jobs, which is a testament to their resilience and the support they receive. In South Africa, this share increased by almost 8 percentage points since 2018. In Colombia, 90% of teachers say they would become a teacher again.

It is important for teachers to feel valued by their communities. Teachers who feel valued are more motivated and their feelings reflect social and political commitments to education. Globally, teachers feel most valued in Viet Nam, where over 92% say they feel valued by society. Several education systems have made strides in boosting the perceived value of the teaching profession. Since, 2018, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria and Denmark have increased their share of teachers who feel valued by society by at least 19 percentage points.

Responding to a changing environment

Ageing populations and migration patterns have changed the demography of teachers in many education systems. The average age of teachers across the OECD is now 45 and in several systems it is over 50. In response, many governments are recruiting teachers from other sectors to ensure a sustainable supply of qualified educators. For example, second career teachers are now around 21% of the total teaching population in Iceland and 17% in Australia. These education systems have also made it easier for mid-career professionals to enter teaching. Roughly 47% of teachers in Australia and 27% of teachers in Iceland completed fast-track or specialised teaching training programmes.

One of the greatest changes in education are the tools that teachers use. Artificial intelligence has rapidly made its way into schools. Teachers and education systems have the responsibility to embrace this new technology while also protecting students against its harmful effects. Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are leading the way in this regard. Around 75% of teachers in these systems are using artificial intelligence. Importantly, teachers in these systems are also most likely to report having received professional learning in using artificial intelligence.

Managing demands

Demands are a normal part of professional life. However, if they become too difficult to manage, they can prevent teachers from helping students learn. The greatest demand on teachers is their workload. If teachers are spending excessive time working, that affects their well-being, job satisfaction and their effectiveness. In 2018, Japanese teachers worked almost 60 hours per week, the highest in the world. The government dedicated considerable resources to reducing workload and Japanese teachers now work around 55 hours per week.

It is important to recognise that demands are not experienced equally by teachers. Teachers’ confidence in their skills can help them manage the demands they face. Czechia offers a strong example of how building teachers’ self-efficacy can help them navigate challenges. Schools in Czechia experienced the largest increase of refugee students since 2018 – around 71% of schools now have at least one refugee, compared to 4% of schools in 2018. While adapting to this situation is certainly difficult from a classroom management perspective, Czech teachers with high self-efficacy actually report the lowest levels of stress related to maintaining classroom discipline.

Encouraging collaboration

The perception that most teachers work alone with dozens of students at a time no longer reflects reality. Worldwide, teaching is becoming a more co‑operative activity. In most education systems, teachers report spending more time on teamwork than in 2018 and in no system do they report spending less time. Collaboration not only helps improve student outcomes, but also teacher outcomes. In general, teachers who report collaborating more also have higher levels of job satisfaction and well-being. Full-time teachers in Uzbekistan and Brazil collaborate the most, spending at least five hours per week on teamwork and dialogue with colleagues. In Slovenia, Brazil and South Africa, teachers now spend at least one more hour per week on these activities compared to 2018.

Teachers with high levels of self-efficacy are a great resource for their fellow teachers. It is important for education systems to identify them and enable them to help their colleagues. In systems like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, 87% and almost 66% of teachers with high self-efficacy report observing other teachers’ lessons and providing feedback, respectively. In Shanghai (China), around 63% of teachers with high self-efficacy exchange teaching materials with colleagues, more than double the share of teachers with low self-efficacy who do so.

Supporting novice teachers

Being a novice teacher can be an intimidating experience. No amount of preparation can prepare one for the feeling of being directly responsible for hundreds of students. Given the specific challenges that novice teachers face, education systems should provide them with tailored support. A key ingredient is limiting their teaching workload so they have more time to prepare and learn. In Latvia and Costa Rica, for example, full-time novice teachers teach 4.2 fewer hours per week than their more experienced colleagues.

Mentorship can greatly ease the transition from initial teacher education to actual classroom teaching. TALIS data show that novice teachers who have mentors also have greater job satisfaction and well-being. Shanghai (China) is the global leader in teacher mentorship. Almost 79% of novice teachers report having an assigned mentor. Lithuania has made tremendous progress in this area and increased their share of novice teachers with mentors by 17 percentage points since 2018.

A final consideration is where novice teachers are teaching. Teacher allocation mechanisms often privilege seniority, which can place the least experienced teachers in the most difficult educational environments. These conditions can risk younger teachers becoming disenchanted with the profession and vulnerable students receiving inequitable education. Matching teaching resources with student needs in this manner is an area where education systems can improve. TALIS asked teachers if their classes have high shares of students who have difficulty understanding in the language of instruction. In no education system did experienced teachers answer “yes” more than novice teachers.