Effective teaching and teachers are key to producing high performing students. TALIS is the first international programme to focus on the learning environment and the working conditions of teachers in schools. TALIS fills important information gaps in the international comparisons of education systems. It offers an opportunity for teachers and school principals to give their input into education analysis and policy development in some key policy areas. Cross-country analysis from TALIS allows countries to identify other countries facing similar challenges and to learn from other policy approaches.
4. INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT
Learning
Resources Teaching
outcomes
Students Learning
Attainment
4
5. PROCESS
School
OUTPUT
INPUT
Teachers Black box Leadership
Parents
Stakeholders
5
6. TALIS within EDU
• OECD/EDU has a lot of knowledge on
– Input
– Outputs: attainment level, learning outcomes
• And some knowledge on
– School characteristics
– Teaching workforce
– Leadership
• But very little knowledge
– On what actually happens in the ‘black box’ of the
teaching/learning interaction
6
7. TALIS brief
• International survey of teachers and principals
• Goal: Fill key international (and national) data
gaps:
– Teachers
– Teaching
– The impact that teachers can have on student
learning
• Representative samples
– 200 schools; 20 teachers
– Randomly selected
7
9. Overview of TALIS 2008
• School year 2007-08
• Teachers and principals of lower secondary
education
• Focus - Policies and practices to support
effective teaching and learning:
– Appraisal of teachers and feedback to teachers
– Teaching practices, attitudes and beliefs
– School leadership
– Professional development of teachers
9
10. Coverage: 24 Countries
• Australia • Iceland • Netherlands
• Austria • Ireland • Norway
• Belgium (Fl) • Italy • Poland
• Brazil • Korea • Portugal
• Bulgaria • Lithuania • Spain
• Denmark • Malta • Slovak
• Estonia • Malaysia Republic
• Hungary • Mexico • Slovenia
• Turkey
10
12. TALIS 2008 Outputs
• One general report:
Creating Effective
Teaching and Learning
Environments (2009)
• Three thematic reports:
– Teachers’ professional
development (EC)
– Experience of new
teachers
– Teaching practices and
innovation in schools
12
13. Teachers’
belief in their
own
effectiveness
Conditions
for effective
learning
Classroom
Job
climate &
satisfaction
discipline
Conditions for effective learning
13
15. Country means of teacher self-
efficacy and job satisfaction
3.5
3.4
Norway
Belgium (Fl.)
3.3
Austria
Job satisfaction
3.2
Denmark
Slovenia
Ireland Iceland
Spain Malta Italy
Malaysia
3.1 Poland
Korea Bulgaria
Estonia Portugal Turkey
Mexico Australia
3.0 Brazil Lithuania
Slovak Republic
2.9
Hungary
2.8
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0
Self -efficacy: standardised factor scores
16. The quality of the classroom
environment
90
Percentage of lesson time spent
Bulgaria
Estonia
Hungary
teaching and learning
85
Slovak Republic Slovenia
Lithuania
Norway Denmark Poland Ireland
80
Spain Malta
Korea Belgium (Fl.) Austria
Portugal Turkey
Italy
75 Australia
Iceland
Malaysia
Mexico
70
Brazil
65
60
-0.60 -0.40 -0.20 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60
Classroom disciplinary climate: mean standardised factor score
17. Teachers’
beliefs about
teaching and
learning
Improving
teaching
practices
Teachers’ Teaching
professional practices
activities used
Teaching practices and beliefs
17
18. Teachers’ beliefs about the nature
of teaching and learning
Direct transmission beliefs
Ipsative Constructivist beliefs
means
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
19. 0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
-1.5
-1.0
-0.5
Denmark
Norway
Iceland
Malaysia
Turkey
Poland
Mexico
Brazil
Enhanced teaching activities
Austria
Structuring teaching practices
Australia
Korea
Slovak Republic
Estonia
Spain
Slovenia
Belgium (Fl.)
Lithuania
Portugal
Italy
Bulgaria
Teachers’ teaching practices
Malta
Student-oriented teaching practices
Hungary
Ireland
20. Frequency
& type of
teacher
feedback
Supporting
high quality
teaching
Impact of Recognition
teacher for good
feedback teaching
Teacher appraisal and feedback
20
21. Impact of teacher feedback
A development plan to improve teaching Emphasis placed on improving student test scores
Teaching students with special learning needs Teaching in a multicultural setting
%
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Norway
Australia
Malaysia
Korea
Estonia
Brazil
Slovenia
TALIS Average
Austria
Denmark
Mexico
Bulgaria
Poland
Malta
Hungary
Portugal
Spain
Italy
Belgium (Fl.)
Lithuania
Turkey
Slovak Republic
Ireland
Iceland
22. Teachers’ perceptions of feedback
outcome
60 Teachers would receive rewards for improved
teaching quality
50
Teachers would receive rewards for innovative
40 teaching
30
20
10
0
Belgium…
Slovak…
TALIS…
Poland
Estonia
Hungary
Slovenia
Spain
Denmark
Iceland
Australia
Malta
Ireland
Norway
Bulgaria
Lithuania
Malaysia
Italy
Mexico
Brazil
Turkey
Portugal
Austria
Korea
22
23. Teachers’ perceptions of feedback
outcome
Principal would take steps to alter rewards of a persistently underperforming
teacher
Teachers will be dismissed because of sustained poor performance
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Belgium…
Slovak…
TALIS…
Austria
Norway
Denmark
Slovenia
Hungary
Poland
Iceland
Lithuania
Australia
Ireland
Malta
Malaysia
Bulgaria
Brazil
Spain
Estonia
Mexico
Korea
Italy
Portugal
Turkey
24. Types &
amount of
professional
development
Supporting
high quality
teaching
Impact of
Needs and
professional
barriers
development
In-service teacher professional
development and training
24
25. Comparison of the level and intensity of
participation in professional development
40 TALIS Average
Average days of professional development
Mexico
35
Italy Korea
30 Bulgaria Poland
Spain
25
Portugal
Brazil
20
TALIS Average
15 Hungary
Turkey Iceland Estonia
Denmark Lithuania
Malaysia Austria
10 Norway Australia
Slovak Republic Belgium (Fl.)
undertaken
Slovenia
Ireland Malta
5
0
70 75 80 85 90 95 100
Percentage of teachers undertaking professional
development
26. 10
20
0
70
50
80
30
40
60
90
Mexico
Brazil
Malaysia
Portugal
Norway
Bulgaria
Spain
Korea
Italy
Australia
TALIS average
Ireland
Estonia
Turkey
Denmark
Lithuania
Austria
Poland
Malta
Slovak Republic
Hungary
participate in more development
Iceland
Slovenia
Percentage of teachers who wanted to
27
Belgium (Fl.)
27. Percentage of teachers reporting a high
level of professional development need
%
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Special ICT teaching Student Student Teaching in a
learning needs skills discipline counselling multicultural
setting
28
30. TALIS is growing!
33 confirmed countries - new in green
Confirmed
Australia France Poland
Belgium (Fl.) Iceland Portugal
Brazil Israel Romania
Bulgaria Italy Serbia
Canada (Alberta) Japan Singapore
Chile Korea Slovak Republic
Croatia Latvia Spain
Czech Republic Malaysia Sweden
Denmark Mexico UK (England)
Estonia Netherlands UAE (Abu Dhabi)
Finland Norway USA
31
31. Innovations in TALIS 2013
• Wider coverage: Elementary and upper
secondary level options (ISCED 1 and 3)
• Linking to student outcomes: Optional school-
level link to PISA 2012
• Getting closer to teaching practices: Pilot video
study of teaching practices
32
32. International Options
ISCED 1 ISCED 3 PISA link
Belgium (Fl.) Australia Australia
Denmark Denmark Finland
Finland Finland Latvia
Mexico Iceland Mexico
Norway Italy Portugal
Poland Mexico Romania
Norway Spain
Singapore Singapore
Abu Dhabi
Poland
33
33. TALIS 2013 Content
Countries’
stated
priorities
Trends Furthering
between findings from
TALIS 1st round and
rounds PISA
Proposed
content
34
34. TALIS 2013: Purpose & Dimensions
Information on teaching
workforce and conditions of
TALIS goal: Increase the teaching
international information
available to OECD countries
on teachers, teaching, and
the impact that teachers can Increased emphasis on how
have on student learning these conditions affect the
pedagogical aspects of
teachers’ work, as well as
schools’ and teachers’
effectiveness
35
35. Main Themes
Initial teacher training
Induction, mentoring, and professional
development
Appraisal and feedback
School climate
School leadership
Teaching practices and beliefs, student
assessment
• Mathematics module
36
36. Some New Indicators
• School leadership: Distributed leadership
• Principal PD
• Initial teacher training and how well it prepares
for teaching
• Access to induction and mentoring
• School climate: Parent-teacher and parent-
school relations
37
37. Some New Indicators (cont.)
• Teachers’ beliefs about student assessment
practices
• Profile of student assessment practices
• Profile of teaching practices in mathematics
38
38. Why a link to PISA 2012?
Provide a context for
teacher and principal
responses
Benefits of PISA
link for TALIS
Allow policy issues to be
analysed in the context
of student performance
and equity
39
39. Opportunities for policy analysis
Examine associations between teacher and
school professional practices with student
outcomes at the school level. For example:
How is the academic profile of students in school related
to teachers’ :
– stated needs for professional development?
– likelihood of participating in in-service training?
– evaluation of the impact of their training on their
work?
40
40. Video study
• Why?
– To get closer to the quality of teachers and
teaching and to obtain more objective
information on teaching practices.
• Status:
– Planning stage to lead to a proposal in 2012 for a
3-year pilot study
41
41. TALIS 2013 Timeline
Activity Date
Pilot August - September 2011
Field trial March/April 2012
Main study- Southern Hemisphere Sept-December 2012
Main study- Northern Hemisphere March-May 2013
Initial report June 2014
42
Classroom climate not only has been shown to affect student outcomes and attainment but is a prominent policy issue. Student behaviour and the creation of a safe and productive learning environment can be a challenging dimension of teachers’ work. How successful teachers feel they are with regard to their students’ education can be linked to productivity and can influence people’s actions in the workplace. When teachers envisage effective teaching as a skill that can be acquired, this feeling of self-efficacy can help them better analyse and solve problems. Conversely, those teachers confronting a low feeling of self-efficacy can experience self-doubt and become preoccupied with evaluative concerns if efforts proved unsuccessful.Of course each one of these factors is influenced by many others – some of which were included in TALIS. We will examine them in turn.
Percentage of teachers whose school principal considered the following student behaviours to hinder instruction “a lot” or “to some extent” in their school.1 teacher in 4 in most countries losses at least 30% of lesson time because of disruptive student behaviour or administrative tasks.
Teachers in the same school vary in terms of job satisfaction and belief in their effectiveness.
TALIS also offers important insights into teaching practices. Many factors can influence teaching practices in the classroom and many of the themes explored in TALIS are important contributors. In this section, I focus specifically on the beliefs and practices reported by teachers. Teachers who hold stronger beliefs about teaching methods, report more collaborative behaviour with colleagues and report more positive teacher-student relations feel more effectiveTo improve teaching practice, teachers need first to become aware of how their own practice can be improved, and this requires principals, colleagues and support systems that help them in their diagnosis. And it is not just about building awareness of what they do, but also about the mindset underlying it. Teachers then need to gain a good understanding of specific best practice, which can generally only be achieved through the demonstration of such practices in authentic settings. Last but not least, individual teachers need to be motivated to make the necessary improvements.this also requires a deeper change that goes beyond material incentives and can only come about when teachers have high expectations, a shared sense of purpose, and above all, a collective belief in their common ability to make a difference to the education of the children they serve.
Two alternative views of teaching emphasise, on the one hand, the teacher’s role in transmitting knowledge and providing correct solutions, and on the other, the teacher’s role as a facilitator of active learning by students who seek out solutions for themselves. This “constructivist” view of teaching generally has more support among the teachers surveyed than the former “direct transmission” view.Teachers tend to be more inclined to see their role as supporting active learning rather than directly transmitting information. In Bulgaria and Italy, this preference in a constructivist approach is less marked than in other countries like Iceland and Australia.
Nevertheless, structured practices are more common than student-oriented practices, or project work.We see that teachers are using traditional practices aimed at transmitting knowledge in structured settings much more often than they use student-oriented practices, such as adapting teaching to individual needs. The factors that prevent teachers from putting their beliefs about teaching into practice require further investigation but this may nevertheless be a source of frustration for teachers. Changing this balance holds they key to improving learning outcomes.
TALIS also shows that we need more effective mechanisms to assess and reward good teaching in ways that motivates teachers. While the majority of teachers receive feedback from their school principals, from other teachers or from an external body at least once a year, there are still nearly one in 4 (22%) teachers who report that they never receive feedback from their school principal, nearly a third (29%) who report that they never receive feedback from other teachers, and a half (51%) who report that they never receive feedback from an external individual or body. TALIS also shows that, on average across countries, just under one-third of teachers across TALIS countries worked in schools that had not seen an external evaluation in the last five years and one-fifth worked in schools that had not even conducted a self-evaluation. TALIS shows that in schools that are not evaluated, teachers are less likely to benefit from appraisal or feedback.
Feedback is not just a bureaucratic exercise but a powerful lever for improvement. This chart shows you the percentage of teachers who report that the appraisal and feedback they received led to a moderate or large change in their development and training plan, shown here by the light yellow bar, the emphasis teachers place on improving student test scores, shown by the orange bar, their approach to teaching students with special needs, shown here by the blue dot, or their teaching of students in multi-cultural settings, shown by the red dot. The generally positive reception by teachers of the appraisal and feedback which they receive on their work indicates a willingness in the profession to move forward. All this shows that it is possible to overcome concerns about such practices.Another piece of good news is that most teachers report that the feedback they receive is fair and helpful for their work and that it increases their job satisfaction and their development as teachers.
We can do better in ensuring that good teaching is recognised.On average across countries, three-quarters of teachers report that they would receive no recognition for increasing the quality of their teaching, shown here by the blue bars, or for being more innovative in their teaching, shown by the grey bars.
Poor teaching also goes largely unheeded. In most countries, few teachers think that a persistently underperforming teacher will face a pay cut, shown by the blue bar, or risk being dismissed, shown by the grey bar. It will be worth for many countries to re-think the incentive structures for teachers. An appraisal system and a career structure that focuses upon and promotes innovation and effectiveness would better assist school improvement programmes and efforts to increase school effectiveness. I am saying this because TALIS shows that the appraisal and feedback which teachers receive is mirrored in the beliefs in their own teaching abilities. The more feedback they receive on specific aspects of their work, the more they trust in their abilities to address the respective teaching challenges. In a number of countries teachers also report higher levels of self-efficacy when they had received public recognition for the improvements and innovations in connection with the appraisal or when innovative practices were part of appraisal and feedback. These are things that do not cost much money but can make a difference.
Education systems seek to provide teachers with opportunities for on-going professional development to fully prepare them for their work and to retain a high-quality teacher workforce. TALIS examined the take-up of professional development, the degree of unsatisfied demand for development and the factors that support or hinder meeting development needs.
Nearly nine teachers in ten report taking part in a structured professional development activity during the 18 months preceding the survey.
Despite the high participation rates there is a high percentage of teachers reporting that they would have liked to receive more development than they did.
Teachers’ demand for more professional development appears concentrated in certain areas. In particular, one teacher in three reports a high level of need for teaching students with special learning needs. This indicates a serious issue in terms of teachers’ capacity to deal with heterogeneous learning groups.
Some reasons cited as barriers for participating in PD include the following.
The proposed content and policy focus for TALIS 2013 attempts to integrate in a coherent fashion countries’ stated wish to investigate trends between the first two rounds of TALIS while incorporating new material that will allow to examine further findings from the first round of TALIS and previous PISA cycles while addressing countries’ stated priorities, as per the analysis of the priority rating exercise.
Since its inception as a component of the INES programme, the main goal of the TALIS programme has been to increase the international information available to OECD countries on teachers, teaching, and the impact that teachers can have on student learning. The first round of TALIS has succeeded in fulfilling this goal, especially as it pertains to filling gaps in the international (and national) evidence base on the teaching workforce, the conditions of teaching, and also provided a first insight on teachers’ beliefs, attitudes and practices.TALIS 2013 aims to provide participating countries with an internationally comparative perspective that complements information on the teaching workforce and conditions of teaching with an increased emphasis on how these conditions affect the pedagogical aspects of teachers’ work, as well as schools’ and teachers’ effectiveness. In doing so, TALIS 2013 will provide insights into some of the factors that help to understand school level differences in learning outcomes that the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has revealed. Indeed, an ultimate objective is for the TALIS programme and PISA to become increasingly interlinked to allow for a more nuanced analysis of the impact that teachers have on student outcomes.It is proposed that these form the two main dimensions of TALIS 2013. The main themes and indicators will fall within the following these two dimensions and relationships between these dimensions (and with background information about the teaching workforce) will be investigated
Benefits for TALISThe most important benefit the PISA connection could bring to TALIS is a greater understanding of the variation in teacher attitudes, beliefs and practices. In other words, the linkage could provide a context for teacher and principal responses in TALIS where student characteristics become also relevant. PISA includes valuable information on the socio-economic status (SES), performance, and views on the school climate and the learning environment of the student population within schools. This will allow the policy issues that are the objectives of TALIS to be analysed in the context of student performance and equity. The link would allow for the investigation of the relationship between the instructional environment in the schools of 15-year-olds and other school-level factors such as the ethnic and social composition of the student population. For example, it would permit analysis of the variation in use of different instructional practices, school leadership and teacher training between high and low SES and high and low performing PISA schools. The link could also address how the instructional environment relates to student engagement and participation.Benefits for PISAFurthermore, teacher information collected in TALIS can strengthen the knowledge base about school-level variables in PISA and include new variables related to principals, teachers and conditions of teaching. Currently, there is no dedicated teacher questionnaire in PISA. The inclusion of TALIS data would be relevant in the analysis of issues such as school climate, school leadership, professional consensus and parental involvement within schools. Difficulties arise in analysing these issues without information from teachers. This would improve the measurement of the instructional environment in schools.
An important goal of TALIS is to provide a comprehensive appreciation of teachers, teaching and learning as they shape learning outcomes. A survey approach, though valuable, can only partly address the data gaps that countries want to fill. To progress towards this goal, TALIS needs to get closer to the quality of teachers and teaching and to obtain more objective information on teaching practices. A first round of TALIS gave some tantalising glimpses about preferred and actual teaching practices but it is clear that much more could be learned through more direct observation of classroom activities. This lead to the development of the idea to include an international video study of teaching practices component to the next round of TALIS.The need for such a study today is similar to what it was a decade ago when TIMSS was conducted: to build new understandings of teaching, and how teaching relates to learning outcomes of the sort measured by the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).