16/06/09 - Three out of four teachers feel they lack incentives to improve the quality of their teaching, while bad behaviour by students in the classroom disrupts lessons in three schools out of five, according to a new OECD report.
Based on the new Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), the report, Creating effective teaching and learning environments, provides for the first time internationally comparable data on conditions affecting teachers in schools in 23 participating countries.
Its main policy lesson is that education authorities need to provide more effective incentives for teachers. Many countries make no link between appraisal of teachers’ performance and the rewards and recognition that they receive, and even where there are such links they are often not very strong.
Among the findings of the report are that:
Overall, the survey indicates, educational planners could do more to support teachers and improve the performance of students if both the public and policy makers focused less on control over resources and educational content and more on learning outcomes.
School authorities need to move away from the “hit and miss” policies of the past that still characterise too many national school systems in order to develop a more scientific approach to policies based on best practice and universal high standards, Mr. Gurría said.
“This means moving from uniformity in systems to embracing diversity and individualising teaching and learning,” Mr. Gurría said. “It means moving from managing inputs and a bureaucratic approach to education and towards a system of devolved responsibilities and school leadership that enables teachers. In short, it means moving from talking about equity in terms of educational provision, to delivering equity in terms of outcomes.”
TALIS is the new OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), . It is the first international survey to focus on the learning environment and the working conditions of teachers in schools. It looks at issues affecting teachers and their performance, seen through the eyes of school principals and the teachers themselves. In doing so, it aims to fill important information gaps in the international comparisons of education systems.
For full details of the publication and how to obtain it, go to www.oecd.org/edu/talis/firstresults
For further information, journalists may contact:
Nicholas Bray +33607478582 Nicholas.BRAY@oecd.org
at the European Commission, John Macdonald +3222955267 John.MACDONALD@ec.europa.eu