Category Archives: Scan

Teachers’ workloads, AI use, and the status of the teaching profession overall are among the key issues highlighted by the media sources that covered the recent release of OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024. In this second part of a two-part post, IEN rounds up some of the headlines that discuss the results for different countries. Part 1 provided a summary of OECD’s results, and Part 2 will For comparison, see previous coverage of the release of the results of TALIS 20218 (Volume 1; Volume 2).

Headlines around the world

Albania

Albania among top OECD countries in international teachers’ survey results, Albanian Telegraphic Agency

“…98% of Albanian teachers are satisfied with their profession, while only 3% experience high levels of stress—the lowest rate compared to the OECD average of 19%.”

Australia

Australian teachers are some of the highest users of AI in classrooms around the world, Yahoo News Australia

Australian teachers are among the world’s most stressed – despite low class time, The Advertiser

Australian teacher shortage among worst in the OECED, SchoolNews.com

“Australia is now among the top three OECD countries for teacher shortages in public schools. That is unacceptable for a wealthy, developed nation.”

Austria

New teachers hardly feel prepared for everyday school, Vol.at

Belgium

Teachers report high stress due to administrative burden, Belganewsagency.eu

“A striking 70 percent of lower secondary school teachers in Belgium report stress from too much administrative work, far above the OECD average.”

Canada – Alberta

Alberta teachers report highest stress levels globally, CityNews Calgary

Costa Rica

AI surges in Costa Rican schools ahead of official policy, TicosLand

“Artificial intelligence, in this particular case, can likely contribute significantly to reducing the teacher’s workload. Because if it is used appropriately and efficiently, it can streamline many processes such as receiving information, reviewing in-class assignments, grading exams, and organizing activities.”

Croatia

Croatian teachers among the most education, however, the workload is constantly increasing, PortalHr

Czechia

Young teachers are disappearing: Why is the profession uninteresting even though salaries are improving, Iustecko.cz

“Despite higher satisfaction with salaries, the profession suffers from low social recognition. Only 22% of teachers feel that society values ​​their work, and only 15% of educators perceive recognition from political representation.”

Estonia

Study: Nearly half of teachers plan to change jobs in the coming years, ERR

Finland

TALIS 2024: Lower secondary teachers are satisfied with their work — Increasing diversity in schools challenges teachers to learn new skills, Valtioneuvosto

“The growing diversity in schools and the increasing need for student support are reflected in teachers’ professional learning needs. Areas for development included using artificial intelligence, teaching students with special education needs, supporting students’ social and emotional development, and teaching in multicultural or multilingual settings.”

France

Teaching in France: a despised and increasingly difficult profession on TALIS 2024 Survey, cafepedagogique.net

Hungary

Hungarian teachers report rising satisfaction and greater autonomy, OCED TALIS survey shows, The Hungarian Conservative

Iceland

Almost all teachers satisfied with jobs — but pay worries persist, RUV.is

“Icelandic teachers are among the most dissatisfied with their pay: only 19% are content with their salaries, compared with an average of one third across the OECD.”

Israel

Israeli teachers satisfied but face staffing crisis, The Jerusalem Post

Japan

Japan’s teachers work longest hours among OECED peers, Nikkei Asia

Latvia

Half of new teachers in Latvia could leave the profession within five years, Baltic News Network

“Half — or 53% — of new teachers in Latvia may leave the profession within the next five years, according to the initial results of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey.”

Lithuania

Most Lithuanian teachers higher confident, happy with their working conditions, The Baltic Times

New Zealand

Initial teaching training needs strengthening, The National Tribune

OCED TALIS 2024: NZ teachers lack confidence in core teaching skills, gov’t acts, Devdiscourse

“Education Minister Erica Stanford acknowledged the findings, noting that 62% of graduate teachers lack confidence in teaching the content of all the subjects they handle, and 54% are unsure of how to teach these subjects effectively using proper pedagogical approaches.”

Portugal

Portugal faces an urgent need for 38,000 new teachers by 2034, Cnedu.pt

Portuguese teachers among the most satisfied in the OECED, Portugal Pulse

Singapore

Global survey finds Singapore teachers spend less time teaching and marking, but work longer hours, The Straights Times

3 in 4 Singapore teachers use AI, more than double overseas peers: OCED Survey, The Straights Times

South Korea

Over half Korean teachers identify parental complaints as major source of stress, Korea JoongAng Daily

South Korean teachers top OECD in career regret due to stress, The Chosun Daily

“It has been found that the stress South Korean teachers experience due to parental complaints and students’ verbal violence is among the highest globally.”

Spain

Almost half of the secondary school teachers in the State believe that initial training is not adequate, Diari ARA

Spain is one of the countries where the fewest teachers consider leaving the profession, Sur in English

Sweden

Swedish Teachers Report Job Satisfaction Despite Stress and Challenges, Sweden Herald

“Nine out of ten upper secondary school teachers like their job, and the proportion who expect to stay in the profession has increased. But Swedish teachers also testify to stress and chaos.”

United States

For teachers, work-life boundaries are harder to keep than ever, Education Week

“[N]early 30% of U.S. teachers report frequent on-the-job stress, compared to less than 20% for OECD countries on average. U.S. teachers were also more likely to report that teaching had taken a toll on their mental and physical health. U.S. lower secondary teachers worked on average more than 45 hours a week in 2024, nearly five hours more than the OECD average.”

90% of teachers around the world say they are satisfied with their jobs, but many also face an increased workload that challenges their work life balance. In this two part post, IEN explores these and other findings from OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024. Part 1 provides a summary of OECD’s results, and Part 2 will round up some of the headlines that highlight the results from different countries. For comparison, see previous coverage of the release of the results of TALIS 20218 (Volume 1; Volume 2).

“Most teachers are happy in their jobs,” declared the OECD, but demographic and technological changes contribute to increasing demands on teachers around the world.  Those are two of the take-aways from the report on the results of the 2024 TALIS survey. Launched first in 2008 with a survey of 23 countries, OECD has also carried out the survey of teachers and school leaders in 2013 and 2018 to compare educator’s perceptions, working conditions, and learning environments. In 2024, around 280,000 educators from 55 education systems participated in the survey. Among the other key findings in 2024:

Job satisfaction

On average, almost 9 out of 10 teachers report that they are satisfied with their jobs.

• In South Africa, teacher satisfaction has risen by 8% since 2018
• In Colombia, 90% of teachers say they would become a teacher again.

Value of the teaching profession

Around 2 out of 3 teachers say they are valued by parents and guardians, but with significant variations:

• Over 90% of teachers feel valued in Vietnam Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan
• Less than 50% of teachers feel valued in French-speaking Belgium, Croatia, France, and Japan
• Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria and Denmark have increased the share of teachers who feel valued by almost 20%

Age

The average age of teachers across the OECD is 45 years-old, but:

• More than half of teachers are 50 or older in Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania
• The average age of teachers is 38 or 39 in Türkiye, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan

Workload and stress

Roughly half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress

• The share of female teachers reporting stress “a lot” in their work is 21% compared to 15% for male teachers.
• Japanese teachers work almost 55 hours a week (down from 60 hours a week in 2018, the highest in the world).
• Teachers’ sources of stress are more closely linked to constant, unsupported change than to resource shortages

The amount of time spent maintaining discipline has increased in almost all education systems since 2018

• About 1 in 5 five teachers, on average, report significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms.
• More than half of teachers in Brazil report such disruptions, compared to about a third of teachers in Chile, Finland, Portugal and South Africa
• Less than 5% of teachers in in Albania, Japan and Shanghai (China) report facing such disruptions

Preparation

Almost 4 out of 5 teachers participated in regular teacher preparation programs to obtain their initial qualification, but:

• More than half of teachers in Australia, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Romania, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, do not follow the regular path through teacher education
• Almost half of teachers in Australia and almost a third of teachers in Iceland completed “fast-track” or specialized teacher education program

Teacher evaluation and support

Almost 90% of teachers work in schools where they are formally evaluated at least once a year by school leaders, and:

• 65% of teachers are engaged in post-evaluations discussions about how to improve their teaching.
• Slightly less than half of teachers are offered “development or training” plans, ranging from over 90% of teachers in Bahrain and Kazakhstan to under 15% in Iceland.
• A little over 10% of teachers participate in programs where they are offered financial incentives and less than 5% participate in programs that include potential sanctions.

Almost half of teachers’ report that being held responsible for students’ achievement is a source of significant stress:

• Over 70% of teachers in Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and South Africa report such stress
•  Less than a third of teachers in Finland, Hungary, Iceland and Kazakhstan report this stress

Roughly 20% of teachers, on average, participate in mentorship programs: 

• Almost 80% of teachers in Shanghai (China) report having an assigned mentor and over 60% of teachers with high self-efficacy report exchanging materials with peers, more than double the percentage of teachers with low
• In systems like Uzbekistan over two-thirds of teachers with high self-efficacy report observing other teachers’ classes and providing feedback

AI and online learning

1 in 3 teachers, on average, report using AI in their work:

• Roughly three-quarters of teachers in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) use AI
• Fewer than 20% of teachers in France and Japan use AI

Over 15% of teachers, on average, work in schools where at least one class was taught hybrid, but:

• Over 80% of teachers in Singapore, and over 45% of teachers in Israel and the UAE report working schools where at least one class was taught hybrid or online

Next week: High satisfaction, high demands, and changing demographics: Scanning the headlines on the results of the TALIS 2024 (Part 2)