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Teacher effectiveness hampered by lack of incentives and bad behaviour in the classroom
17 juni 2009

Three out of four teachers feel that 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 prepared with the support of the European Commission.

The report is based on the new Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and provides, for the first time, internationally comparable data on conditions affecting teachers in schools based on survey findings in 23 participating countries.

Launching the report, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría insisted on the need to push for better teacher performance. "High-quality teachers are key to the successful implementation of education policies," he said. "The bottom line is that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers and their work."

The European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, Ján Figel', added: "There are an estimated 6¼ million teachers in the EU, and they need all the help that education authorities can give them to provide the right kind of teaching in our rapidly changing classroom environments. This requires determination and commitment by policy makers to support our teachers, not only in enhancing their training, but also in improving their working conditions."

Policy lessons

The main policy lesson from the report 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.

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.

Background

TALIS is the new OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey. 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.

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