Teaching And Learning International Survey Research Articles

Teacher and school stress profiles: A multilevel examination and associations with work-related outcomes

We examined three common sources of teacher stress (workload, student behavior, expectation stress) to identify teacher and school profiles. Data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 were used (n = 3117 teachers from 255 Australian schools). Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed five teacher profiles: Low-Burden (17%), Mixed-Burden-Workload (15%), Mixed-Burden-Behavior (19%), Average-Burden (41%), and High-Burden (18%). Multilevel LPA identified three school profiles: Lower Pressure Climate (Workload) (17%), Lower Pressure Climate (Behavior) (23%), and Higher Pressure Climate (59%). The profiles were associated differently with background characteristics and work-related outcomes (strain, occupational commitment). Findings provide directions for efforts to support teachers.

What does the evidence say? The landscapes of professional development of teachers in elementary and junior high schools

<p>教師專業發展是提升教師素質與教學專業的關鍵。國際組織和世界各國陸續提出有關教師專業發展的政策、方案或措施，期能確保教學專業，增進學生學習成就。本研究運用經濟合作暨發展組織進行的《國際教學與學習調查》資料，以TALIS 2018數據為基礎，進行次級資料的解讀與分析，探討臺灣國民中小學教師專業發展的樣貌。研究發現：（一）國民中小學教師普遍參與專業發展活動，其參與類型是以專題研討、參與教師社群、教育議題介紹等活動居多，而較少進行與證照取得有關的專業學習活動。（二）國民中小學教師專業發展的內容是以學科知識、學科教學知識、課程知識為主，而對於跨文化溝通、文化回應教學議題則較少參與。（三）國民中小學教師專業發展的效應展現在建立專業知識、促進專業協作、教學實踐應用等方面，但卻未能促進教學專業的永續發展。（四）國民中小學教師專業發展的阻礙主要是來自於工作忙碌、時間不足、缺乏誘因、沒有適切的專業發展活動等等。整體來看，臺灣國民中小學教師專業發展並不亞於TALIS調查的平均水準。不過，教師專業發展在臺灣的實踐，仍有其薄弱環節與問題尚待克服。據此，臺灣國民中小學教師專業發展政策之推展，必須持續創造教師協作及網絡連結的文化氛圍，加強教師跨文化溝通素養與文化回應教學能力，重視教師專業發展成效評估與永續發展，以及建構完善的教師專業發展支持系統。</p> <p> </p><p>Teacher professional development is the key to improving teacher quality and teaching profession. International organizations and countries around the world have proposed policies, programs, or strategies related to the professional development of teachers. This study employed data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Based on TALIS 2018 evidence, it analyzed the landscapes of professional development of teachers in elementary and junior high schools in Taiwan. The research results are as follows. (1) The types of professional development of teachers include thematic seminars, participation in teacher communities, and introduction of educational issues, but less professional learning activities are related to obtaining licenses. (2) The contents of professional development of teachers are subject knowledge, subject teaching knowledge, and curriculum knowledge, and they have less participation in cross-cultural communication and culturally responsive teaching issues. (3) The effects of professional development of teachers are shown in the establishment of professional knowledge, promotion of professional collaboration, and application of teaching practice, but these have failed to promote the sustainable development of the teaching profession. (4) The obstacles to the professional development of teachers mainly come from busy work, insufficient time, lack of incentive, and no appropriate professional development activities. Overall, the professional development of teachers in Taiwan is no less than that in the countries participating in the TALIS survey, but there are still weak points and problems to be overcome. Based on these results, the policy and practice of teacher professional development in Taiwan should help create a cultural climate of teacher collaboration and network connection, and strengthen the cultivation of cross-cultural communication literacy and cultural response teaching competency of teachers. Furthermore, effectiveness evaluation and sustainable development should be emphasized, and support systems for teacher professional development should be built.</p> <p> </p>

Working Conditions Influencing Junior School Principalship as a Satisfying Profession: A Cross-Country Comparative Study

Although prior studies have extensively investigated the effect of working conditions upon professional satisfaction, the cross-national variance in the effect remains largely understudied due to technical or financial restrictions. The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) provides an opportunity to investigate the cross-country differences in the impact of working conditions upon principals’ professional satisfaction. The current study attempts to investigate the overall and specific effects of principals’ workplace environment satisfaction, rewards satisfaction, and workload stress on their professional satisfaction in 47 countries included in the TALIS 2018. The results indicate that workplace environment, rather than the typically regarded effort-reward issues, is the most powerful contributor to individual principals’ professional satisfaction across 47 countries, while, in countries with low overall professional satisfaction, rewards satisfaction and workload stress are more powerful predictors for principals’ professional satisfaction on the country level. This study may inform policymakers in school principal stimulation and retention that effective practice to stimulate and/or retain school principals may vary across countries and research findings derived from data on the individual level may not be applicable to practice on the country level.

Impacts of classroom teaching practices on students’ mathematics learning interest, mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics test achievements: a secondary analysis of Shanghai data from the international video study Global Teaching InSights

Teaching effectiveness is a core issue in educational research; however, there is little consensus about the most important results of classroom teaching from an international perspective. The effectiveness of teaching has remained a ‘black box’ for a long time. In the secondary study described in this paper we used empirical data for Shanghai taken from the international Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) study Global Teaching InSights (GTI)—initially the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Video Study—which was based on videotaped direct observations of classroom teaching. Eighty-five junior high school mathematics teachers and their students in Shanghai were observed to explore the impact of specific teaching practices on students’ interest, self-efficacy, and mathematics achievement scores. The results revealed that social-emotional support and instruction quality were the key dimensions relating to the characteristics and differences of mathematics lessons in Shanghai. While the former had a significantly positive impact on students’ general mathematics self-efficacy, the latter had a significantly positive impact on students’ mathematics interest. Although specific teaching practices had no significant direct impact on students’ mathematics achievement scores, social-emotional support and instruction quality considerably influenced students’ academic performance in an indirect way via general self-efficacy.

Characteristics of the Authority Basis of Icelandic Compulsory School Principals in Comparison to Other TALIS Countries

The purpose of this paper is to explore the authority basis of compulsory school principals in Iceland by making a general comparison to the other participating countries in the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, as well as by using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory. The study utilizes data from principals in 48 of the countries that participated in the TALIS 2018. The authority bases of the principals and of the other governing agents are explored with regard to the key task areas, which range from managerial to curriculum tasks. The authority basis of the principals and the other agents in Iceland has commonalities with most of the other Nordic countries, as well as with Baltic countries, Anglophone countries (except for Canada (Alberta)), and with many Eastern European countries. On the basis of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model, Iceland is “individualist”, with a low “power distance”, and it allocates more responsibility to the principals and to the other school agents at the school level than it does to the authorities. The major implication of this study for the Icelandic context is the need to enhance and strengthen the role of the school boards in terms of the professional support for principals.

Identifying information friction in teacher professional development: insights from teacher-reported need and satisfaction

ABSTRACT Professional Development (PD) is regarded a critical channel through which teacher instructional effectiveness improves. However, research shows that teacher discontent with PD is widespread. Bridging literature in organisational decision and labour economics, this study theorises that variation in how schools collect, process and respond to information on teacher needs can influence the degree of information friction in PD provision. Applying a two-step empirical analysis to the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 and 2018 United States sample (n = 4,336), findings reveal that teachers demonstrate high levels of concentrated PD need, yet schools do not meet these reported needs. Regression analysis results show that those schools demonstrating higher degrees of plurality in leadership and school autonomy are more effective in addressing teacher needs, while the effect of principal-staff interaction is more complex. Findings contribute new evidence on information friction in teacher PD provisionand identify effective management means in addressing information problems in school settings.

Impact of School Population Composition, Workload, and Teachers’ Utility Values on Teaching Quality: Insights From the Dutch TALIS-2018 Data

Several studies show that teaching quality is an important predictor of students’ academic achievement. However, less is known about factors that are important for teaching quality. In the present study, it was hypothesized that school population composition [i.e., students’ socioeconomic status (SES) and migration background], workload, and teachers’ utility values toward teaching would be important factors related to their teaching quality. The Dutch Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 was explored (N = 1,884, secondary school teachers and 116 school leaders) to test our hypotheses. Data gathering followed a two-step procedure. Firstly, 200 schools were randomly selected. Secondly, 20 teachers within each school were randomly selected. Multi-item scales operationalized teaching quality on teachers’ self-reported classroom management, cognitive activation, clarity of instruction, and positive student-teacher relationships. Multilevel analyses showed that teachers’ social utility value was positively associated with all dimensions of teaching quality, whereas personal utility value was only associated with classroom management and clarity of instruction. Teachers working at schools with moderate shares of students from a socioeconomically disadvantaged background reported higher clarity of instruction (β = 0.42), and moderate and high shares report lower cognitive activation (β = –0.40, β = –0.33, respectively) than those working at schools with low shares. Student-teacher relationships were rated more positively by teachers working at schools that reported no students with a migrant background than those working at schools with a small share (β = 0.33). Moreover, teachers working at schools with high shares of students with migration backgrounds (β = –0.17) reported more negative relationships. These results suggest that dealing with low-SES students at schools affects the cognitively-focused elements of teaching quality, while dealing with students with a migration background seems to affect the social teaching qualities of teachers.

SCHOOL VIOLENCE IN DIVERSITY PERSPECTIVE: EVIDENCE FROM TEACHING AND LEARNING INTERNATIONAL SURVEY 2018

Violence is a widespread global problem in society and schools in particular; education stakeholders are charged with the urgency of diminishing violent behavior and delinquency in schools. This research was conducted using the cross-national principal data set from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) administered by the Organization for Economic and Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study examined the relationship between school violence and professional development in leadership, it also explored how multicultural diversity policies and practices, school multicultural environments relate to violence in schools. Country fixed effect estimate was conducted to explore the relationship between school leadership, multicultural environment, multicultural policies and practices, and school violence in 47 countries. Results indicate that school leadership is adversely related to school violence, multicultural policies and practices were interestingly found to affect school violence positively. The results added nuance to previous studies that school leadership can play a cogent role in school violence, schools should invest in creating policies and practices that are core in self-affirmation and inclusive of all students.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0909/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

In-service teachers' professional development and instructional quality in secondary schools in Gedeo Zone, Ethiopia

The study aimed to assess the relationship between in-service teachers' professional development and instructional quality in secondary schools in the Gedeo zone in Ethiopia. The study used a quantitative research approach with descriptive and co-relational survey designs to attain its goal. A combination of stratified random and purposive techniques was employed to select samples. Quantitative data were collected using the standard Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), while qualitative data used semi-structured interviews. Based on the nature of the data, percentage, mean, and ordinal regression were utilized for quantitative data, while themes for qualitative analysis. According to the findings, the contribution of in-service professional development to instructional quality varies across dimensions. It contributes more to assessment (33.7%), followed by planning (32.9%), and less to the teacher as a person (29.1%), implementation (32.6%), and classroom management (32.6%). Besides, professional development activities such as seminars, curriculum meetings, action research, staff training, reflection, mentoring, and school visits are perceived to have little impact on teaching quality. However, an increase in age was associated with the likelihood of diminishing professional development's contribution to instructional quality (p < .05). Finally, teachers' professional development's impact on instructional quality varied by age, program type, and qualification level of secondary school teachers (p < .05). As a result, school leaders, local government, and Dilla University advised providing training to rethink the relationship between professional development activities and instructional quality in the study area. • The contribution of in-service professional development to instructional quality appears to be small. • Relatively, professional development contributes more for assessment, and less for a teacher as a person. • Professional development activities related to group work perceived to have little impact on teaching quality. • Age is commonly and negatively associated with teachers’ perception toward professional development. • Induction program and experience are positively associated to perception toward professional development contribution to planning and implementation.

Professional Development and Teacher Job Satisfaction: Evidence from a Multilevel Model

Numerous studies in different countries find evidence for high rates of teacher turnover, leading to shortages and potential quality issues. Job satisfaction is found to be an important antecedent of turnover. In this study, we investigate the impact of various aspects of professional development for teachers (as well as interactions of these aspects) on job satisfaction. The main goal is to disentangle the interactions between need for and participation in professional development activities, allowing more detailed and precise analyses that may lead to a better substantiated understanding of the mechanisms at work. We use data from the 2018 wave of the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). The hierarchical data structure of teachers nested in schools, nested in regions requires the use of appropriate estimation techniques: multilevel or hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). We find a significant positive relationship between job satisfaction and need for professional development for teaching diversity and special needs, which is (negatively) moderated by the number of professional development activities a teacher had participated in. Another indicator, measuring the need for professional development in subject matter and pedagogy, shows a significant negative relationship with job satisfaction and is (positively) moderated by the amount of professional development.

National Reports and Global Education Policy Diffusion

Comparative research projects have become one of the main sources of information to investigate national systems of education and to inform education policy making at the national level. However, the way that national education authorities interpret and use the results of these projects may differ substantially among countries. This process, that we refer to as the national interpretation in comparative education, is overlooked in the debate regarding comparative research projects in education. This paper addresses this issue analysing national reports of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) from eight different countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada (Alberta), Chile, England, Mexico, Portugal and Spain.&#x0D; The results indicate that the national interpretation and reporting of international comparative data is fairly homogeneous considering the socio-educational diversity of the selected countries. However, our analysis also suggests that reports from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, and England) have a higher degree of similarity with the survey’s conceptual framework, whereas national reports from Mexico and Chile showed a lower degree of similarity. Moreover, our analysis reinforces the relevance of understanding countries’ focus and interpretation of evidence produced by international comparative research projects in education.

Teacher Preparation, Motivation, and Self-Efficacy: A Comparative Study of New Teachers in Japan and the United States

Using the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, this study examines U.S. and Japanese new teachers’ initial teacher preparation (ITP), feelings of preparedness, motivations, and self-efficacy. The analysis of 355 U.S. and 433 Japanese new secondary teachers provided several findings. First, ITP in the U.S. more often included teaching in mixed-ability and multicultural settings, cross-curricular skills, and technology than Japan, and U.S. teachers felt more prepared than Japanese teachers in every category of preparation. Second, Japanese teachers were more likely to declare teaching as their first career choice and reportedly scored significantly higher on motivations to become a teacher of personal utility value, while U.S. new teachers scored higher on social utility value. Third, there were no significant differences in self-efficacy between U.S. and Japanese new teachers. This study contributes to the gap of large-scale, comparative literature between the U.S. and Japanese initial teacher preparation. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Impact of distributed leadership on teacher job satisfaction in China: The mediating roles of teacher autonomy and teacher collaboration

Teacher job satisfaction is a heated topic worldwide. Among the possible factors influencing teacher job satisfaction, distributed leadership is very important one. Given very few studies have investigated the effects of distributed leadership on teacher job satisfaction through teacher autonomy and teacher collaboration, this paper is important. It is expected to provide international readers with a better understanding of how these variables are practised in the Chinese context. Specifically, we aim to achieve two goals. The first goal is to investigate the direct impact of distributed leadership on teacher job satisfaction and the second one is to explore how distributed leadership indirectly affects teacher job satisfaction through teacher autonomy and teacher collaboration. The data are from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) (n = 3976). Structural equation modeling revealed statistically significant positive effects of distributed leadership on teacher autonomy, teacher collaboration, and teacher job satisfaction, respectively. The further analyses indicated that the indirect effects of distributed leadership on teacher job satisfaction through teacher autonomy and professional collaboration were statistically significant. However, distributed leadership had no indirect effect on job satisfaction via exchange and co-ordination. Based on the findings, we propose some suggestions to improve teacher job satisfaction, such as strengthening communications between school leaders and teachers, and providing adequate autonomy to teachers. The detailed relationships among these variables are discussed in connection with Chinese educational context.

Which teacher induction practices work? Linking forms of induction to teacher practices, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction

Teacher induction is regarded as an important facet of the teacher education system in many countries. However, important questions remain concerning which teacher induction practices are most associated with teacher quality and retention. This study (N = 736) therefore leverages data from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) to examine relationships between various forms of teacher induction and teacher practices, self-efficacy, and job satisfaction, while controlling for an array of teacher socio-demographic and professional characteristics. Five specific teacher induction activities—including team teaching; online activities; and portfolios, diaries, or journals—were associated with one or more teacher-level outcome variables.

Application of an innovative alignment optimisation method to a cross-cultural mean comparison of teacher self-efficacy: A cross-country study

Teacher self-efficacy is a crucial personal characteristic that is important not only for teachers’ well-being but also for the overall teaching and learning. However, the difficulty to ascertain scalar invariance in the measurement of the construct has beset previous attempts of cross-cultural comparisons. This study implements an alignment optimisation method to compare and rank mean teacher self-efficacy of over 150,000 teachers across 48 countries and economies that participated in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) that was conducted 2018. The findings show that Columbia, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, Hungary, and South Africa have teachers with the highest mean self-efficacy. On the flip side, Czech Republic, Estonia, Chinese Taipei, Norway, and Japan have teachers with the least mean self-efficacy. Additionally, the findings provide a framework for direct comparisons between countries based on the mean teacher self-efficacy. The researcher believes that policymakers, research and development centres, and other education stakeholders will take a cue from the findings of the present study to identify and investigate countries with high self-efficacy teachers for improved teacher self-efficacy in own country.

The Conceptual and Methodological Construction of a ‘Global’ Teacher Identity through TALIS

The present article investigates the construction of a ‘global’ teacher identity by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) since the introduction of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in 2008. We critically examine TALIS-related conceptual frameworks, survey questionnaires and statistically driven scales of teachers’ professional attitudes internationally. A theoretical, education-based framing of didaktik and curriculum pedagogical traditions is used to discuss conceptual bias in TALIS conceptual frameworks as well as the sociologically based idea of TALIS as a pedagogic device used as a technology to gain symbolic power for making the teachers of tomorrow. Methodologically relying on document analysis, we examine TALIS 2008, 2013 and 2018 background documents to highlight the ideologically driven construction of a certain model of effective teachers, and refer to associated TALIS technical reports to examine validity issues in scales that are methodologically and statistically driven in order to increase the robustness of the results. The article identifies biases in the OECD’s construction of a ‘global’ teacher identity that are reflected in TALIS conceptual frameworks and survey questions and statistically justified through associated scales.

Pre-service teachers’ international study experiences or in-service teachers’ professional learning communities: what comes into play in Finnish teachers’ self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms?

ABSTRACT Across many countries, schools and classrooms are becoming culturally diverse. In response to this global trend, culturally responsive teaching (CRT) has been highlighted. Within this context, we have a two-fold goal in this study; to explore 1) whether and how pre-service teachers’ international study experiences can impact their self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms when becoming practicing teachers and 2) whether and how in-service teachers’ engagements in professional learning communities (PLC)can improve their self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms. Drawing on 2,714 Finnish teachers from 139 schoolsinthe Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018, we found a positive relationship between teachers’ study abroad experiences during their pre-service teacher education and their self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms. However, this significant result is not maintained with the addition of important variables.In contradistinction with this vanishing effect of teachers’ study abroad experiences, we found that teachers’ engagements in PLCs play a significant role in their self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms. We discuss implications of the contrasting findings for research and practice.

How Relationships Impact Teacher Job Satisfaction

This study aimed to extend the knowledge of teacher job satisfaction by specifically examining predictors at the teacher level. Several components of job satisfaction were examined for their hypothesized impact, including the focused predictor of teacher-student relations. Based on the United States sample in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 data, the author explored this issue utilizing responses from 2,560 lower secondary school teachers nested within 166 schools. Using the transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus, &amp; Folkman, 1984) as a framework, the study found that teacher-student relationships are a positive and significant predictor of teacher job satisfaction. After controlling for relevant predictors, teacher relationships with their students were the strongest predictor of their job satisfaction present in the study. Discussions and implications are presented.

Educational Leadership in the U.S. and Vietnam: A Cross-Culture Comparative Study

Under globalisation, comparative educational studies have become more relevant. This paper is the first of its kind to compare education and training for principals in Vietnam and the U.S. and will offer among the few systematic studies on school leadership in Vietnam. Utilizing previous research on educational leadership and culture in the U.S. and Vietnam, and survey results from Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2018, I used t-test analyses to test several hypotheses about the differences between principals in the two countries. The findings suggest differences in age, gender, managerial experience, teaching obligation, and obtained levels of education and training between American principals and Vietnamese principals. Principals in the U.S. are younger and less experienced than principals in Vietnam. Level of education and need for professional development programs potentially indicate that American principals receive more thorough training in their education compared to Vietnamese principals. Accordingly, this comparative study provides valuable insights for both countries and contributes to diversifying the literature on educational leadership which the West has long dominated.

Kernel Causality Among Teacher Self-Efficacy, Job Satisfaction, School Climate, and Workplace Well-Being and Stress in TALIS.

Teachers play an important role in the educational system. Teacher self-efficacy, job satisfaction, school climate, and workplace well-being and stress are four individual characteristics shown to be associated with tendency to turnover. In this article, data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 teacher questionnaire are analyzed, with the goal to understand the interplay amongst these four individual characteristics. The main purposes of this study are to (1) measure extreme response style for each scale using unidimensional nominal response models, and (2) investigate the kernel causal paths among teacher self-efficacy, job satisfaction, school climate, and workplace well-being and stress in the TALIS-PISA linked countries/economies. Our findings support the existence of extreme response style, the rational non-normal distribution assumption of latent traits, and the feasibility of kernel causal inference in the educational sector. Results of the present study inform the development of future correlational research and policy making in education.