Table4.

7,whichshowstherelationbetweenprofessionalactivitiesandteachingpractices,allowsfor
drawingsomegeneralconclusions:Professionaldevelopmentisgenerallyassociatedwithmore(reported)
useofspecificinstructionalpractices.Thereisnotasinglesignificantlynegativecellinthetable.This
meansthatteacherswhoengageinprofessionallearningtendtousespecifiedpracticesmoreoften.2The
kindofprofessionaldevelopmentateacherparticipatesinismoreimportantthantheamountoftime
invested.Theneteffectsofdaysofprofessionaldevelopmentaresmallandonlysignificantinafew
countries,whereasindicatorsofparticipationinnetworksandmentoring(andinsomecountriesalsoin
workshopsand/orcourses)havesignificantandstrongernetassociationswithteachingpracticesina
majorityofcountries.Professionaldevelopmentactivitiesthattakeplaceatregularintervalsandinvolve
teachersinaratherstablesocialandcollaborativecontext(i.e.networksormentoring)haveasignificantly
strongerassociationwithteachingpracticesthanregularworkshopsandcourses.Studentoriented
practicesandenhancedactivitiesaremorestronglyassociatedwithprofessionaldevelopmentthan
structuringpractices.Neteffectsofindicatorsofattendanceatprofessionaldevelopmentactivitiesare
strongerandsignificantinalargernumberofcountriesforstudentorientedpracticesandenhanced
activitiesthanforstructuringpractices.

vii.Last,butnotleast,theconditionsunderwhichteacherswork.Professional
andsocialstatus;schoolinfrastructure,poorlibraries,laboratories,safety
conditions,etc.,createnewvariablesthat(re)definetheattitudesofeventhe
mostdevotedandwellpreparedteacher.Theanalysismadebyasecondary
teacher(Cedrez,93)thatcomesfromacountrythatenforcesthe
implementationofofficialcurriculaviaregularinspectionsoftheclassrooms)
presentsagoodpictureaboutwhatgoesonintheclassroom,...theofficial
physicscurriculumcannotbeaccomplishedwiththebasicmathematics
foundationsthestudentsbringfromearlyschoolyears.So,Ineedtotrainthe
studentstodoproblems,insteadofhelpingthemtounderstandphenomenaand
learnphysics.
CONCLUSIONSANDIMPLICATIONSFORPOLICYANDPRACTICEFigure4.1illustratesthe
varietyofteacherbeliefs,attitudesandpracticesmeasuredbyTALIS.Thepostulatedrelationsofthese
constructswiththeperceivedqualityofthelearningenvironmentandteachersjobsatisfactionarebyand
largefoundacrosscountries,confirmingtheirrelevanceforteachersandschooling.Animportantpolicy
issueistherefore,howtofurtherfacilitatetheseaspectsofteacherseffectiveness.TALISprovidessome
suggestions.Teachersgenerallysupportmodernconstructivistbeliefsaboutinstruction,butthereisscope
forstrengtheningthissupportKeyresults:Teachersacrosscountriesaremorelikelytoexpresssupport
foraconstructivistviewofteachingwiththeteacherasfacilitatorthantoregardtheteacherasadirect
transmitterofknowledge(Figure4.2).ThisismosttrueinnorthwestEurope,Scandinavia,Australiaand
Korea.ItisleasttrueinItalyandMalaysia,wherethelevelofteacherssupportforthetwoviewsismuch
closer.DiscussionThroughouttheworldeducationalistsandteacherinstructorspromoteconstructivist
viewsaboutinstruction.Whilemostteachersagree,theirpreferences,influencedbyindividual
characteristics,varygreatlywithineachcountryandschool.Ifpolicyseekstosupportconstructivist
positions,apromisingstrategymightbetoenhancethesystematicconstructionofknowledgeabout
teachingandinstructioninteachersinitialeducationandprofessionaldevelopment.Interventionsmaybe
especiallyimportantforexperiencedteachersandforthosewhoteachsubjectsotherthanmathematics.
Specialattentionisneededincountriesinwhichmanyteacherswhoexpresssupportforaconstructivist
view,whichmaybeperceivedasbeinginstyleandthussociallydesirable,alsoacceptadirect
transmissionview.EspeciallyinBrazil,Korea,MalaysiaandMexico,wherethetwoviewsarecorrelated,

itmayhelptoraiseawarenessofthedifferencebetweenthesepositionsinthecourseofteachereducation.
Itis,therefore,agoodsigneventhoughthecorrelationsareratherweakthatprofessionaldevelopment
ispositivelyassociatedwithconstructivistbeliefsandnegativelywithdirecttransmissionbeliefsacross
countries.Afurtherargumentinfavourofenhancingconstructivistbeliefsisthattheyarefoundtobe
associatedwithmorevariedinstructionalpractices.ThisisimportantasTALISresultsshowthatmodern
studentorientedpracticesandenhancedactivities,whichofferstudentsspecificlearningopportunities
whichfacilitatebothcognitiveandnoncognitiveoutcomes,aregenerallylessoftenusedthanstructuring
practices.121TEACHINGPRACTICES,TEACHERSBELIEFSANDATTITUDESCHAPTER4
CreatingEffectiveTeachingandLearningEnvironments:FirstResultsfromTALISISBN9789264
056053OECD2009Itwould,however,bewrongsimplytointroduceconstructivism.Teachersneedto
beconvincedthattheycanbesuccessfulincommunicatingdeepcontentandininvolvingstudentsin
cognitivelydemandingactivities,therebyfollowingconstructivistprinciples,whilemaintainingapositive
disciplinaryclimateandprovidingstudentorientedsupport.Noneofthebasicdimensionsofeducational
qualitycanbedispensedwith.Fosteringconstructivistbeliefsandenhancedactivitiesisanimportantgoal
forprofessionaldevelopment,butcareshouldbetakentoemphasisebroadteachingpractices,including
structuredteachingandselfregulatorylearning.Dependingonculturaltraditions,andalsoonthestagesof
thelearningprocess,variousapproachesshouldbeappliedtosuitthecircumstances.Anexampleisstarting
alessonwithmoredirectteachingandgraduallycreatingmoreopenlearningsituations(fading),while
workinginamorestructuredwaywithweakerstudents.Teachersneedtouseawiderrangeofinstructional
strategiesandtechniquesKeyresultsOfthethreeteachingpracticesidentifiedinTALIS,teacherswere
mostlikelytoadoptstructuringoflessons,followedbystudentorientedpracticesandfinallyenhanced
learningactivitiessuchasprojectwork.Thisorderappliesineverycountry(Figure4.4).Inthe
humanitiesandthemorepracticalandcreativesubjects,enhancedactivitiesaremorefrequentthan
average,andinmathematics,structuringisthemostcommonpractice(Figure4.5).DiscussionTheaspect
whichmostdifferentiatesteachingstylesindifferentcountriesistheuseofavarietyofenhancedlearning
activitiestheleastcommonofthethreeinstructionalapproachesidentifiedbyTALIS.Inparticularin
countrieswheretheseactivitiesarerelativelylessfrequentlyused,itseemsadvisabletohelpteachersofall
subjects,butespeciallythoseteachingmathematicsandscience,toacquireandimplementawidervariety
ofmoderninstructionalstrategies.Resultsconcerningthefrequencyofdifferentteachingpracticesalso
emphasisetheimportanceofmaintainingabroadcurriculum,sothatinsubjectswhereenhancedactivities
aremorecommon,studentsexperiencegreaterparticipation,autonomyandresponsibility.Allthreeof
thesepracticeshavebeenshowntoplayanimportantroleinsuccessfulteachingandlearning,andeach
deservessupport.TALISshowsthatstructuringandstudentorientedpracticestendtobeassociatedwitha
pleasant,orderlyclassroomclimate,whichinturntendstogotogetherwithteacherselfefficacyandjob
satisfaction.Professionaldevelopmentmightbeonewaytoboostteachersuseofstudentoriented
practicesandenhancedactivities.Thisappliesparticularlytodevelopmentactivitiesinvolvingstable
professionalrelationshipswithotherteachers,suchasnetworksforteacherdevelopmentandmentoring.In
manyparticipatingcountries,teacherstendtoadapttheirinstructionalpracticestotheoverall
characteristicsoftheirstudents.Enhancedactivitiesaremoreoftenusedinclasseswithstudentswith
higheraverageability.Inclasseswithahighproportionofstudentswithamigrationbackgroundora
minoritystatusasindicatedbyafirstlanguageotherthanthelanguageofinstructionmorestudent
orientedpracticesareused.Suchadaptationmaybeencouraged,asithelpsprovidestudentswith
appropriatelevelsofcognitivechallengeandsupportivepractices.However,toworktowardsequalityof
learningopportunities,teachereducationandprofessionaldevelopmentneedtofindnewwaysof
expandingtheuseofenhancedactivitiesforallstudents,independentoftheirability.Forexample,peer
learningandpeertutoringcanimprovelearningoutcomes,especiallyforstudentswithlearningdifficulties
(Topping,2005).CHAPTER4TEACHINGPRACTICES,TEACHERSBELIEFSANDATTITUDES
CreatingEffectiveTeachingandLearningEnvironments:FirstResultsfromTALISISBN9789264
056053122OECD2009TALISresultsalsoshowthatacrosscountriesfewerstudentorientedpractices
areusedinlargerclasses.Thissuggeststhatlargerclasssizeslimitthepossibilitytoberesponsivetoeach
individualstudent.Thereisscopetoimproveteacherseffectivenessbyextendingteachercooperationand
linkingthistoanimprovedschoolclimateKeyresultsTeachercooperationmoreoftentakestheformof
exchangingandcoordinatingideasandinformationthandirectprofessionalcollaborationsuchasteam

teaching(Figure4.7).Teacherswhoattendmoreprofessionaldevelopment,especiallyinacooperative
context,aremorelikelytobeinvolvedincooperativeteaching(Table4.8).Femaleteachersand
experiencedteachersengageinsuchcollaborationmostfrequently(Table4.3).DiscussionResearchhas
shownteachercooperationtobeanimportantengineofchangeandqualitydevelopmentinschools.
However,themorereflectiveandintenseprofessionalcollaboration,whichmostenhancesmodernisation
andprofessionalism,isthelesscommonformofcooperation.Thiscreatesaclearcaseforextendingsuch
activities,althoughtheycanbeverytimeconsuming.Itmightthereforebehelpfultoprovideteacherswith
somescheduledtimeorsalarysupplementtoencouragethemtoengageinthem.Itmayalsobeworth
focusingsuchincentivesonmenandyoungprofessionalswhoparticipateleastincooperativeteaching.
TALISshowsthatteacherswhoexchangeideasandinformationandcoordinatetheirpracticeswithother
teachersalsoreportmorepositiveteacherstudentrelationsattheirschool.Thus,itmaybereasonableto
encourageteacherscooperationinconjunctionwithimprovingteacherstudentrelations,asthesearetwo
sidesofapositiveschoolculture.Positiveteacherstudentrelationsarenotonlyasignificantpredictorof
studentachievement,theyarealsocloselyrelatedtoteachersjobsatisfactionatleastattheindividual
teacherlevel.Thisresultemphasisestheroleofteacherspositiveevaluationsoftheschoolenvironment
foreffectiveeducationandteacherwellbeing.Effortstoimproveschoolclimateareparticularlyimportant
inlargerpublicschoolsattendedbystudentswithlowaverageability,sinceallthesefactorsareassociated
withapoorerschoolclimate.Supportofteachersclassroommanagementtechniquesandapositive
attitudetowardsthejobKeyresultsOneteacherinfourinmostcountrieslosesatleast30%ofthelesson
time,andsomelosemorethanhalf,indisruptionsandadministrativetasks(Figure4.10).Thisisclosely
associatedwithclassroomdisciplinaryclimate,whichvariesmoreamongindividualteachersthanamong
schools(Figures4.11,4.12).DiscussionSeveralstudieshaveshownthattheclassroomdisciplinaryclimate
affectsstudentlearningandachievement.TALISsupportsthisviewbyshowingthatdisciplinaryissuesin
theclassroomlimittheamountofstudentslearningopportunities.Theclassroomclimateisalsoassociated
withindividualteachersjobsatisfaction.123TEACHINGPRACTICES,TEACHERSBELIEFSAND
ATTITUDESCHAPTER4CreatingEffectiveTeachingandLearningEnvironments:FirstResultsfrom
TALISISBN9789264056053OECD2009Thusapositivelearningenvironmentisnotonly
importantforstudents,asisoftenemphasised,butalsoforteachers.Acrossallparticipatingcountriesit
thereforeseemsadvisabletoworkonenhancingteachersclassroommanagementtechniques.Theresults
suggestthatinmostschoolsatleastsometeachersneedextrasupport,throughinterventionsthatconsider
teachersindividualcharacteristicsandcompetencesandthefeaturesofindividualclasses.Thesameholds
trueforpoliciesaimingatenhancingteacherselfefficacybeliefsandjobsatisfaction,asthesevariables
werealsoshowntobestronglyinfluencedbyteachersindividualcharacteristics.

https://www.oecd.org/berlin/43541655.pdf
oecd, 2009