Highly qualified and competent teachers are fundamental for equitable and effective education systems. Teachers today are facing higher and more complex expectations to help students reach their full potential and become valuable members of 21st century society. The nature and variety of these demands imply that teachers, more than ever before, must be professionals who make decisions based on a robust and updated knowledge base.
1. Dirk Van Damme
Head of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation
Innovation and Measuring Progress Division
Directorate for Education and Skills
KNOWING WHAT TEACHERS KNOW ABOUT
TEACHING
2. • Some results from TALIS:
– High need for professional development
What do we know already about teachers’
professionalism?
2
3. Teachers’ need for professional development
3
0 10 20 30 40
Knowledge of the curriculum
Knowledge of the subject field(s)
School management and administration
Pedagogical competencies
Developing competencies for future work
Teaching cross-curricular skills
Student evaluation and assessment practice
Student career guidance and counselling
Approaches to individualised learning
Teaching in a multicultural or multilingual setting
Student behaviour and classroom management
New technologies in the workplace
ICT skills for teaching
Teaching students with special needs
Sweden Average
Percentage of lower secondary teachers indicating they have a high level of need for professional development in the
following areas
4. • Some results from TALIS:
– High need for professional development
– Teacher education is not enough: becoming
professional takes time and experiential learning
What do we know already about teachers’
professionalism?
4
5. Percentage of class time spent on effective
teaching and learning
5
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
Australia
Austria
Belgiu…
Brazil
Bulgaria
Denm…
Estonia
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Korea
Lithua…
Malay…
Malta
Mexico
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slova…
Slovenia
Spain
Turkey
% Experienced teachers New teachers
6. Percentage of class time spent on keeping
order in the classroom
6
0
5
10
15
20
25
Australia
Austria
Belgium(Fl.)
Brazil
Bulgaria
Denmark
Estonia
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Korea
Lithuania
Malaysia
Malta
Mexico
Norway
Poland
Portugal
SlovakRepublic
Slovenia
Spain
Turkey
% Experienced teachers New teachers
7. • Some results from TALIS:
– High need for professional development
– Teacher education is not enough: becoming
professional takes time and experiencial learning
– Teachers’ self-reported self-efficacy grows with time
and experience
What do we know already about teachers’
professionalism?
7
8. Teachers' self-efficacy and experience
8
10.5
11.0
11.5
12.0
12.5
13.0
13.5
5orless
6-10
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-30
31ormore
Teacherself-efficacy(level)
Years of experience as a teacher in total
Average Singapore
9. • Some results from TALIS:
– High need for professional development
– Teacher education is not enough: becoming
professional takes time and experiential learning
– Teachers’ self-reported self-efficacy grows with time
and experience
– Becoming professional is mainly through adaptation,
not through innovation
What do we know already about teachers’
professionalism?
9
10. Teachers feel not rewarded by innovation
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Belgium(Fl.)
Norway
Ireland
Australia
Denmark
Spain
Korea
Austria
Malta
Iceland
Portugal
Brazil
Estonia
TALIS…
Lithuania
Turkey
Slovenia
Mexico
Hungary
Slovak…
Italy
Poland
Bulgaria
Malaysia
%
Teachers who would receive increased monetary or non-monetary rewards if they are more
innovative in their teaching
%
12. Knowledge
Autonomy
Peer
networks
How can we define teacher professionalism?
12
Pre-service education
Formal teacher education
Breath of content covered in
formal teacher education
In-service learning
Support provided for CPD
Long-term PD
Support for practitioner research
Participation in practitioner or
action-research
13. Knowledge
Autonomy
Peer
networks
How can we define teacher professionalism?
13
Decision-making over curriculum
Decision-making over resources
Decision-making over content
Decision-making over assessment
Decision-making over discipline
14. Knowledge
Autonomy
Peer
networks
How can we define teacher professionalism?
14
Participation in induction
Participation in mentoring
Receiving peer feedback
Developing CPD plan
Participation in CPD networks
17. Our focus for today...
17
1) Context, policy challenges,
questions
2) The teaching profession and
its knowledge base
3) Measuring teacher knowledge
and professional competence:
Opportunities and challenges
4) 21st century demands on
teacher knowledge and future
directions
19. Teachers as knowledge professionals
Context
19
New & complex expectations
Adapting to technological change
Teaching more heterogeneous
groups
Developing 21st century skills
Helping students to become
lifelong learners
20. Policy Challenges
20
• Attracting motivated and high-
achieving candidates to the
profession
• Retaining quality teachers
• Improving initial teacher
education and professional
development
21. What is the nature of the pedagogical knowledge base of the
teaching profession?
• Conceptualisation; dimensions and how can these be measured?
• Impact on student learning outcomes?
• Relation of teachers’ motivations and beliefs to their knowledge?
• Relation between pedagogical knowledge and overall professional competence?
Questions
21
?
Is the pedagogical knowledge of the
teaching profession up-to-date?
• Can scientific research inform teachers about teaching-
learning?
• Meet the expectations for teaching and learning “21st
century skills”?
23. The Teaching Profession and its Knowledge Base
23
Teaching
practice
Educational &
Learning
sciences
Student learning
Building and grounding practice in
a coherent and integrated knowledge base
is a fundamental characteristic of professions
30. Processes Open questions
Structural
dynamics
Functional
dynamics
Social
dynamics
Social processes
30
• How can we enhance and utilise existing mechanisms,
structures and resources (such as networks and
collaboration) to improve professional learning?
• How can stakeholder interactions and collaboration be
exploited to facilitate the dynamics of teacher
knowledge?
31. Teaching as a profession needs a robust, systematic knowledge
base, constructed and shaped by the community of
professionals (including researchers & practitioners).
Knowledge dynamics may be viewed as a complex system, in
which multiple actors interact to shape teachers’ knowledge.
This includes the importance of empowering teacher educators
and teachers themselves to take charge of teachers’ knowledge
base.
Key messages 1
31
33. Shulman (1986, 1987)
• General pedagogical knowledge
• Content knowledge
• Pedagogical content knowledge
• Curriculum knowledge
• Knowledge of learners and their characteristics;
• Knowledge of educational contexts
• Knowledge of educational ends, purposes, values and their
philosophical and historical grounds.
Teacher Knowledge: Conceptualisation
33
principles and strategies of
classroom management and
organisation that are cross-curricular
knowledge of content and
pedagogy for teaching the
particular subject
knowledge of subject matter
and its organising structures
34. International large scale comparative studies:
• “Mathematics Teaching in the 21st Century (MT21)” study (Schmidt, Blömeke and
Tatto, 2011)
• “Teacher Education and Development Study – Learning to Teach
Mathematics” (TEDS-M) by IEA
National large scale studies:
• “Cognitive Activation in the Classroom (COACTIV)” study (Baumert et al., 2010),
• national TEDS studies (following TEDS-M) (Blömeke et al., 2013, 2014)
• “Modelling and measuring competencies in higher education (KoKoHs)” in
Germany (Blömeke and Troitschanskaia, 2013).
• “Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT)” studies originated in the US, since
applied in many other countries (Delaney et al. 2008; Hill, Ball and Schilling,
2008)
Empirical Evidence
34
35. Higher level of teachers’ content
knowledge
Higher level of teachers’ pedagogical
content knowledge
Higher level of general pedagogical
knowledge
Findings
35
Higher student achievement
Higher quality of instruction
36. • beliefs about the nature of teaching
and learning
• job motivation
• orientations and goals
• meta-cognitive facets like self-
regulation
• professional responsibility
Teachers’ competence: A multidimensional
construct
36
Content &
Pedagogical
Knowledge
Affective-
motivational
competencies
37. Teacher motivation
Findings on teacher motivation
37
pedagogical knowledge
decision-making strategies enabling the
use of high-quality instructional
practices
willingness to engage in professional
development
motivation, performance and well-being
of students
teachers’ professional and
psychological well-being and job
satisfaction.
38. Professional vision
From knowledge to practice
38
Noticing Reasoning
Describing
Explaining
Predicting
Methodology:
Video recording + Qualitative analysis
Video recording + Standardised rating
Findings:
Formal teacher education (courses)
Informal learning (teaching experience)
Higher professional
vision skills
Knowledge & affective-
motivational
competencies
Teaching practice
39. General pedagogical knowledge is relevant for high quality
instruction, but teachers’ affective-motivational characteristics also
matter.
A comprehensive model of teachers’ competence includes the
transformation of knowledge into practice.
Prior research provides a good basis for future studies: theoretical
frameworks, and reliable and valid instruments can be used.
Methodological challenges, such as establishing clear cause and effect
relationships, still exist.
Key messages 2
39
41. Cognitive
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
21st century skills
41
cognitive processes and
strategies; knowledge;
creativity
intellectual openness;
work ethic and
conscientiousness;
self-regulation
teamwork and collaboration;
leadership
critical thinking,
reasoning and
argumentation,
innovation
flexibility, initiative,
appreciation for diversity
and metacognition
co-operation and
communication, conflict
resolution and
negotiation
Domain Clusters Skills
42. Learning and developing 21st century skills
42
Deep learning allows students to…
• develop expertise in a discipline and
understand when, how and why to
apply it
• recognise when problems or situations
are related to what has been learned
• know how they can apply knowledge
and skills to solve them
collaboration
critical thinking
problem solving
communication
43. Insights into student
behavioural tendencies
and learning outcomes
Learning Sciences
43
Brain plasticity
Emotion regulationCognitive psychology,
Neurosciences
Teacher knowledge
Working memory
44. Findings from the Learning Sciences have the potential to broaden teachers’
knowledge about student learning.
21st century skills matter for outcomes in education, work and other areas of
life, but more research is needed to understand these relationships.
Research have important implications for how to organise teaching and
learning to facilitate deeper learning and development of transferable 21st
century competencies.
Key messages 3
44
46. Next steps: can we assess teachers’
pedagogical knowledge: the ITEL
Teacher Knowledge Survey
46
47. • Understanding and valuing teachers’
pedagogical knowledge provides the basis
for trusting teachers as professionals
– You would never put your health in the hands
of a medical doctor of whom you are not
convinced that s/he has not the level of
medical knowledge you expect
– Why would you be less demanding of the
teacher you entrust your child to?
Finally…
47
48. Flemish Department of Education and Training for co-
organising and hosting the symposium – Michelin Scheys and
Katrijn Ballet
Editor – Sonia Guerriero
Authors – Sonia Guerriero, Karolina Deligiannidi, Nóra Révai,
Diana Toledo-Figueroa, Sigrid Blömeke, Kathleen Stürmer, Tina
Seidel, Johannes König, Fani Lauermann, Daniel Ansari,
Marilyn Leask, Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa and James W.
Pellegrino
OECD editor & production team – Matthew Gill, Francesca
Gottschalk, Emily Heppner, Rachel Linden, Nóra Révai and the
Communications and Productions colleagues
Acknowledgements
48