History

1. Which countries participated in TALIS 2008?

   Twenty four countries took part in the initial TALIS survey: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Republic of Korea, Lithuania, Malta, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Turkey. Full details on TALIS 2008 can be found at http://www.oecd.org/education/preschoolandschool/43023606.pdf

2. Who was surveyed in the initial round of TALIS?

   The first round of TALIS surveyed teachers of lower secondary education and their principals. Separate questionnaires for teachers and principals were developed by an international expert group and were discussed throughout their development with teacher representative bodies. Each questionnaire took about 45 minutes to complete. Teachers and principals could complete questionnaires online or on paper.

   TALIS 2008 results are based on survey responses from more than 70,000 teachers and more than 4,000 school principals.

3. What are some topics examined in TALIS 2008?

   Countries participating in the first round of TALIS chose to focus the survey on the following key aspects of teaching and learning in schools:

   • Leadership and management of schools, including accountability and authority in school systems and their influence on the learning environment in schools and teachers' work.
   • Appraisal of teachers' work in schools, including the nature of the feedback they receive and teachers' perceptions of the value of the feedback they receive.
   • Professional development, including types and amounts of professional development taken, teachers' perceptions of the value of professional development they received, and the connection between teacher appraisal systems and professional development.
   • Teaching practices, activities, beliefs and attitudes as reported by the teachers.
   • Teaching as a profession, including teachers' training and qualifications and aspects of their working conditions (e.g., class sizes and time spent in various activities).
4. What are the key messages or findings from 2008?

   Survey responses from TALIS 2008 provided information for educational analysis across 24 countries. Results from the 2008 initial round of TALIS were published in the report “Creating effective teaching and learning environments: First results from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)” which was released by the OECD in 2009. Among the findings in the report, TALIS found that teachers who receive more professional development tend to feel more effective than teachers who do not. Similarly, teachers who receive recognition for good performance from a principal or colleague feel, on average, more effective than teachers who do not receive such recognition. In addition, teachers who hold stronger beliefs about teaching methods report, on average, more collaborative behavior with colleagues, more positive teacher – student relations, and higher levels of effectiveness.