Attracting motivated individuals to work in schools is a pressing concern in many OECD countries. The attractiveness of school careers, salaries and working conditions compared to alternative occupations helps attract young people to a teaching career and stick to it during their first years. However, in the long run, supportive employment conditions in schools are critical to their well-being and willingness to remain on the job. Attractive career pathways entail career structures with opportunities for professional growth and specialisation, salary scales to attract new entrants and retain experienced staff, and supportive working conditions, working time arrangements and task profiles to sustain motivation over time.
Teacher employment
Employment strategies for teachers focus on attracting, developing and retaining talented individuals capable of supporting students in developing the skills they will need to thrive.
Key messages
All schools need competent teachers to ensure high-quality instruction, but they vary in their geographical location, internal organisation and student population and therefore require a different staffing mix in their particular context. Teacher policy not only needs to ensure an adequate supply of teachers that matches demand, but also that individual schools including those in disadvantaged areas, have the teachers they need. Supporting an effective and equitable distribution of staff between and within schools requires transparent, stable and equitable staff funding mechanisms, effective and fair recruitment processes and efforts to attract professionals to where they can have the biggest impact.
Unleashing the potential of teachers to realise the transformative impacts of highly effective teaching requires creating a professional learning environment. This should provide teachers with individual and collective support through rigorous preparation tailored to their specific working context, as well as through induction and mentoring to promote skill development in the school setting and beyond the early years in a new role. Schools must increasingly evolve into environments where professional learning is an ongoing part of the day-to-day work, school staff work collaboratively to help each other learn, and systems exist to capture and codify knowledge.
Context
Contract status
On average across OECD countries and economies in TALIS, 82% of teachers have permanent contracts, 6% have fixed-term contracts for more than one year, and 12% have a fixed-term contract for one year or less.
Teachers’ employment on fixed-term contracts (2018)
Teachers’ perceptions of the value of the profession
On average across the OECD countries and economies that participate in TALIS, only 26% of teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that their profession is valued in society.
Teachers’ views of how society values their profession, by teacher characteristics (2018)
