Teacher training statistics show a mixed picture: most teachers receive preparation in student behaviour and classroom management, yet support is uneven and learning needs remain substantial. OECD TALIS data also show that professional development is common, while induction and feedback do not reach every teacher.
Contents
- What initial teacher training covers
- How induction and mentoring support classroom management
- How often teachers take professional development
- Where classroom-management training needs remain
- What classroom-management confidence and practice look like
- How classroom demands shape training priorities
What initial teacher training covers
The OECD’s TALIS 2018 Results, Volume I measured whether teachers said particular subjects were included in their formal education or training. These figures describe teacher reports across OECD countries and economies, with the measurement period identified as TALIS 2018.
Student behaviour and classroom management was included for 72% of teachers. That made it one of the more frequently reported areas of initial preparation. Monitoring students’ development and learning was included for 70%, while teaching cross-curricular skills was included for 65%.
Preparation for diverse classroom contexts was less common. Teaching in a mixed-ability setting was included for 62% of teachers, and using information and communication technology for teaching was included for 56%.
Reported preparation and perceived readiness were not identical. Across the OECD, 80% of teachers felt well or very well prepared in subject content after their education or training. The corresponding figure for subject pedagogy and classroom practice was 71%.
| Initial preparation or readiness measure | Share of teachers | Measurement |
|---|---|---|
| Student behaviour and classroom management included | 72% | TALIS 2018 |
| Monitoring development and learning included | 70% | TALIS 2018 |
| Mixed-ability teaching included | 62% | TALIS 2018 |
| Felt well or very well prepared in subject content | 80% | TALIS 2018 |
| Felt well or very well prepared in subject pedagogy and classroom practice | 71% | TALIS 2018 |
The cross-system spread could be considerable. In the Czech Republic and Estonia, fewer than 25% of teachers felt prepared to teach in a mixed-ability setting. That figure is a country-specific TALIS 2018 result and should not be treated as an OECD-wide estimate.
How induction and mentoring support classroom management
Initial training is only one stage of teacher development. School-level induction can connect new teachers with practical guidance as they begin working with real classes. According to school leaders in TALIS 2018, formal induction was available at 54% of schools on average across the OECD. Informal induction was available at 74% of schools.
The two forms could overlap, so these percentages should not be added together. Still, access was incomplete: 13% of schools across the OECD offered neither formal nor informal induction.
Teacher reports show another view of the same transition. During their first employment, 62% of teachers reported no formal or informal induction. In their current school, 58% reported no formal or informal induction. The reported participation shares during first employment were 34% for formal induction and 24% for informal induction.
A reduced teaching load was not a routine feature of current-school induction. Only 21% of teachers reported receiving one as part of induction. For classroom-management guides, this matters because time to observe, plan, and discuss behaviour patterns can be part of the support structure around training; the statistic itself measures reduced load, not the quality or content of that support.
These results come from the OECD’s TALIS 2018 chapter on preparing candidates. They describe reported access and participation in TALIS 2018, not a current global inventory of induction programs.
How often teachers take professional development
Continuing professional development was widespread in the 12 months before the TALIS 2018 survey. The OECD reported that 94% of teachers across OECD countries and economies participated in at least one professional-development activity during that period. Teachers attended about four different types of activity on average.
The most common formats included in-person courses or seminars, attended by 76% of teachers, and reading professional literature, reported by 72%. Education conferences reached 49% of teachers. Peer or self-observation and coaching, learning, or networking activities reached 44%.
| Professional-development activity | Share of teachers | Reference period |
|---|---|---|
| At least one professional-development activity | 94% | Previous 12 months, TALIS 2018 |
| In-person courses or seminars | 76% | Previous 12 months, TALIS 2018 |
| Reading professional literature | 72% | Previous 12 months, TALIS 2018 |
| Education conferences | 49% | Previous 12 months, TALIS 2018 |
| Peer or self-observation, coaching, learning, or networking | 44% | Previous 12 months, TALIS 2018 |
Participation did not necessarily mean that every activity was experienced as equally useful. Overall, 82% of teachers reported that their professional-development activities had a positive impact on their teaching practices. The OECD also found that the participation gap between novice and experienced teachers in student-behaviour and classroom-management training averaged 6 percentage points.
These figures are from Providing opportunities for continuous development: TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I). The activity figures refer to the 12 months before the survey, while the participation-gap result compares novice and experienced teachers in the TALIS 2018 data.
Where classroom-management training needs remain
TALIS 2024 provides a newer view of classroom-management learning needs. About 30% of novice teachers reported needing training focused on classroom management across OECD education systems. The share of novice teachers reporting a high classroom-management learning need increased by 6 percentage points between 2018 and 2024.
Training participation did not cover all reported need. In TALIS 2024, 57% of novice teachers attended classroom-management training, compared with 49% of experienced teachers. At the same time, 14% of novice teachers reported high classroom-management learning needs without participating in training on that topic. The corresponding figure for teachers overall was 10%.
Feedback was associated with a more positive reported change for novice teachers than for experienced teachers. Among novice teachers, 76% said feedback received in the previous 12 months positively changed how they manage student behaviour. Among experienced teachers, 63% said the same.
Some preparation gaps involved broader classroom contexts. Fast-track-programme graduates were 5 percentage points more likely than other teachers to say initial education provided ideas for managing classroom behaviour successfully. However, only 33% of recent graduates felt prepared to teach in a multicultural or multilingual setting, and 44% felt prepared to support students’ social and emotional development.
The source for these results is the OECD’s Developing teacher expertise: Results from TALIS 2024. TALIS 2024 figures are reported for the education systems covered by that survey; they should not be generalized to every country.
What classroom-management confidence and practice look like
Teacher-reported confidence was high for some specific classroom tasks in TALIS 2024. Eighty-seven percent of teachers felt able to get students to follow classroom rules, and 84% felt able to calm a disruptive or noisy student. Eighty percent felt able to use a variety of assessment tasks.
Motivating students who show low interest in schoolwork was less widely reported as a capability: 67% of teachers felt able to do this. These are self-reported capabilities, not direct observations of classroom performance.
The use of classroom-management practices such as calming disruptive students increased by 8 percentage points on average between 2018 and 2024. Thirty education systems reported an increase in the use of classroom-management practices over that period. Malta was the one education system reported as having a decrease.
Classroom conditions still varied. About 20% of teachers reported significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms in TALIS 2024. More than 50% of teachers in Brazil reported significant disruptive noise and disorder. The Brazil result is specific to that education system, while the 20% figure is an overall estimate reported in the TALIS 2024 source.
These measures are presented in Teaching for today’s world: Results from TALIS 2024. The comparison between 2018 and 2024 describes changes reported by the participating education systems and does not establish that training alone caused those changes.
How classroom demands shape training priorities
Classroom-management training is connected to the wider demands teachers report. In 34 of 54 education systems, teachers with high instructional self-efficacy were less likely to report maintaining discipline as a source of stress. The high-versus-low instructional-self-efficacy gap on discipline stress exceeded 18 percentage points in Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden.
The relationship was also visible for classroom-management self-efficacy. In 44 education systems, teachers with high classroom-management self-efficacy were less likely to report discipline as stressful. The high-versus-low difference in discipline stress was often more than 40 percentage points.
Diversity was a common feature of teaching contexts. On average across OECD education systems, 73% of teachers reported teaching in academically diverse classrooms. More than 20% reported that over 30% of their students were low academic achievers.
Other reported sources of stress show why a classroom-management guide may need to address more than rules and routines. Thirty-seven percent of teachers said modifying lessons for students with special education needs was a source of stress. Twenty-seven percent reported too much work on diversity and equity issues as a source of stress. About 18% reported being intimidated or verbally abused by students as a source of stress.
The OECD reports these findings in The demands of teaching: Results from TALIS 2024. The figures are TALIS 2024 reports and associations across education systems. They do not by themselves show that increasing self-efficacy will cause stress to fall, or that a single training format will solve every classroom demand.