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Week 50: International research into teaching and learning
Data from an ACER survey about the work and attitudes of teachers can contribute to a learning profession that is highly skilled, knowledgeable and engaged in excellent practice.
How do the attitudes of Australian teachers and school leaders compare with those of colleagues in other education systems? How does the workload in Australia compare? The desirability of teaching? The usefulness of professional development? These are some of the questions being answered in the second cycle of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS).
Kate O'Malley is working on the Australian component of TALIS with Chris Freeman, Research Director of the Systemwide Testing program, Frances Eveleigh, Systemwide Testing’s Assistant Manager and Warren Herbs, Senior Project Officer in the Systemwide Testing program. Kate, a Research Fellow in the National Surveys research program and the National Data Manager for TALIS, is responsible for the capture, management and analysis of survey data for the study.
‘We completed a pilot study with principals, teachers and specialist mathematics teachers. Their valuable feedback assisted in the refinement of the survey for the field trial last April,’ Kate explains.
‘We implemented the field trial in 30 schools across Australia to test the survey processes in the Australian context, test the items and trial our online data collection before the main study in October in 450 or so schools across Australia.
‘Teachers and school leaders are very busy, but we aim to develop a positive relationship with them, and highlight the policy benefits of this study.’
What exactly are those policy benefits? ‘TALIS provides robust international indicators and analyses about teachers, school effectiveness, teacher professional development, systems of feedback and appraisal, and school leadership,’ Kate explains. ‘It fills important information gaps in the international comparisons of education systems and provides some fascinating insights into the experiences and perspectives of teachers and principals in Australian schools.
‘Because 150 of the TALIS schools participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment we can actually analyse policy issues in TALIS in the context of student performance for the first time.
‘As Australia participated in TALIS in 2008, we’re also identifying early trends in the Australian data to inform policy on effective teaching practices and pathways to effective school leadership.’
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Week 52: State of the art psychometric and statistical analysis
Week 51: Assessing civics and citizenship
Week 49: Supporting high-quality education across the world
GOAL 1
Learners and their needs
every learner engaged in challenging learning opportunities appropriate to their readiness and needs
GOAL 2
The Learning Profession
every learning professional highly skilled, knowledgeable and engaged in excellent practice
GOAL 3
Places of learning
every learning community well resourced and passionately committed to improving outcomes for all learners
GOAL 4
A Learning Society
a society in which every learner experiences success and has an opportunity to achieve their potential
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Pursuing Quality and Equity through Evidence
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