OECD TALIS Report Analysis Part 2

Following on from our previous Policy in Focus, we are continuing our overview of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) Starting Strong 2024, with a particular focus on staff training and education this week.

Importance of staff training

The benefits of Early Years depend on its quality, which relies on a workforce that understands the goals of Early Years and the strategies that support children’s development, learning, and well-being. The report highlights that while most Early Years staff are trained to work with children, this is not universal. In some countries, assistants hold lower qualifications than teachers. Staff with post-secondary education typically cover a broader range of topics relevant to working with children. This is linked to higher levels of self-efficacy, which in turn is associated with reduced work-related stress.

Educational attainment

The report highlights the need for countries to ensure that all Early Years staff are prepared for their jobs through post-secondary training that includes a practical component and opportunities for professional development. The table below provides an overview of the educational attainment of staff in each country as well as the percentage of those who received training to work with children.

A lower proportion of staff working with children under three years hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent compared to their peers in pre-primary settings. This gap is particularly evident in split or historically split systems, where separate regulations and oversight apply to settings for children under three and those for pre-primary education. In contrast, fully integrated Early Years systems, such as those in Germany and Norway, serve children from infancy to primary school and maintain consistent educational requirements for staff across both levels.

Diversity/Special Needs Training

The results show that Early Years staff require extended support to work with children from diverse backgrounds, particularly those with special education needs. The majority of staff in all countries report working with at least one child whose home language is different from the main language used in the setting, which illustrates the diversity of families engaging with Early Years services. These are areas that were also generally less covered in staff’s initial education, as can be seen in the figure below, but rank high among the areas where staff report a need for ongoing training. In pre-primary settings in Germany, only 29% of staff undertook CPD related to working with children with additional needs in the past 12 months. This figure was significantly higher in Ireland with 64% undertaking such CPD, with the highest percentage of 74 in Chile. In settings for children under three years, Ireland had the highest percentage of 62.

Practical Training

Practical training is key to building the capacity of Early Years staff to engage in high-quality interactions with children and demonstrates to staff how the skills they are learning can be applied in real-world settings. Among staff who are trained to work with children, in most countries this training typically included a practical component. Although practical training is very common among staff, it is sometimes more frequent among teachers compared to assistants. In systems where assistants have lower educational qualifications than teachers but receive similar training to work with children, there is generally no difference in access to practical training between the two roles. This suggests that Early Years content and practical components can be fully integrated into programmes across different qualification levels. Despite the different roles and education profiles, in both Ireland and Spain, over 98% of staff undertook training specifically to work with children before beginning their jobs in an Early Years service that almost universally (over 90%) included a practical component.

Continuous Professional Development Importance

Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is essential for keeping staff up to date with new practices and for addressing gaps in knowledge and skills, which is of huge benefit to children and families. Providing leaders with high-quality CPD opportunities enables them to manage all aspects of their role. Training focused on key leadership areas strengthens their ability to provide constructive feedback and guide pedagogical practices among staff. The percentage of leaders who provide feedback to staff based on their observations weekly or more often in pre-primary settings was just 12% in Sweden, 56% in Ireland and 65% in Denmark.

Methods

CPD is often limited to courses and seminars, with more effective methods, such as job-embedded training and collaborative learning approaches being used less frequently. Around fifty percent of staff in settings for children under three years in Quebec (Canada) and at both levels of Early Years in Ireland participate in these approaches. In contrast, around 80% of staff in pre-primary settings in the Flemish Community of Belgium and at both levels in New Zealand report job-embedded CPD.

Barriers

The main barrier for participating in CPD in almost all countries and for both levels of Early Years is a lack of staff to cover the absences. 31% of staff in Ireland in pre-primary settings receive release from work with children during regular working hours to participate in CPD, compared with 6 percent in Israel and 74% in Germany. In settings for children under three years, this was 29% in Ireland, 18% in Israel, and 75% in Germany.

Conclusion

The central role of Early Years staff in shaping high quality environments is clear. The findings above provide an evidence base for policymakers to strengthen the Early Years workforce, through better working conditions and training, to ensure all children benefit from high quality Early Years experiences. Early Childhood Ireland has called for better terms and conditions for staff and for a strong refocus on the delivery of the workforce plan, Nurturing Skills. The next Policy in Focus will look Early Years settings’ engagement with families and children, as outlined in the TALIS report.

You can read the full OECD report here. If you have any questions about our work, please email [email protected].