Making the most of teachers’ time

Abstract

Teachers' time is a critical resource for education systems and a key input for student learning. Like any type of resource, teachers' time can be allocated more or less effectively to promote positive outcomes for students. How school systems regulate teachers' working time reflects diverse conceptions of the role of teachers and different strategies for making the most of their time. The COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of remote and hybrid teaching environments in 2020 have further increased the complexity and diversity of tasks that compete for teachers' time.The pandemic context has also tested the capacity of school systems to adapt provisions for teachers' use of time quickly in response to changing conditions. Building on the findings from the OECD School Resources Review series and data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), this Policy Brief presents policies and practices that can promote an effective use of teachers' time by exploring the following questions:  What do we know about teachers' effective use of time?  How to balance regulations and flexibility to encourage an effective use of time?  How to define core tasks and support teachers in prioritising them?  Can technology help teachers use their time more effectively? What do we know about teachers' effective use of time?The quality of teachers is one of the most important determinants of students' educational and noneducational outcomes (Jackson, 2018[1]; Chetty, Friedman and Rockoff, 2014[2]; Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain, 2005[3]). Making the most of their precious time is a complex process that involves balancing activities inside the classroom that directly affect student learning and activities outside the classroom, such as lesson planning and professional learning, that affect students more indirectly by enhancing teachers' ability to offer high-quality instruction.Just like teachers need to balance various tasks competing for their attention, policy makers at the system level must consider difficult trade-offs when regulating teachers' time. As teachers' salaries account for a large share of educational expenditure, whether teachers are given an additional hour in the classroom, an hour to prepare their lessons or an hour to engage in professional learning can have significant implications for both the cost and the quality of education.Making choices about time allocation to support student learning is not straightforward and the research evidence on the benefits of additional instruction time is mixed (Andersen, Humlum and Nandrup, 2016[4]; Meyer and Van Klaveren, 2013[5]). In many circumstances, the quality of instruction and the time that students spend engaged with relevant tasks appear to matter more than the overall instruction time. However, there is evidence that disadvantaged students tend to benefit more from extended learning time than advantaged students (Patall, Cooper and Batts Allen, 2010[6]). Making the most of teachers' time  No. 29 -MAKING THE MOST OF TEACHERS' TIME OECD EDUCATION POLICY PERSPECT...