Global Teaching InSights

What does teaching look like? What practices are most impactful? Around the world, researchers, policy makers, parents and students agree that teachers matter. Yet, we have just begun to understand what, how and why teachers do what they do in their classrooms. By directly observing teaching, the Global Teaching InSights (GTI) trialled new research methods to answer these key questions, a critical step to better education. Through its detailed study and rich collection for observing teaching, the GTI showcases quality teaching practices to spur reflection, knowledge sharing and peer collaboration among stakeholders at a global scale.

The Global Teaching InSights Video Study

This report provides a detailed account of instructional practices in the classrooms of eight countries and economies, drawing upon the observation of lesson videos and instructional materials, the analysis of teacher and student questionnaires, and the measurement of students’ cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes to:

understand which aspects of teaching are related to student learning and student non-cognitive outcomes;
observe and document how teachers from participating countries and economies teach;
explore how various teaching practices are inter-related, and how contextual aspects of teaching are associated with student and teacher characteristics.

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The Global Teaching InSights Initiative

The initiative, resulting from the study, aims to make quality teaching practices from around the world visible through classroom videos and observation tools that are fully available to the public. Authentic classroom videos provide tangible examples of teaching to stimulate a new and effective international, peer-driven discussion around pedagogy, broaden national horizons by presenting diverse teaching approaches, and support the teaching profession with powerful classroom practice resources.

GTI Observation Tools

GTI's Observation Tools are designed to bring the best international research directly to teachers. In particularly, these tools focus on aspects of teaching that experts from across the globe agree are fundamental for proficient teaching. These observation tools are designed to bring the best international research to the fingertips of teachers, and are grounded in numerous videtaped examples of actual lessons filmed in different countries.

Arranged into six domains of practice that researchers agree are fundamental to high quality teaching, these interactive observation tools can be used in the classroom and as a resource for exploring our collection of classroom videos. Available in English and Spanish for download, these tools will stimulate your own thinking about key aspects in your teaching practice, and help to provide you with a rich global outlook for professional growth.

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Classroom Management

Strong classroom management allows teachers and students to focus on learning and use time efficiently. This channel demonstrates the quality of observed classroom management practices as well as how classroom activities were structured and where in the lesson instructional time was lost. These videos also show teachers’ and students’ perceptions of classroom management practices.

See the Classroom Management Collection, including Making Self-Reflection a Routine. In this Colombian classroom, a teacher brings self-reflection into part of the process of teaching and learning for students:

Social-Emotional Support

Learning is not easy. In the classroom students must carry out work, express ideas, and push their thinking, often encountering and exposing difficulties. For students to be willing to be vulnerable, it is essential that they feel sheltered from embarrassment and well-supported. The extent to which a teacher can create a safe and respectful environment is important in determining the potential of a lesson.

Visit the Social-Emotional Support collection, including Building a Respectful Environment. For example, in this mathematics lesson on quadratic equations, this public school teacher immerses students in a collaborative group activity.

Responsiveness

Teachers make plans for their lessons but they must also remain flexible and willing to adjust these plans based on the students’ reactions and responses to the instruction as it unfolds. In thinking about what it takes to assess students thinking during a lesson and align the instruction accordingly, the ability to uncover student thinking to guide further instruction is crucial.

From the Responsiveness Collection: Elliciting More Detailed Student Thinking. In this Japanese classroom, see how this teacher challenges students to explain their methods in detail and explore the underlying logic for their answers.

Quality of Subject Matter

Another important goal of teaching is to promote student interest in and understanding of the subject matter. Classrooms that revolve around quality subject matter learning are first and foremost characterised by the clarity and accuracy of the ideas, concepts and tasks presented. In subject matter-rich classrooms, the content in which the teacher and students engage is correct as well as clearly represented so that students can focus on understanding the meaning of the concept or task.

Check out the Quality of Subject Matter collection, including Using Real-World Examples to Facilitate Comparisons
One example from the collection shows how a teacher uses an everyday object to create a visual context and help students make conclusions.

Classroom Talk

Classroom discourse – the written and spoken word – is the medium through which teaching and learning takes place. It is important that there are opportunities for discourse and students need opportunities to engage in discourse that are clearly focused on a learning objective. It is valuable for students to take a role in such discourse and provide detailed explanations of their thinking so that becomes visible to peers and the teacher..

Visit the Classroom Talk Collection by starting with Facilitating Detailed Explanations. This teacher in Colima, Mexico, invites students to speak out and think through their answers with encouragement and purposeful questioning.

Cognitive Engagement

When students are cognitively engaged, they tend to be more interested and their learning outcomes improve. It can be challenging to discern from observations of students’ behaviour whether or not students are cognitively engaged so discerning students’ cognitive engagement must go beyond observing whether students are moving their pencils or listening attentively to whoever is speaking.

See the entire Cognitive Engagement Collection including Understanding Procedures Through Mistakes. From the video in this collection, notice how the teacher guides students with specific hintes and questions. How does she illustrate misconceptions to the class?

Observation Masterclasses

Check out the Observation Masterclasses collection which features videos showcasing classroom observations in mathematics classes, with a specific focus on the intricacies of teaching the quadratic formula through various strategies. Each video presents a unique case study, providing an in-depth exploration of how educators approach this fundamental topic. To enrich your learning experience, you will find valuable documents linked in the description of each video. Join us on a formal and informative journey to explore diverse teaching methods and gain a profound understanding of quadratic formula instruction in these illuminating masterclasses.

See the full playlist here and refer to the available themes below.

Facilitating Whole-Class Discussions: Helping Students Understand Each Other's Ideas
led by Aki Murata

Creating a Mathematics Lesson Driven by Student Ideas (and Not
Teachers')
led by Aki Murata

Comparing Fractions 5/10 and 1/2: Representations of Student Work in Facilitating Understanding
led by Aki Murata

Solving a Quadratic Equation by Completing the Square
led by Avital Elbaum-Cohen

Using Problems to Support Student Learning in a Japanese Lesson
led by Clea Fernandez

Transforming Algebraic Language to Geometric Representation Through Problem Solving and Collaborative Work
led by Cristian Reyes

Mathematic Modelling Through Cartesian Graphics
led by David Mauricio Ruiz Ayala & Mariam Pinto

Quadratics and Squares: Drawing on Area Representations to Help Understanding
led by Fay Baldry

Completing the Square: How to Solve Quadratic Equations
led by Fay Baldry

Quadratic Equations: Representations and Solutions by Completing the Square
led by Francesca Martignone

Definiting Student Engagement
led by Hilary Kreisberg

Making Sense of Student Thinking During Instruction
led by Janet Walkoe

Agency and Positioning
led by Jennifer Jacobs

Deciding How to Incorporate Student Work Throughout a Lesson
led by Kristin Lesseig

Scaffolding Mathematical Problem Solving
led by Luis J. Rodriguez Muñiz

Utilizing Students' Responses in Discussions to Develop Students' Deeper Understanding
led by Makoto Yoshida

Encouraging Students to Explore and Work with Patterns
led by Mary Beisiegel

Deeply Understanding the Quadratic Formula and Supporting Students to Generalize
led by Myriam Codes Valcarce

Exploring Pedagogical Strategies in Teaching Quadratic Equations
led by Nichole Rhynard

Using Geometry to Help us Solve Quadratic Equations
led by Pedro Ramos

Maintaining the Cognitive Demand of Mathematical Tasks and Making use of Multiple Representations
led by Rosella Santagata

Teacher InSights // GTI Crowdsourcing

The GTI's crowdsourcing initiatives on different themes directly engage teachers to share their own insights and advice, directly from the classroom on different important subjects.

See the different videos here and learn more about the latest iniative, Teaching for Climate Action:

Transforming how our next generation thinks and acts about the environment and the world requires profound changes in teaching and learning. And that is why the OECD, UNESCO and Education International ran a joint initiative to gather teacher expertise on what makes a difference in student agency to act and lead on climate matters. Roughly 850 teachers actively contributed to this initiative, with engagement from more than 6500 visitors across 157 countries.

The final Summary of InSights report is available in English here, as well as French and Spanish.

You can also read the highlights from the initiative here: Teaching in Focus #44-Teaching for Climate Action.