The TKS (Teacher Knowledge Survey) is a new OECD study based on the direct measurement of pedagogical knowledge. It was conducted in 2024 in eight countries: Poland, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Croatia, Morocco, South Africa, Portugal, and the United States. The survey included representative samples of teachers at ISCED Level 2 schools, which in Poland included teachers of grades 5–8 in primary schools.

In our country, a total of 2,831 teachers from 279 schools participated in the study. The study, conducted in March 2024, comprised a set of tasks and a questionnaire collecting demographic and contextual data.

Pedagogical Knowledge in the TKS Study

In accordance with the study’s assumptions, pedagogical knowledge is defined as the specialized knowledge of teachers that enables them to create effective teaching and learning environments for all students, regardless of the subject taught. It consists of both theoretical and practical knowledge. In the TKS study, pedagogical knowledge covers the areas of: teaching (teaching methods, lesson planning, classroom management), learning (learning, student development, students’ emotional dispositions and motivations), and assessment (diagnosis and assessment, analysis, use of data).

Average country scores

Portugal achieved the highest average score in the study, followed by Poland, Croatia, and the United States. The scores of these three countries are statistically indistinguishable. Saudi Arabia recorded the lowest score among the countries participating in the study.

Country results by TKS knowledge levels

The study identified 3 levels of pedagogical knowledge. In Poland, the results of 25% of teachers correspond to the highest level of 3, the majority (64%) of teachers to level 2, and the results of 11% of teachers to level 1. In countries with average scores similar to Poland’s, there were more teachers with the highest scores (Level 3: in the U.S. – 51%, in Portugal – 40%, in Croatia – 34%). Compared to other countries, there are few teachers in Poland with low scores.

Variation in scores across schools

“The variation in scores across schools in Poland is very small. This is primarily due to teacher characteristics—that is, schools are similar to one another, but the teachers within them differ significantly. Therefore, from a student’s perspective, it wouldn’t matter which elementary school they attend, but rather who is their teacher, and within a single teachers’ lounge, the staff doesn’t necessarily speak the same professional “language” or share the same teaching methods,” explains Katarzyna Paczuska, head of the TALIS TKS 2024 national team in Poland

Polish schools do not differ significantly in terms of average teacher performance when we take into account the size of the town or village where they are located, as well as whether they are public or non-public institutions. At the same time, however, schools in the smallest towns employ significantly more teachers with the lowest scores in the country^[1] than schools in large cities (28% and 21% of the staff, respectively).

Conversely, schools with more special educational needs students have a significantly higher proportion of teachers with high scores (Level 3—27% and 21% of the staff in these schools, respectively). These results are independent of the size of the town where the school is located.

Sense of preparedness for teaching and professional self-efficacy

In addition to measuring knowledge, the TKS survey also collected teachers’ opinions on the extent to which their education and professional development had prepared them for teaching. Polish teachers rate their preparation highest for work within the traditional teaching model—that is, for highly structured tasks in which they lead the lesson process. This sense of preparedness diminishes when it comes to working with students in ways that require stepping outside the roles and tasks inherent in this model.

Among the various areas of teaching, teachers are less likely to feel prepared for activities that support student autonomy and engagement in their own learning, such as peer assessment (59% reporting a sense of preparedness) or supporting self-regulation (44%). They also report a sense of preparedness less frequently in areas relating to theoretical foundations—only one in two teachers feels prepared in the area of child developmental psychology (50%) and learning theory (49%).

Polish teachers with a higher level of pedagogical knowledge rate their preparation in the area of teaching more poorly and rate their effectiveness lower in engaging students in learning, managing the classroom, as well as in reducing differences among students, and ensuring the academic progress of every student.

The study was conducted as part of the OECD TALIS research programme, which has been conducted periodically since 2008. The TALIS programme collects data on school working conditions and organisation from the perspective of teachers and principals.