Teachers at Middle Schools More Often Confronted with Difficult Classes

In middle schools, there are significantly more students than in the AHS lower secondary level who have learning difficulties, exhibit behavioral issues, or grow up in families with little money and low education. Despite more challenging conditions, middle school teachers often have to teach subjects for which they are not trained. New teachers are generally more often placed in difficult classes than their more experienced colleagues, according to the new OECD teacher study TALIS.

Harsher Conditions for Teachers at Middle Schools

Those who want to switch to a gymnasium after elementary school must not have a grade worse than "Good" in German, reading, and mathematics. Accordingly, according to the surveyed teachers, there are significantly fewer children with weak academic performance there than in middle schools. While in TALIS 2024 only 16 percent of AHS lower secondary teachers state that more than 30 percent of students struggle with learning, 42 percent say this in middle schools.

In middle schools, significantly more teachers also report that over 30 percent of their children have problems understanding the language of instruction. In every tenth middle school class, over 90 percent of the children have a migration background. A quarter of the staff there has over 30 percent of students from socio-economically disadvantaged families in their class, who often cannot be well supported at home in their learning. Middle school teachers also more often report classes where more than 30 percent show behavioral issues (18 percent compared to 6 percent at AHS).

"Most Experienced Teachers Get Easiest Task"

According to Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director of Education, the most experienced teachers should teach at locations with more challenging conditions. In practice, however, this is hardly the case in the 54 participating countries and regions of TALIS 24, he recently expressed "disillusionment" in an online press conference on the study's publication. "In many countries, the most experienced teachers get the easiest task and those with less experience the most difficult" - and this, despite the fact that challenges in classes have increased internationally due to more students who do not master the language of instruction well or have special educational needs.

New Teachers Particularly Often Placed in Difficult Classes

In Austria, significantly more new teachers with less than five years of teaching experience report that they teach classes with over 30 percent of low-performing students than their older colleagues (38 compared to 29 percent). According to the survey, new teachers also more often teach in classes with at least one-tenth of children with problems in the language of instruction or behavioral issues.

In middle schools, it is also the case that a larger proportion of educators are deployed in subjects for which they are not or only partially trained (21 percent compared to 7 at AHS). Teachers teaching outside their subject area often have less formal teacher training, instead having shortened, subject-specific, or purely subject-based training, as emphasized in the Austrian evaluation of the study. Teaching outside one's subject area occurs particularly often in schools where many children come from families with little money and low education. Additionally, teaching outside one's subject area occurs more often in cities than in rural areas.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.