Top Class: The OECD Education Policy Podcast | Teachers, PISA, Students

What makes a fair exam? It’s a question that has grown in significance as upper secondary certificates play an ever more pivotal role in students’ lives. They are a passport to higher education, training and employment at a time when institutions and employers are often choosing from larger pools of candidates than ever before.

In this episode of Top Class, the OECD’s Chris Moore is joined by Ruth Johnson, Director of Assessment at Cambridge OCR, one of the United Kingdom’s leading exam boards. She discusses how to keep exams inclusive, why she believes they remain the fairest way of testing students’ abilities - and the challenges facing assessors in the age of artificial intelligence.

Find out more in the OECD’s report The Theory and Practice of Upper Secondary Certification: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-theory-and-practice-of-upper-secondary-certification_b3fea5ba-en.html

What makes a great teacher? Beyond subject expertise, effective teaching depends on a strong understanding of how students learn, what motivates them and how to create classrooms where every learner can thrive. A new OECD report reveals significant differences between countries in teachers’ general pedagogical knowledge - the knowledge that helps teachers explain concepts clearly, anticipate misconceptions, engage students and support learning at a high level.

The OECD’s Teacher Knowledge Survey explores what teachers know about learning itself and why these skills are so closely linked to student success. In this episode of Top Class, OECD Editor Duncan Crawford speaks with Linda Darling-Hammond, Chief Knowledge Officer at the Learning Policy Institute, and Heewoon Bae, OECD policy analyst, about the survey’s findings and what policymakers can do to strengthen teacher knowledge and improve outcomes for students.

Read the Teacher Knowledge Survey here: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/results-from-the-teacher-knowledge-survey_5542e88a-en.html

What does it take to lead one of the world’s highest-performing education systems? In this episode of Top Class, OECD Editor Duncan Crawford speaks with Estonia’s Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas. Drawing on Estonia’s experience with digital learning, teacher professionalism and long-term student well-being, Kallas reflects on the pressures facing education leaders today, including rapid technological change and teacher shortages. The conversation also explores how Estonia has sustained strong outcomes over time, which lessons may (and may not) translate to other countries and the recent International Summit on the Teaching Profession, which was held in Tallinn.

You can find the OECD’s latest publication for the International Summit on the Teaching Profession – Reimagining Teaching in an Accelerating World – here: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/international-summit-on-the-teaching-profession_23127090.html

Working with young children can be a tough job, so what can be done to ensure staff want to stay in their jobs? This episode of Top Class delves into the world of creches, kindergartens and nurseries. While most early childhood education and care staff report high job satisfaction, around half don’t feel valued by society, according to the OECD’s TALIS Starting Strong survey. OECD Editor Duncan Crawford is joined by two experts to discuss workplace conditions, societal recognition and the policies that can strengthen staff retention in the sector.
• Elizabeth Shuey, OECD analyst and co-author of the Starting Strong survey
• Anne-Marie Brooks, Assistant Secretary at Ireland’s Department of Children, Disability and Equality

You can learn more insights about this subject by viewing the OECD’s Insights and Interpretations brochure: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/support-materials/2025/12/results-from-talis-starting-strong-2024_763cbc56/talis3s2024-insights-interpretations.pdf

And check out the full TALIS Starting Strong survey results here: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/results-from-talis-starting-strong-2024_20af08c0-en.html

Can alternative pathways into teaching help tackle teacher shortages and strengthen the profession? With traditional teacher preparation programmes struggling to keep pace with demand in some countries, especially in underserved areas, some are turning to non-traditional routes to attract new talent.

Drawing on insights from the OECD paper Alternative Pathways into Teaching: Broadening Access and Expanding Diversity, this episode of Top Class takes a close look at one model - Nexus, an Australian programme that allows participants to earn a teaching qualification while working in schools. Professors Joanna Barbousas and Miriam Tanti from La Trobe University in Melbourne, who work on the Nexus programme, as well as Barbara O’Brien, Principal of Greater Shepparton Secondary College in Victoria, who has welcomed Nexus trainee teachers into her school, explain how alternative pathways work in practice and why others should consider them.