2025 marked a year full of engaging opportunities, fruitful discussions, and productive advancements towards achieving SDG 4 target 4.c through the work of the Teacher Task Force (TTF), especially amid ever-changing geopolitical shifts. Activities in 2025 continued to be structured around knowledge production and dissemination, advocacy, and national and regional policy learning, marking the final year of our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan.

Month to month, the TTF raised awareness and expanded knowledge across key issues concerning teachers: from building AI competencies to promoting collaboration to advocating for greater financing of the teaching profession.

Moving with the same momentum into 2026 and beginning of a new Strategic Plan cycle, the TTF enters another year full of meaningful dialogue, reflection and stocktaking around innovative policies, and global action aimed at improving teachers’ working conditions, education and well-being. As the year comes to an end, it is important to reflect on the accomplishments from 2025 that will set the pace for the upcoming year.

Global efforts propelling the teaching agenda

The TTF participated in dozens of global events prioritizing sustainable teacher development initiatives, ultimately leading to one of the largest initiatives of the year, the World Summit on Teachers in Santiago de Chile. Building on the 2024 Global Report on Teachers (GRT) and the 14th Policy Dialogue Forum (PDF), the Summit culminated in the adoption of the Santiago Consensus, which was developed collaboratively under the auspices of UNESCO and the TTF, the SDG4-Education 2030 High-Level Steering Committee, youth networks, teachers and organizations. At its core, the Santiago Consensus underscores the indispensable role of teachers in education systems worldwide and recognizes the key role that the TTF plays and should play in fostering teacher policy development and implementation.

Youth engagement formed part of the TTF’s wider advocacy and partnership work in 2025. Collaboration with the SDG4 Youth & Student Network supported dialogue around the Santiago Consensus and broader global exchanges on addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession into one that is respected and empowered.

World Teachers’ Day served as another successful opportunity to advocate for teachers. This year’s theme, “Recasting teaching as a collaborative profession,” illustrated the significance of collaboration among teachers, an invaluable facet that will characterize the profession moving forward. The 2025 World Teachers’ Day fact sheet sheds more light on ever-evolving trends in the teaching profession and examines how to cultivate collective thinking.

Informing policy creation through knowledge products and reports

The vast knowledge produced by the network continued to spearhead advocacy campaigns and played an influential role in informing political decisions aimed at improving teacher conditions, beginning with further dissemination of the 2024 Global Report on Teachers. The TTF successfully launched the Portuguese version of the report in Brasília and the Spanish version through three national launches in Madrid, Seville and Valencia, as well as a regional launch in Chile for Latin America, strengthening advocacy efforts at both regional and national level. In parallel, work advanced on the forthcoming 2026 edition through Editorial Board meetings.

New evidence also emerged this year, such as Costing and financing the teaching profession: A strategic investment in education, a paper offering strategic guidance for governments and education stakeholders on funding the profession. Promoting and protecting teacher agency in the age of artificial intelligence and its quick guide are that support understanding of major advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and how these can be adapted to teachers’ needs. Both papers set the course for the future of the education agenda, highlighting strategies to finance the teaching profession and analyzing the role of AI in classrooms.

Developed in line with World Teachers’ Day 2025, the World Teachers’ Day fact sheet, published by the TTF and UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), highlights new trends and data related to the teaching profession and how these insights can support continuous professional development.

The TTF further contributed to knowledge generation through its participation in the APPRENDRE international seminar in Dakar in October 2025, where the Secretariat shared key highlights from a forthcoming paper on Teacher Management Information Systems (TMIS) in sub-Saharan Africa, underscoring the role of reliable teacher data in supporting effective planning and evidence-based policymaking.

Continuing to advocate for inclusive education

Inclusive education was a major theme in the work of the TTF this year, playing a part in multiple events, such as the Global Disability Summit and International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The advocacy campaign Teachers without limits: Voices we must hear, leaders we must follow, led by the TTF’s Thematic Group on Inclusion and Equity in Teacher Policies and Practices, exemplified member-led collaboration by amplifying the leadership and lived experiences of teachers with disabilities through blogs, interviews and social media.

In parallel, the TTF continued its engagement in youth-led advocacy around the Santiago Consensus, ensuring sustained attention to its core messages on inclusive and equitable education.

Supporting teacher policies at a national and regional level

The Teacher Policy Development Guide (TPDG) continued to support evidence-informed teacher policies, helping ensure that every learner is taught by qualified, trained and well-supported teachers. Regional webinars included a policy learning webinar in the Asia-Pacific region, co-organized with INRULED, focused on rural teacher policies and lessons from implementation, as well as a regional webinar for Arab States – facilitated by RCQE – on the costing and financing of teacher policies, with insights feeding into the development of new TPDG modules.

Looking ahead at 2026

With all the transformative work from 2025 paving the way, the year ahead will continue to foster inclusive, equitable, and quality opportunities for teachers through policy dialogues, reports, advocacy campaigns, and global events. Major milestones will include the release of the 2026-2029 Strategic Plan and the next edition of the Global Report on Teachers, as well as ongoing dissemination and contextualization of the Santiago Consensus.

The TTF offers a warm thank you to its members and partners for their collaboration and unwavering support towards realizing SDG 4. As we embark on a new year, it is critical to recognize the contributions of the network and commitment to bettering the teaching profession.

To learn more about the many accomplishments of the TTF and its members this past year, explore our blogs and subscribe to our newsletter.

2026 upcoming highlights:

• The next edition of the Global Report on Teachers, highlighting professional development and lifelong learning for educators;
• The release of the 2026-2029 TTF Strategic Plan;
• Continuation of the #TeachersMissing campaign with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa;
• The 15th Teacher Policy Dialogue Forum hosted by Saudi Arabia;
• Ongoing dissemination of the Santiago Consensus.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a member of the Teacher Task Force (TTF) network, recently published the results from its 2024 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). A key tool in amplifying teachers’ voices and opinions, the results of the new TALIS are critical to better understand the current state of the teaching profession, the various stresses teachers endure daily, and the importance of collective thinking. 

How has teaching in today’s world evolved? 

As staff shortages, funding deficits, and digital technologies continue to alter the educational landscape, the teaching profession has shifted in tandem. As we know from our 2024 Global Report on Teachers, currently, 44 million primary and secondary teachers are missing from the teaching profession, and in order to ensure equitable education for all by 2030, this gap needs to be filled. According to TALIS, 23% of teachers reported working in a school affected by the shortage of qualified teachers, thus limiting their school’s capacity to offer quality instruction. 

Funding has continued to remain an issue, both affecting broader investments in education systems and teacher salaries. Investing not only financially, but in building new technological competencies has also been at the forefront of educational evolution. Even years after the COVID-19 global pandemic, hybrid and online teaching modalities have been maintained, with over 16% of teachers reported having taught at least one online or hybrid lesson. Further technological innovations, such as artificial intelligence, also emerge as a key facet to address in teacher training and development. According to TALIS, 29% of teachers feel that AI should be included in professional development resources. 

What are the various demands of teaching today? 

Overall, 90% of teachers report that they are satisfied with their jobs, but their work is not free from pressure. Leading a classroom is one of the many demands teachers must encounter each day, and other elements of the job such as administrative work, lesson planning, marking and grading, maintaining discipline, and more have surfaced as substantial sources of stress. In fact, 50% of teachers reported excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress. 

Additionally, as classrooms are becoming more diverse, some teachers, particularly younger teachers, have found it challenging to adapt. 37% of teachers report that modifying lessons to support inclusive education is a source of stress, and novice teachers are more likely to be exposed to classrooms in which 10% of students have difficulties understanding the language of instruction. Therefore, it is essential that both initial teacher training and continuous professional development highlight ways to support students of various backgrounds, ensuring quality and equitable education for all. 

Are teachers participating in decision-making and leadership opportunities? 

Countless initiatives, such as the Global Report on Teachers and Santiago Consensus, reaffirm the importance of teacher voices and call for their contributions in policy- and decision-making; however, involvement of teachers in school-level policy decisions is declining. According to TALIS, less than 4 out of 10 teachers work in schools that engage them in defining school improvement policies.  

Teachers that feel a greater sense of empowerment and autonomy over their work are often more satisfied with their jobs, leading to more confidence in the classroom. This includes designing lessons, selecting teaching methods, and implementing different curricula with flexibility, overall allowing for a more tailored experience for learners. 

How has collaboration played a role in the teaching field? 

As emphasized in our latest World Teacher’s Day fact sheet, collaboration forms the foundation of professional growth and quality education. The 2024 TALIS finds that teachers today feel that they are spending more time working together compared to 2018. Four in five teachers work in a school with a mentoring program, yet only one in four teachers are assigned a mentor. 

Positive professional relationships, whether with other teachers, principals, parents and guardians, or students, have resulted in higher well-being and job satisfaction. Opportunities to further promote this stem from continuous professional development and other initiatives, such as team teaching, joint activities across classes, classroom observation feedback, and collaborative professional learning. 

What keeps educators engaged and motivated to remain in their profession, and how can that be further sustained? 

Encouraging participation in continuous professional learning (CPL) keeps educators engaged and offers the opportunity to build new skills while sharpening old ones, especially as new digital competencies rise, such as the use of AI. Even though nearly all teachers surveyed were actively involved in CPL, only half of them found activities to have a positive impact. These results call for greater attention towards better tailoring CPL to meet the needs of teachers and including teacher voices in development planning. 

Despite CPL efforts, teacher attrition continues to threaten the future of the teaching profession and is highest amongst those under the age of 30 and over 50. 22% of teachers under the age of 30 intend to leave the career within the next five years, and these statistics are often linked to how valued teachers feel. 

While salary satisfaction has increased, there are more elements that comprise a teacher’s overall job satisfaction. Only 1 in 5 teachers agree or strongly disagree that their profession is valued by policymakers. Therefore, moving forward, teachers must be prioritized in the education agenda and engaged in decision-making processes. Revalorizing the profession remains an important part of the Teacher Task Force’s mission and is essential in maintaining and further attracting motivated and qualified teachers. 

Read more:  

• OECD, Results from TALIS 2024, The State of Teaching 
• World Teacher’s Day fact sheet 
• Global Report on Teachers 
• Promoting and protecting teacher agency in the age of artificial intelligence 

Photo credit: OECD