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Comparative study on teaching profession: East Asia, North America, and North Europe

This paper investigates and compares three regions, East Asia, North Europe, and North America with teachers’ professional performance and development via Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) data initiated by OECD. The main focuses will be, respectively, on teaching quality, teaching approach, and professional development. The research described in this paper explores the experiences of various countries participants in TALIS survey, in order to identify the advantages and limitations of each type of professional development model in supporting teacher development, and the different needs of teachers in relation to teaching efficiency and effectiveness. The findings from the standardized questionnaire, developed by OECD, show a range of differences in experiences and outcomes due to different culture and social context. These are used to suggest a developmental framework for conceptualizing teacher professional development needs.