C.07. Teachers and Principals in Contemporary Education Systems: Working Conditions, Professional Dynamics and Effectiveness

For many years, research on school systems has focused mainly on institutional features (funding arrangements, tracking, ..), paying less attention to teachers and principals. Recently, large national and international surveys on teachers clearly highlighted the importance of these professional groups and the ways in which they both shape and are shaped by the school system (OECD, 2025a). Indeed, teachers and principals inhabit and enact schooling on a daily basis, making the difference in students’ achievement and related inequalities. Teachers also account for the largest share of public expenditure in education in every country, and the effectiveness of each school system depends on them to a considerable extent (OECD, 2025b). At the same time a crucial mediator between teachers and the education system are school principals, another pivotal category for the school functioning.

Placing teachers and principals at the centre of analysis, with their professional identity and experience, allows us to better grasp how educational policies and organisational structures are translated into daily practice and helps overcoming stereotypical views on these professions.

For these reasons, this panel aims to foster reflection on teachers and school principals’ living and working conditions and on the consequences on their professional quality (Kelly et al 2018), hence on pupils’ achievment and inequalities. We invite empirical, theoretical and comparative contributions that investigate teachers and school principals focused on:

-       Motivation and pathways into the profession;

-       Professional well-being and interpersonal relations;

-       Self-efficacy and perceived competences;

-       Instructional and educational practices;

-       Schools and teachers Effectivness.