X-ray of teaching: stressed but satisfied teachers and discipline problems in the classrooms

The latest OECD report reflects that 40% of teachers have difficulties knowing how to care for students with special needs

ARAGON NEWS / 07/10/2025 - 14:40

Secondary class in an Aragonese institute./ Aragón TV

Primary and Secondary teachers in Spain assure that they are happy with their work; In fact, more than 95% show a high degree of satisfaction, a percentage above the average of the 55 countries surveyed in the latest report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the OECD. The document also shows less positive data, such as that 40% of teachers acknowledge that they have difficulties knowing how to care for students with special needs or that 66% of them report feeling stress due to excessive administrative tasks.

In this report, in which more than a thousand Spanish schools and institutes have participated , it has been the Primary and Secondary teachers who have had to respond, with pencil and paper, to the OECD questions. They have had to explain how they carry out their work on a day-to-day basis with the students.

The majority of Spanish teachers, up to 95%, are satisfied with their work, but they also recognize that they must face complications such as maintaining discipline in class, a factor that causes stress in more than half of secondary school teachers . "There is teacher stress, yes, we cannot deny it and we will have to do everything possible to lower these levels. Discipline and class preparation are an alert that we must be prepared for," said one of the teachers who participated in this report.

The data reveal that 40% of professionals do not see themselves prepared to care for students with special needs, who are increasingly present in classrooms. "Diversity is the new normal and diversity enriches us but presents challenges that we must resolve," another professor acknowledged.

also Experience and years in teaching take their toll among the most veteran: two out of 10 plan to leave the profession , but almost all agree that, if they could choose again, they would become teachers again.

The lack of discipline is one of the most repeated factors because, according to this report, it makes the day-to-day life of teachers in classes difficult. 29% perceive a disorderly environment in the classrooms and Spain is, along with Belgium and Portugal, one of the three countries in the report where classes are interrupted the most for reasons unrelated to the subject taught.