In this monthly series, we take a look at some further readings available on a particular topic, including open access research papers from various online catalogues. This month’s theme is creative thinking.

This week, Teacher has been sharing reader stories on their school’s response to the pandemic. This final instalment is written by Michael Rosenbrock, Assistant Principal at Wodonga Senior Secondary College, on the border of Victoria and New South Wales.

In today’s article, Kate Hill – an Australian teacher from Melbourne who is currently teaching Year 7 and 8 English at Braeburn School in Nairobi, Kenya – gives an international perspective on learning during the pandemic.

‘While schools will be gradually re-opening in China by mid-April, they’re closing around much of the rest of the world. How well are we prepared? OECD’s TALIS survey offers some insights,’ Andreas Schleicher, the organisation’s Director for Education and Skills, writes in his latest Teacher column.

In her new Teacher column, Dr Sue Thomson discusses some of the latest results from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), including issues of resourcing and student achievement.

‘Educators and parents are questioning the effect that technology can have on students' mental health and wellbeing, now more than ever,’ Julia Gillard writes in her new Teacher column.

'While people have different views on the role that digital technology can and should play in schools, we cannot ignore how digital tools have so fundamentally transformed the world outside of school,' OECD Director of Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher writes in his new column.

Improving educational opportunities has a far greater reach than just the benefits for that individual child. ‘This is particularly the case for educating girls and young women,’ Julia Gillard writes in her latest Teacher column.

‘The quality of an education system can never exceed the quality of its teachers.’ In his new column, OECD Director of Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher explores responses from TALIS 2018 where teachers around the globe share their views on the state of the teaching profession.

Dr Sue Thomson explores how the COVID-19 crisis has propelled schools to an online learning environment, and draws on data from the OECD’s 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) to shed light on students’, teachers’ and schools’ preparedness for the ‘new normal’.