Teachers' Day in Brazil: Brazilian teachers already use more AI than the OECD average — and what it means for language schools

Short answer: according to the OECD's TALIS 2024 survey, 56% of Brazilian teachers use artificial intelligence tools at work, against an OECD average of 36%. Brazil ranked 10th out of 53 countries. The most common use is preparing lesson plans and activities. At the same time, the share of teachers who find their job very stressful has risen 7 points since 2018. On Teachers' Day in Brazil (October 15), the question for anyone running a language school is: which part of the work can we take off the teacher's plate?

What the survey measured

TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey) is run by the OECD with teachers and principals, mostly in lower secondary education. The 2024 edition surveyed teachers in 53 countries between June and July 2024, and the results were published in October 2025. It isn't a survey of language teachers specifically, but it shows how Brazilian teachers in general are approaching technology.

What teachers use AI for

Among Brazilian teachers who use AI, the most common uses were:

• 77% generate lesson plans or activities
• 64% adjust the difficulty of materials to students' level
• 63% learn about or summarize a topic more quickly
• 36% use it to assess or grade student work

The pattern is clear: AI comes in first through preparation, the part of the job that happens outside the classroom and eats the most time. For English teachers, that means building vocabulary exercises, adapting texts to the group's level and preparing review.

The other side of the numbers

The same survey shows a teacher under pressure. 21% of Brazilian teachers say their job is very stressful (OECD average: 19%), 7 points more than in 2018. 16% say teaching harms their mental health, against an OECD average of 10%. And among those who don't use AI yet, 64% cite a lack of knowledge and 60% a lack of infrastructure at school.

In other words, teachers are finding tools on their own to keep up with the workload, often without support from their school.

What this means for language schools

In a language school, teacher time is the most expensive and scarcest resource. Every hour spent building repetitive exercises is an hour less for planning conversation, giving careful feedback and following up with students who are falling behind. Technology makes the most sense when it takes over the mechanical part (repetition, daily practice, organization) and leaves teachers with what only they can do: explain context, correct pronunciation, hold a real conversation.

Three Teachers' Day gifts worth more than a mug

• Take exercise-building off their plate. Between-class practice with ready-made content frees up hours every week that now go into worksheets.
• Show who practiced. Knowing before class who did the practice and who got stuck avoids re-teaching everything to the whole group.
• Offer AI training. 39% of Brazilian teachers say they need training to use AI in teaching. A two-hour in-house workshop already helps teachers make good use of what they're testing on their own.