it starts with a look at how wellprepared incoming teachers feel and then reviews some data from pisa on teacherdirected and studentoriented learning as well as gaps between intended and implemented pedagogical practice after that it presents initial findings from a first assessment of teachers general pedagogical knowledge and then concludes with some policy levers to shape innovative learning environments however the first phase of their careers can be strenuous and stressful as they have limited experience for coping with many new and challenging situations