Five Myths Nearly Education, Debunked

By Andreas Schleicher

Director, Directorate for Education as well as Skills

Photo credit: Shutterstock

It’s thus much easier to develop students for our past times than for their future. Schools are inherently conservative social systems; every bit parents nosotros acquire nervous when our children larn things nosotros don’t understand, as well as fifty-fifty to a greater extent than thus when they no longer written report things that were thus of import for us. Teachers are to a greater extent than comfortable teaching how they were taught than how they were taught to teach. And, every bit a politician, you lot tin lose an election over teaching issues, but you lot tin rarely win one, because it takes far to a greater extent than than an election bike to interpret intentions into results.

So changing teaching bureaucracies seems similar moving graveyards: it’s oftentimes difficult to rely on the people out in that place to help, because the condition quo has thus many protectors. The biggest run a jeopardy to schooling today isn’t its inefficiency, but that our way of schooling is losing its utilization as well as relevance. And when fast gets actually fast, existence slower to accommodate makes teaching systems actually dull as well as disoriented.

We alive inwards a Blue Planet inwards which the form of things that are piece of cake to instruct as well as exam receive got likewise acquire piece of cake to digitise as well as automate. Education has won the race amongst applied scientific discipline throughout history, but in that place is no guarantee it volition do thus inwards the future. Students growing upwardly amongst a swell smartphone but a misfortunate teaching volition facial expression upwardly unprecedented risks. When nosotros could all the same assume that what nosotros larn inwards schoolhouse volition final for a lifetime, teaching content noesis as well as routine cognitive skills was rightly at the centre of education. Today, the Blue Planet no longer rewards you lot for what you lot know – Google knows everything – but for what you lot tin do amongst what you lot know. If all nosotros do is instruct our children what nosotros know, they may cry upwardly plenty to follow inwards our footsteps. But it is only if nosotros assist them build a reliable scope as well as navigation skills that they volition move able to overstep anywhere as well as uncovering their way through this increasingly complex, volatile as well as ambiguous world.

One of the reasons why nosotros acquire stuck inwards teaching is that our thinking is framed past times thus many myths. So I initiatory of all my novel book, World Class: Building a 21st-century schoolhouse system, past times debunking some of the most common.

• “The misfortunate volition ever do badly inwards school.” That’s non true: the 10% most disadvantaged kids inwards Shanghai do ameliorate inwards maths than the 10% most advantaged students inwards large American cities.

• “Immigrants volition lower the functioning of a province on international comparisons.” That’s non true: in that place is no human relationship betwixt the percentage of immigrant students as well as the lineament of an teaching system; as well as the schoolhouse systems inwards which immigrant students settle affair a lot to a greater extent than than the province where they came from. 

• “Smaller classes hateful ameliorate results.” That’s non true: whenever high-performing teaching systems receive got to brand a selection betwixt a smaller shape as well as a ameliorate teacher, they overstep for the latter. Often it is pocket-size classes that receive got created the Taylorist civilisation where teachers terminate upwardly doing naught other than teaching, as well as don’t receive got the fourth dimension to back upwardly private students, collaborate amongst other teaching professionals or move amongst parents – activities that are hallmarks of high-performing teaching systems. 

• “More fourth dimension spent learning ever agency ameliorate results.” That’s non true: students inwards Republic of Finland pass piddling to a greater extent than than to a greater extent than or less one-half the number of hours studying than what students inwards the United Arab Emirates spend; but students inwards Republic of Finland larn a lot inwards a brusk time, patch students inwards the United Arab Emirates larn real piddling inwards a lot of time. 

• “The results inwards PISA are only a reflection of culture.” That’s non true: quickly improving teaching systems did non modify their civilisation but their teaching policies as well as practices. 

Why is our thinking thus captured past times myths as well as past times practice? Because teaching systems receive got a habit of edifice “walls” that carve upwardly teachers, schools or the systems themselves from peer learning. When I started PISA, the key thought was to interruption those walls. The thought was to count what counts – that is, to collect high-quality information as well as combine that amongst information on wider social outcomes; to analyse that information to empower educators as well as researchers to brand to a greater extent than informed decisions; as well as to harness collaborative might to deed on the data, both past times lowering the terms of political action, as well as at times past times raising the terms of political inaction, every bit well.

The skillful intelligence is that our noesis nearly what industrial plant inwards teaching has improved vastly. In my book, I write extensively nearly what makes schoolhouse systems successful, as well as what makes high-performing schoolhouse systems different.

Still, noesis is only every bit valuable every bit our capacity to deed on it. To transform schooling at scale, nosotros withdraw non precisely a radical vision of what is possible, but likewise smart strategies to assist drive change. The route of teaching reform is littered amongst skillful ideas that were poorly implemented. The laws, regulations, structures as well as institutions on which teaching leaders tend to focus are precisely similar the pocket-size tip of an iceberg.

The argue it is thus difficult to motility schoolhouse systems is that in that place is a much larger invisible role nether the waterline. This invisible role is nearly the interests, beliefs, motivations as well as fears of the people who are involved inwards education, including parents as well as teachers. This is where unexpected collisions occur, because this role of teaching reform tends to evade the radar of world policy. That is why teaching leaders are rarely successful amongst reform unless they build a shared agreement as well as collective ownership for change; as well as unless they build capacity as well as create the correct policy climate, amongst accountability measures designed to encourage excogitation rather than compliance.

Our work is non to brand the impossible possible, but to brand the possible attainable. 

Many teachers as well as schools are gear upwardly for change. To encourage their growth, policy needs to shift towards inspiring as well as enabling innovation, identifying as well as sharing best practice. Such a shift volition withdraw to move built on trust: trust inwards education, inwards educational institutions, inwards schools as well as teachers, inwards students as well as communities. Trust is an essential role of skillful governance inwards all world services, as well as a key determinant of where swell people desire to work. But trust cannot move legislated as well as mandated; that is why it is thus difficult to build into traditional administrative structures. And trust is ever intentional. Trust tin only move nurtured as well as inspired through salubrious relationships as well as constructive transparency. That is the lesson nosotros tin all larn from Finland, where thought polls consistently demo high levels of world trust inwards education. At a fourth dimension when command-and-control systems are weakening, edifice trust is the most promising way to advance as well as fuel modern teaching systems.

In the facial expression upwardly of all these challenges, nosotros don’t withdraw to move passive. While applied scientific discipline as well as globalisation receive got disruptive implications for our economical as well as social structure, these implications are non predetermined. Their outcomes volition move determined past times our collective reply to these disruptions – the interplay betwixt the technological frontier as well as the cultural, social, institutional as well as economical agents that nosotros mobilise inwards response. We receive got agency, the might to anticipate as well as frame our actions amongst purpose, as well as to devise as well as execute a computer program to accomplish that purpose.

I decided to write this majority when I saw children from the poorest neighborhoods of Shanghai learning from Shanghai’s best teachers. It was thus that I realised that universal, high-quality teaching is an attainable goal, as well as that our work is non to brand the impossible possible, but to brand the possible attainable. This is non rocket science; it is only inside our agency to deliver a futurity for millions of learners who currently don’t receive got one.



World Class: Building a 21st century schoolhouse system is available every bit a costless download here.