What Electrical Flow Pedagogy Ministers Tin Flame Larn From Their Predecessors

By Andreas Schleicher
Director, Directorate for Education together with Skills


Photo credit: © Varkey Foundation

Last October, I attended the maiden coming together of the Atlantis Group – an scheme comprised of old teaching ministers from across the world. Over the course of instruction of ii days, these old ministers shared their experiences together with insights inwards tackling mutual challenges, together with discussed the purpose of political leadership inwards education.

It was fascinating to consider old leaders portion insights together with mutual practices. But ii things struck me equally peculiarly interesting: virtually every old government minister said they wished they had known on their starting fourth dimension twenty-four hours what they knew on their final day; together with nearly everyone wished they had been far to a greater extent than courageous together with aware of the policy infinite for deep together with lasting alter that had really been available.

While merely about novel ministers volition withdraw keep access to a trunk of enquiry together with information to inform their decision-making, few volition withdraw keep the chance to larn from their predecessors – the old ministers who sat behind the same desks, faced the same issues together with asked themselves the same questions. The Atlantis Group is helping to fill upward this gap, drawing on its members’ combined lxx years of sense inwards running world teaching systems.

“Every novel government minister wants to exhibit rapid results together with print inwards the starting fourth dimension few months,” says Silas Lwakabamba, Rwanda’s old teaching minister. As a leader known for implementing an ambitious programme of alter land inwards office, he argues that novel ministers should start yesteryear figuring out what’s already working.

“There are no jobs which are to a greater extent than challenging inwards lodge than political leadership inwards a menses of change.”

“The challenge is to rapidly position the positive efforts or low-hanging fruits left yesteryear the previous government minister together with leverage the same for quick wins,” Lwakabamba says. “Unfortunately merely about novel ministers tend to ignore or dismiss the efforts of the previous ministers, at their cost.”

For others, a minister’s priority for their starting fourth dimension weeks inwards purpose should live to position where – together with who –the electrical current scheme is failing. In the words of the old Philippines teaching minister, Brother Armin Luistro: “A novel teaching government minister volition withdraw keep to boot the bucket beyond the commons queries nigh the condition of electrical current programs together with start out quest the hard questions nigh learners who are lagging behind, at jeopardy of dropping out or, worse, who dare non dream of going to school.”

While inwards office, both Professor Lwakabamba together with Brother Armin pursued far-reaching reforms that expanded gratuitous universal teaching together with rewrote curricula. Today, equally leading members of the Atlantis Group, both men desire to transcend on what they withdraw keep learned to a novel generation of ministers.

The Atlantis Group is an advisory trunk that plant to furnish expert, not-for-profit counsel to electrical current ministers of education. An initiative of the Varkey Foundation, the grouping consists of 25 old ministers of teaching together with heads of government.

Asked to reverberate on their ain fourth dimension inwards office, the old ministers described merely about of the ways inwards which they made teaching a top priority for their ain government, from the diplomatic (sitting downwardly alongside instructor leaders to halt a country-wide strike); to the sharp (bringing inwards international experts); to the flat-out audacious (door-stopping officials for a greater portion of resources). As 1 old government minister noted: “There were several billion dollars that were committed to teaching [in my country] yesteryear sitting exterior of the president or the government minister of finance’s purpose forever together with becoming relevant yesteryear force. You withdraw keep to live at that topographic point because otherwise there’s merely about other government minister that’s going to sit down at that topographic point together with fetch that money.”

But beyond these political tactics, the old ministers overwhelmingly concluded that they had been most effective inwards purpose when they informed their decision-making alongside data, non ideology – together with that goodness information had helped them to acquire amend leaders. Indeed, many pointed to the publication of OECD reports together with PISA information equally watershed moments inwards their ain countries that spurred reform.

In a novel briefing, the Atlantis Group draws upon these discussions to laid out 4 basic principles for ministers of teaching to succeed together with Pb effectively inwards office. They debate that a government minister must have:

  • the honor of their regime together with other stakeholders; 
  • the conviction of their beliefs; 
  • the resilience to Pb their departments through crises; 
  • and that ministers must reform teaching yesteryear fostering leadership together with accountability throughout the system. 

The Atlantis Group hopes that these principles volition aid guide electrical current together with hereafter teaching ministers equally they function to overcome meaning global challenges. As the Group notes inwards its novel report, the international community today risks falling curt of its 2030 Sustainable Development Goal, which calls for delivering inclusive together with lineament teaching for all, together with promoting lifelong learning. Millions of children are leaving original schoolhouse without basic writing, reading together with math skills, together with at to the lowest degree 264 meg are non inwards schoolhouse at all, according to United Nations figures.

This is really a global crisis, together with 1 that urgently demands political leadership. As 1 old government minister seat it: “There are no jobs which are to a greater extent than challenging inwards lodge than political leadership inwards a menses of change.”


Read more: 

Learning to Lead
PISA 2015 Results
Education Policy Outlook

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