2011 ~ Global perspectives on education

What future for the family?

1:10 AM childcare, children, family, future, gender, generations, household, migration, social cohesion, technology, trends, values, work

by Barrie StevensHead, International Futures ProgrammeThe family landscape in OECD countries has changed enormously over the last few decades. The extended family has all but disappeared in many places, and the traditional family – the married couple with children – is much less widespread than it used to be. Of course, this has a lot to do with other things that have been happening in society – divorce rates have been rising, as has the number...

Helping immigrant students to succeed

2:02 AM disadvantaged, globalisation, immigrants, migration, PISA, socio-economic status, students

by Marilyn AchironEditor, Indicators and Analysis Division, Directorate for EducationWhether in flight from conflict, with the hope of building a better life, or to seize a social or economic opportunity, people have been crossing borders for as long as there have been borders to cross. Modern means of transportation and communication, the globalisation of the labour market, and the ageing of populations in OECD countries will drive migration well...

Education does not equal skills

1:11 AM European Youth Forum, graduates, jobs, skills, students, unemployment, university, youth

by Julie HarrisConsultant, OECD Department of EducationMapping skills at the European Youth ForumI went back 25 years in time yesterday, as I sat with participants at the European Youth Forum, all young, vibrant, educated and driven. I felt as if I were at university with my daughter and 100 of her friends. We discussed the future, skills, and in particular, the skills mismatch, described by Andreas Schleicher as “a lot of unemployed graduates plus...

Transforming education the no-choice way in Japan

12:24 AM Japan Tohoku transformation education skills earthquake skills children teachers families communities

by Deborah RoseveareHead of the Education and Training Policy Division, OECD Directorate for EducationMost of the time, transforming education involves a strategy that is proposed, debated, planned and rolled out. For pieces of hope in a land of despairOn a road near Kamaishi Higashi Junior High, we bumped into a group of students. They say they're on their way to see their school. "We're going in to find what was ours" they...

‘An obligation to systematise success’

12:42 AM PISA United States teachers unions education systems knowledge technology children Finland Ontario

Randi Weingarten, attorney, educator and president of the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers spoke with Marilyn Achiron during an afternoon at OECD headquarters. This is a continuation of the conversation that was posted on 30 November 2011.Marilyn Achiron: How would you define effective education?Randi Weingarten: Most of our educational systems have been created to an industrial model. They were built to ensure that kids could...

When the school inspectors call less often, will Flemish schools take up the self-evaluation challenge?

1:32 AM Belgium Flanders Flemish schools evaluation assessment inspectors teaching improvement

by Claire Shewbridge, Policy Analyst, OECD Directorate for EducationAs in many European systems, Flemish schools are very used to school inspectors knocking on their doors. Schools have to let them in, as such external evaluation is a requirement. The inspectors make a “recommendation” to the Flemish authorities on whether or not the school should continue to be able to award official certificates and to benefit from public funding.This led to another...

All immigration is local: How Regional Factors Shape Global Migration

12:51 AM regions immigration governance migrant policies human capital skills

by Monica BrezziHead of Regional Statistics Unit, OECD Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial DevelopmentDebates over international migration tend to be driven by national politics and often incomplete information. But to better understand both the real drivers and effects of migration, it is critical to analyse them by region. The total number of migrants – as well as the profiles of the foreign-born population – differs widely...

‘Internationalist, not isolationist’

12:22 AM PISA OECD teachers globalisation democracy teachers' unions economy equity youth United States

Randi Weingarten, attorney, educator and president of the 1.5 million-member American Federation of Teachers spoke with Marilyn Achiron during an afternoon at OECD headquarters. Marilyn Achiron: To what extent do you look to international examples for improving teaching performance? To what extent is that important to you?Randi Weingarten: Good practice and what works knows no geographic boundaries. We should be looking for it wherever we find it....

Calling all youth: Get involved in the OECD Global Youth Video Competition 2012

4:51 AM education skills jobs employment students competition

by Desiree QuinterosOECD Global Youth Video Competition 2011 winner and Consultant to the OECD Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial DevelopmentWhere am I going to work after I finish my studies? This is the question all young students face sooner or later, but finding a quick answer is growing more and more difficult. Finding the “dream job” has never been easy, but finding a “job” is becoming harder, particularly after the financial...

Early childhood education: an international development issue

1:04 AM early childhood equity education China Mongolia

by Ian WhitmanHead of the Programme for Co-operation with Non Member Economies, OECD Directorate for EducationQuality, quality, quality – that’s what matters most. This was the overwhelming cry at the international conference I attended in Beijing this week on early childhood development, “Child Leads, Equity Counts”. Feng Xiaoxia, the Former President of the Chinese National Society of Early Childhood Education went as far as to say that without...

The parent factor in student performance

4:59 AM PISA parents reading children school

by Marilyn AchironEditor, Indicators and Analysis Division, Directorate for EducationWhen it comes to parents’ involvement in their child’s education, is there really such a thing as “quality time”?Evidence from PISA, highlighted in the latest issue of PISA in Focus, suggests there is. Parents who are concerned that they don’t have enough time–or, for that matter, expertise–to help their children succeed at school can find some comfort in knowing...

Finding your way in the higher education marketplace

3:56 AM higher_education internationalisation universities students

by Richard YellandHead of the Education Management and Infrastructure Division, OECD Directorate for Education Suppose you are running a business with global brand recognition and tens of thousands of customers trying to buy your product. You can choose to remain exclusive and put the price up, or you might want to increase production to meet demand.If you are running a university you might well find that your Government won’t allow you to do either...

Good fences make good neighbours

12:39 AM vocational universities regions cities partnerships innovation

by Oscar ValienteConsultant, OECD Directorate for Education‘Good fences make good neighbors’ says Robert Frost’s protagonist in ‘’Mending wall’. Frost himself was not so sure. Barriers in education – like barriers between people - are not what cities and regions need in our time: rather what they need is better collaboration between the vocational and the university sectors for social and economic development. A very good example of this is the area...

What’s in children's school bags?

2:16 AM keywords oecd education pisa performance learning

by Marilyn AchironEditor, Indicators and Analysis Division, Directorate for EducationThe textbook in your or your child’s backpack: who decided it was the best one to use? And does it matter to your or your child’s success in school if that decision is taken by your school or by your government? The latest edition of PISA in Focus looks into how those issues relate to learning outcomes.For example, school systems that grant individual schools autonomy...

Chinese lessons

12:35 AM China education EAG schools reforms PISA

by Andreas SchleicherHead of the Indicators and Analysis Division, OECD Directorate for EducationWhile in China last month for the launch of the first Chinese edition of Education at a Glance, I had the privilege of spending half a day in one of the experimental schools in Shanghai that is developing and piloting the next generation of the provinces educational reforms. Shanghai, among today’s top performers in PISA serves, in turn, as a pilot...

Making bullying prevention a priority in Finnish schools

12:13 AM antibullying bullying school Finland KiVa children equity cyberbullying

by Christina SalmivalliProfessor of Psychology at the University of Turku, FinlandWorldwide, an average of 10% of children and youth are targets of on-going negative treatment by their peers at school. Bullying is aggressive, harmful behavior which is targeted repeatedly at one and the same individual. Apart from its repeated nature, bullying can be differentiated from occasional conflicts or fights in another respect as well: it occurs between...

Celebrating teachers and new ones at that!

9:00 AM new teachers, TALIS, UNESCO, World Teachers' Day

by Julie BelangerAnalyst, OECD, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation World Teachers' Day, held every year on 5 October, was started by UNESCO in 1994. Today, 18 years later (long enough for a generation to have started and completed school), we join our colleagues in celebrating teachers the world over.The aim of World Teachers' Day is to mobilise support for teachers to ensure that the needs of future generations will continue to be met....

Inspiring education through great design

12:37 AM OECD school_buildings compendium CELE learning spaces classrooms buildings schools

by Hannah von AhlefeldAnalyst, OECD Centre for Effective Learning EnvironmentsIn many parts of the world, schools have re-opened their doors after a long summer break. Like many parents, I was nervous about the first day of school. First impressions count. As we arrived, my kids remarked that the recently renovated Parisian suburb school looked attractive and welcoming. Inside the school, they noted the different learning spaces in the large...

Global perspectives on education