2 weeks Ago By Nick Gibb
I f you are a fan of Monty Python, you will have asked yourself, possibly on many occasions: “What has the OECD ever done for us?” The answer is PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment, which surveys the reading, maths and science attainment of fifteen-year-olds across what is now seventy-nine countries. PISA helps us understand the effectiveness of our education system compared with other countries in the OECD. The first PISA results were published in 2000 and to everyone’s amazement the top country for reading and science was Finland.
It was also fifth in maths. And in 2003 and 2006, Finland came first or second in all three subjects. Educationists in the UK attributed Finland’s success to the fact that in Finland “Core content is described as activities and skills, rather than detailed subject-based content.
” The Finnish curriculum also had seven cross-curricula themes: growth as a person; cultural identity and internationalism; media, skills and...
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