What are the best education models in Europe, according to OECD’s Andreas Schleicher

Finland and the Netherlands are the best education models in Europe, according to Andreas Schleicher, the Division Head and coordinator of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment and the OECD Indicators of Education Systems programme.

When it comes to good education systems, it depends what you value, he explained to Evo News.

“Finland and the Netherlands are good examples of systems that do really well on the cognitive power accounts, but also on the social and emotional aspect of learning. They are also quite equitable in their outcomes. They have the most professional environment, they attract the most talented people in teaching, they give them the right working conditions and support and they have a cultural learning, not a cultural external examination, teachers have a lot of room to maneuver, they can shape their learning environment, their organizational schooling”,  Schleicher explained.

The education system in both countries centers around children’s individual needs in the classroom and curricular autonomy for teachers who can choose what they and how they teach more so than in other European countries. They also don’t focus on evaluation, but the attainment of skills that have a practical use.

Looking at education models that have been developing well lately, Schleicher gives the example of Poland and also Portugal, two systems that have been making great progress and seeing very good results after education reforms were implemented.

In the case of Great Britain, Schleicher says that the education system is somewhat overrated because if suffers from “big social disparities”.

“Britain is so and so, they are sometimes overestimated in their performance. Britain suffers from very big social disparities, if you come from a wealthy background you do really well, if you come from a poor background, you don’t do so well”, he explained.

By comparison, the French educational system is very different. “In France, you can see features that focus on compliance, learning content knowledge, but this is something that needs to improve, to develop, to move towards a more formative, supportive culture for teachers and students”, according to the OECD expert.

When it comes to the influence that Brexit will have on the British educational system, Schleicher says it’s very difficult to imagine what will be. However, British universities like Oxford have already taken into account opening a campus in Paris in case Brexit talks don’t go well for Education.

“In terms of Brexit impact on Education, I think Britain has been a very attractive place for people to study in universities and whether they will maintain that is a good question, but at the same time, many of the international students in Britain don’t come from Europe, but from all over the world. It’s very hard to imagine how this will play out”, he said.