One of the reasons why we get stuck in education
is that our thinking is framed by so many myths. So I start my new book, World Class: Building a 21st-century school system, by debunking some of the most common.
- “The poor will always do
badly in school.” That’s not true:
the 10% most disadvantaged kids in Shanghai do better in maths than the
10% most advantaged students in large American cities.
- “Immigrants will lower
the performance of a country on international comparisons.” That’s not true: there is no relationship
between the share of immigrant students and the quality of an education
system; and the school systems in which immigrant students settle matter a
lot more than the country where they came from.
- “Smaller classes mean
better results.” That’s not true:
whenever high-performing education systems have to make a choice between a
smaller class and a better teacher, they go for the latter. Often it is
small classes that have created the Taylorist culture where teachers end
up doing nothing other than teaching, and don’t have the time to support
individual students, collaborate with other teaching professionals or work
with parents – activities that are hallmarks of high-performing education
systems.
- “More time spent learning
always means better results.” That’s not true:
students in Finland spend little more than around half the number of hours
studying than what students in the United Arab Emirates spend; but
students in Finland learn a lot in a short time, while students in the
United Arab Emirates learn very little in a lot of time.
- “The results in PISA are
merely a reflection of culture.” That’s
not true: rapidly improving education systems did not change their culture
but their education policies and practices.
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