Education Systems Around the World
Every year, the OECD ranks education systems around the world from best to worst. With these findings, we are confronted with how schools are succeeding and failing to educate our country’s young people. Our education system, made up of policymakers, school leaders, and especially educators, is raising the future talent of the country. As teachers, our role in shaping young lives directly impacts the next generation.
We can learn from other countries how to best design an education system from the bottom up. As an educator, I sometimes feel powerless in the greater tapestry of the American education system, but over time, I learned that teachers are the critical drivers of student outcomes. The lessons we deliver, the skills we focus on, and the learning opportunities we provide affect a generation of students. So, what lessons can we learn from other countries to better prepare our students to thrive in the twenty-first century?
The OECD uses the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to assess the critical thinking of 15-year-old students in math, science, and reading in 85 countries. Explore how the top-ranking education systems around the world prepare young people for life in the 21st century and what lessons we can learn from them.
Finland has long held first and second place, as one of the best education systems around the world. Although in recent years, it has lost ground to other countries, it still is a high performer, particularly with the Western style of education. In Finland, schooling does not begin for children until age 7. Homework and standardized testing are delayed until high school. In fact, there are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students’ senior year in high school.
“Whatever it takes” describes the attitude of most Finnish educators, who are selected from the top 10 percent of the nation’s graduates to earn a required master’s degree in education. The transformation of Finland’s education system began about 40 years ago as a part of the country’s economic recovery plan. What is most striking about Finland’s education system is that the people running it, from the national to the local level, are educators. Equality is of the utmost importance, and students receive an equal education regardless of their backgrounds. Their children-first approach seems to be working well for this extraordinary education system.
