Radical changes in Greek school offers Andreas SchleicherDirector of Education and Skills and Special Adviser on Education Policy to the Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Mr. Schleicher started and is watching it PISA program for student assessment, as well as other tools used for policy development. Conversation with “K” states that Greece spends large amounts on education, but with poor results. Teaching is focused on the presentation of the material, while students acquire superficial knowledge, repeating like parrots. “Greek students remember very well. However, they find it difficult to extrapolate knowledge and apply it to ordinary situations. One of the problems is that the Greeks are taught less and more deeply. The education system in Greece has undergone some changes, but very slowly. It remains a system in which knowledge is shared vertically rather than horizontally, i.e. in a spirit of creativity and collaboration, between teachers, schools, local governments and the community. A strong social fabric is necessary for the development of education and effective knowledge. That’s why four steps are needed: a curriculum, creating the right learning environment, finding people who will play a key role, and organizing the work. This is the hardest part, because education is a very conservative institution. Many try to leave things as they are. And that’s why parents often feel stressed when their children don’t learn what they themselves have learned in their student years,” notes Mr. Schleicher, who was in Greece at the invitation of the recently established Anatolian College’s Cassandra Educational Center of Excellence.

– Human abilities that AI cannot realize, such as imagination, our ability to make decisions in the face of dilemmas, the ability to navigate and act effectively in conditions of uncertainty and complexity – since our world is neither white nor black – to separate fact from point of view.

Greece spends large amounts on education, but with poor results. He has a system in which knowledge flows vertically, not horizontally.

– PISA is a tool. We see that Greece spends heavily on education. However, we need to consider how the system ensures the participation of teachers in interactive educational activities, how the number of classes and the distribution of children in them is formed, how the quality of teaching is ensured, how resources are directed and used for the maximum positive difference. These are questions for which there are no easy answers.

First, what do you teach? What impresses me is that Greek students are very good at reproducing certain topics, memorizing and answering based on them in tests or exams. However, they find it difficult to extrapolate this knowledge and apply it to ordinary situations. This is what PISA measures: the ability to think creatively, outside the box, and across different subjects. In Greece, teaching is focused on the presentation of the material. Thus, the Greeks are faced with the task of teaching less and more deeply. Focus on how children understand the concept of an object of knowledge rather than gaining superficial knowledge.

Second, how do you teach. Greece has a system of individually oriented education. Teachers have learned to work individually and in isolation, without communicating with each other. The same applies to school units. One could say that this is due to geographical factors, but it is not, because we have seen in other countries that schools, no matter how remote, have collaborative relationships. In Greece, the teacher also experiences constant movement from school to school and from region to region. This does not help students, especially in poor schools. These schools especially need the most experienced and capable teachers. Vietnam and China are moving ahead quickly because they have chosen to send their most experienced teachers into difficult situations, using resources efficiently. If you live in a good area, it’s easy to go to a good school with good teachers. But if you come from a disadvantaged area and live in it, you have one chance in life to be saved, and this will happen if you meet a good teacher. And if you miss this opportunity, then it will be difficult to find exits. Greece can learn a lot from Portugal, which is a pioneer in the field of education.

– The next competition will also include creative thinking and social-emotional development. Problem solving is an important skill, but the question is whether you can solve problems with people who are different from you and who think differently than you do. Evaluation is an important mirror in which we must properly look. One of the biggest mistakes of education throughout history is that it has separated learning from assessment. Of course, thanks to PISA, we have learned how to integrate assessments better. Students can receive dynamic feedback on their strengths and weaknesses, and teachers have realized that every child learns differently.

If Parents and Teachers Are Not Allies, You Will Not Succeed

– In recent years, we have seen the commercialization of education. Teachers have become a kind of service providers and clients of parents. This does not help at all, because education has always been primarily a social, associative process. So it’s not a deal, it’s a relationship. Returning to parents. Parents should ask their children a simple question every day: “How was school today?” In this way, they show that what the child does in school is important to them, that they respect the role of the teacher, and that the school matters. Parental attitudes affect how a child behaves at school, as well as his relationship with his parents.

Speaking to parents, I told them that “there is a lot you can do to help teachers. Teachers cannot succeed in their work without the support of their parents. So support their role and don’t downplay it. Knowledge support. Educators know part of their students’ world, and as a parent, you can help them expand the picture. This is happening very beautifully in pre-school education right up to kindergarten.” I would say that we should take an example from how the relationship between kindergarten teachers and parents develops. However, things change at school. Parents rarely cross the threshold of the school, teachers rarely talk to parents, parents are on the defensive, and no time or effort is usually spent making parents allies of teachers. But without it, you won’t be successful.

“The pandemic has exacerbated all kinds of inequalities. Of course, if you could learn on your own, if you had access to resources, a pandemic could be a liberating and exciting experience. However, for most of the students it was a devastating period, because school was a place to socialize, meet friends, a place where the child took on a personality. School is a microcosm of society, the first place where we communicate and coexist with people who are different from us and think differently than we do. And suddenly this place was gone. On the positive side, we saw technological and social innovation. After the pandemic, many children went to their teachers and told them that during this time they discovered something, found a way to learn on their own, set goals for themselves, formed their own schedule. We have also seen many teachers discover that it is not enough just to teach. We were told, “I understood my students better. I was interested in them. I became the best mentor for them.” So can we design better schools so that the teacher has a holistic role, duty and responsibility? Putting the student at the center, not the curriculum? Many educators felt lonely and helpless in the face of the pandemic. But in the end we did it and we want to keep some of what we have won so we can act differently. The worst thing we can do is go back to the pre-pandemic era. In addition, many students overestimated their teachers. The focus was on social relations. Parents have a better understanding of what teachers do and how much work they have every day. And often, teachers had more meaningful interactions with parents, who became part of the equation.

– Yes. Initially, I started by studying the natural sciences. My life changed when I worked as a teacher at a school with underprivileged children. It changed my course. It was the most powerful experience of my life.

42nd out of 77 countries, Greece was in the text comprehension in 2018, 41st in 2015.

43rd came to mathematics in 2018 among 78 countries, as in 2015.

44th the place it ranked in physics among 78 countries in 2018, 43rd in 2015.