Foreword

Putting student learning at the centre of education systems lies at the heart of social, democratic, cultural and economic prosperity. But that is easy to say and hard to do. To transform schooling at scale, we need not just a clear vision of what is possible, but also smart strategies that help make change in education happen.

Policy makers face tough choices when evaluating policy alternatives; they need to weigh the potential impact against the economic and political cost of change. Should they pursue what is most technically feasible? What is most politically and socially feasible? What can be implemented quickly? What can be sustainable over a sufficient time horizon?

The good news is that our knowledge about what works in education has improved vastly, and this edition of the Education Policy Outlook provides a good reflection of that. It is true that digitalisation has contributed to the rise in populism and “post-truth” societies that can work against rational policy making. But the very same forces, whether in the form of more and better data or new statistical and analytical tools, have also massively expanded the scope and power of social research to create a more evidence-based environment in which policies can be developed. Still, knowledge is only as valuable as our capacity to act on it. The reality is that many good ideas get stuck in the process of policy implementation and the road of educational reform is littered with great ideas that were poorly implemented. Governments are under pressure to deliver results in education services while ensuring that citizens’ tax dollars are spent wisely and effectively. They set ambitious reform agendas and develop strategic plans to achieve them. But the challenges are often not about designing reforms, but about how reforms can be put into practice successfully.

The laws, regulations, structures and institutions on which public policy tends to focus are just like the small, visible tip of an iceberg. The reason why it is so hard to move education systems forward is that there is a much larger, invisible part under the waterline. This invisible part is composed of the interests, beliefs and fears of the stakeholders who are involved. This is where unexpected collisions occur, because this part tends to evade the radar of public policy.

The Education Policy Outlook therefore does not stop at analysing trends in public policy, but also examines their impact and the challenges involved in implementation. Without exercising judgement on what reforms have been successful and why, it provides an important opportunity for peer learning and collaboration on how to build a shared understanding and collective ownership for change; how to focus resources, build capacity, and create the right policy climate with accountability measures designed to encourage innovation and development, rather than compliance; and how to tackle institutional structures that too often are built around the interests and habits of educators and institutions rather than learners.

 

Andreas Schleicher

Director for Education and Skills

Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General

OECD