intricate tasks and projects beyond simple testing.
We are seeing a move away from high stakes international testing (such as PISA, TIMS etc.) and the use of statistics and Big Data in education. There has been little evidence to date that these systems are useful to course correct or inform policy and practice. Despite the efforts of bodies like the OECD these tests struggle to assess the complex competencies and skills that will increasingly be needed over the next few years. While they have certain political currency, the impact on classroom practice appears to be largely negative as teachers are under increasing pressure to compile data, which detracts from teaching itself, and teach to the test. National boards, like OFSTED in the UK, are now moving away from the statistical ‘evidence of progress’ towards inspections focussed on the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom and we are seeing similar trends worldwide.
In summary – for centralised and developing education systems the next three to five years will see:
1. The need for standardised and central administrative control over resources, content and the implementation of technology in the classroom.
2. An increasing focus on Technical and Vocational Education and a growing demand for effective systems to assess complex skills and competencies.
3. A focus on the need to train and support teachers with content, online communities and ‘how to teach’ guides.
4. A pressing need for the standardisation of assessment in the classroom, both summative and formative.
De-centralised Education Systems and trends in pedagogy
In de-centralised education systems, and in developed economies, we are seeing a continuing move towards enquiry-based learning and the notion of self-aware students and self-aware practitioners. This refers to the emphasis on teaching students how they learn, and how to plan and organise their own learning (a good example is the work of the highly influential educator John Hattie and his Visible Learning programme