2020 OECD Education webinars

Career readiness during COVID: How schools can help students enter the labour market in an economic crisis

Young people today have never left education more ambitious and highly qualified, but even before the pandemic many struggled to find good work. The COVID-19 crisis has made it more urgent than ever for schools to help students prosper as they move through education and into the labour market.

Education systems can help all students compete more effectively in the labour market. Schools can do more to help young people become more attractive to employers, but the message is not getting through and new waves of austerity and employer retraction will create new barriers to effective action. International datasets can help to identify indicators among teenagers that are linked with employment outcomes. This webinar introduces significant new OECD work designed to enable and encourage data-driven career guidance.

Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, discusses the current challenge and the need for new approaches with Anthony Mann, OECD Senior Analyst, and the Director of the National Centre for Guidance in Education in Ireland, Jennifer McKenzie.

How can we support student well-being in the digital age?

What is the nature of childhood today? On a number of measures, modern children’s lives have clearly improved thanks to better public safety and support for their physical and mental health. Digital technologies help children to learn, socialise and unwind, and older, better educated parents are increasingly playing an active role in their children’s education. At the same time, 21st century children are reporting more stress and anxiety, including increased pressure to excel in an ever more competitive educational environment. There are worries that children are spending less time on old-fashioned activities like running around outside in favour of screen time. In addition to limitless online opportunities, the omnipresent nature of the digital world brings new risks, like cyber bullying, that follow children from the schoolyard into their homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a forceful reminder that schools are not just places of academic learning. They are part of the social fabric of our communities, and schools and teachers are increasingly called to support the physical, social and emotional health and well-being of children. But how do we do this effectively?

Moderated by Monika Queisser, Senior Counsellor and Head of Social Policy Division in the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, our expert panel discusses what governments and schools can do to support child well-being in the digital age:

– Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, OECD Deputy Secretary-General
– Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills
– Andrew Wyckoff, OECD Director for Science, Technology and Innovation
– Romina Boarini, OECD Acting Director of the Well-Being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity (WISE) Centre

What do early childhood education and care professionals say about their work? New data from the OECD

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals play a hugely important role in a child’s development; after all, it is they who oversee many of a young child’s first interactions with the world outside their family and home. And yet early education – both in terms of the sector itself and those that work in it – is often overshadowed by the later stages of schooling. But some countries are now reprioritising early education, with a particular focus on supporting staff and leaders in ECEC settings. This reprioritisation should begin by listening to the views of the staff themselves to fully understand where support is needed.

Join Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, as he presents the latest findings from the OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong), the first international survey that gives a voice to the early childhood education and care workforce. These latest results examine the factors that influence the skill development of early education professionals, their working conditions and well-being at work, and the leadership in ECEC centres.

Lessons for Education from Chile: How Chile managed the closing and re-opening of schools during the pandemic

As schools closed across Chile during the first wave of the pandemic, the Ministry of Education deployed a digital learning infrastructure to allow for education to continue. Now the Ministry faces new challenges with a progressive step-by-step re-opening of schools and a new approach to pedagogy. This webinar will discuss the lessons of the shutdown, the protocols and pedagogical approaches surrounding school re-opening, as well as the new possible roles of digital tools after the COVID crisis.

Part of our Lesson For Education series, we find out what they learned, and how other countries could adapt these lessons to their own contexts, in this conversation between:

– Raúl Figueroa, Minister of Education of Chile
– Nathalie Nikitenko, Director of the Delegation for European and International Relationships, Ministry of Education, France
– Daniela Trucco, Social Affairs officer at UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL-ECLAC)
– Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills

Designing future-ready curricula: How can schools keep pace with a rapidly changing world without overloading the curriculum?

Schools often struggle to keep pace with the rate of change of the society around them. As technologies develop and contexts shift, educations systems sometimes respond by adding more and more new elements to already crowded curricula, without re-shaping what was there before – this often leads to what is known as “curriculum overload”. At the same time, the systems themselves are often too slow to implement the changes and adjust learning to new contexts, which causes time lags between what society needs in that moment and what schools are actually teaching. The situation can result in curricula that are both overloaded and outdated.

Future-ready systems need to take both of these eventualities in account. Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, discusses findings from two new reports from the OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 project that aim to support countries in dealing with these issues. The first, “What students learn matters: Towards a 21st century curriculum“, deals with the time lags that can occur when systems try to modernise their curriculum, offering unique examples and common strategies to minimise time lags; the second, “Curriculum overload: A way forward“, looks at curriculum overload and offers policy pointers to help systems find balance when integrating new content into curricula.

What does teaching look like in different countries? Results from the Global Teaching InSights video study

As education systems and schools around the world are being challenged in unprecedented ways, teachers are playing a central role in both supporting young people to navigate these difficult times and prepare them for the world ahead. But the true complexity of teaching is rarely seen and still little understood. What do we really mean by impactful, high-quality teaching? How does it actually drive learning and growth? What does all it mean in the context of COVID-19?

Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director of Education and Skills, discusses these issues and presents the findings of the Global Teaching InSights report, which looks at what practices teachers use to manage the classroom, provide social-emotional support, and deliver quality instruction. This new international study is unique in the type of evidence collected, using classroom videos from over 700 teachers across eight different countries and economies to understand the nuances of teaching, along with teaching materials, teachers’ and students’ views, and students tests in a pre-post design, all aimed at providing as detailed and rich a picture of teaching as possible.

Ask an expert: Understanding childhood in the 21st Century

Is it true that risky outdoor play is important for children? COVID-19 has changed how we think about physical distancing, so in these times, can a hug emoji stand in for a hug? How can we balance the risks and opportunities children face in the digital world? And importantly, how can we let children be children and learn from taking risks and making mistakes?

Join us for an “Ask an expert” webinar to discuss these questions and more. With a panel of international experts, we will explore aspects of modern childhood including the importance of play, the key role of good relationships and social connection, and trends in digital technologies.

In this webinar, we will hear from:

– Tracey Burns: Senior Analyst, OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation
– Mariana Brussoni: Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia, Canada
– Catrin Finkenauer: Professor of Youth Studies, and scientific director of the Utrecht University interdisciplinary research center Dynamics of Youth, Netherlands
– Brian O’Neill: Director, Research, Enterprise and Innovation Services at Technological University Dublin, Ireland

Moderated by Francesca Gottschalk, Analyst, OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation

Lessons For Education from Latvia: Developing a remote learning infrastructure during coronavirus

As schools closed across Lativa during the first wave of the pandemic, the Ministry of Education rapidly developed and deployed (in just three weeks) the Tava Klase (Your Class) project to help Latvian students continue learning during the difficult period. Tava Klase used television broadcasts to reach primary and secondary students and provide educational material and remote lessons, all of which were also made available online to maximise reach. Alongside this, the Ministry also commissioned three analysis reports on how teaching and learning took place during the school closures, giving them a good overview of how the system adapted during the crisis.

Part of our Lesson For Education series, find out what they learned, and how other countries could adapt these lessons to their own contexts, in this conversation between State Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science Jānis Volberts, Suzanne Grant Lewis, Director of UNESCO IIEP, Aune Valk, Vice-rector of the University of Tartu (Estonia) and OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher.

Helping students navigate an interconnected world – What to expect from PISA 2018 Volume VI

Today’s students live in an interconnected, diverse and rapidly changing world. In this complex environment, a student’s ability to understand the world and appreciate the multiple different perspectives they are likely to encounter is key to their success.

In 2018, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted its first evaluation of students’ capacity to live in an interconnected world. The assessment focused on students’ knowledge of issues of local and global significance, including public health, economic and environmental issues, as well as their intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes. The results of this assessment – PISA 2018 Volume VI – will be launched on 22 October.

Get a head start on what this latest Volume is all about – Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, unveils the main themes addressed in Volume VI and what to expect from the data.

Measuring the impacts of COVID-19 on education: A new tool for governments and researchers

Coronavirus learning losses could have a dramatic impact not only on the success of individual students, but on the performance of the education system as a whole.

Knowing that future progress may be at stake, countries are now trying to find ways to assess just what impact the crisis has had and how student learning experiences have changed, as well as trying to find a way to gauge how crises in general affect education systems.

To address this, the OECD has developed the PISA Global Crises Module. Sixty-two student questionnaire items and 68 school questionnaire items were created following a process that involved input from leading questionnaire development experts, PISA National Centres, as well as small-scale cognitive interview studies in three countries. While all countries were affected by the pandemic in some way, the module seeks to illuminate the different effects on student learning and well-being, and the degree of interruption or changes to education across different systems.

Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, and Dr. Jonas P. Bertling, Director of Large-Scale Assessment Questionnaires at the Educational Testing Service, discuss the effects of COVID-19 on education and how this new module can help governments respond.

Lessons For Education from Turkey during coronavirus

Part of the Lessons For Education webinar series, looks at Turkey’s expansion of its e-learning platform to reach 18 million students and over one million teachers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and the development of its New Digital Education System for the future.

To discuss, OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher is joined by: Turkish Deputy Minister of Education Reha Denemeç, World Bank Global Director of Education Jaime Saavedra, and RISE programme Research Fellow Michelle Kaffenberger.

Successful schools in testing times: Insights from PISA 2018 Volume V

Andreas Schleicher presents the latest findings from the OECD’s PISA 2018 Volume V: Effective Policies, Successful Schools and takes questions from the audience.

To discuss the latest data, he is joined by a panel of experts gathered by the Education Policy Institute and moderated by the Institute’s Executive Director Natalie Perera. The panel includes: Rose Luckin, Professor of Learner Centred Design at the UCL Institute of Education; Dan Sandhu, CEO of Sparx; Hilary Spencer, CEO of Ambition Institute; Charlie Stripp, Chief Executive of Mathematics in Education and Industry; Jon Schnur, CEO of America Achieves and former Senior Advisor to the US Education Secretary.

Education at a Glance 2020: How can vocational education and training help young people succeed during the crisis?

Andreas Schleicher presents the latest international data from Education at a Glance and what it means for education systems currently battling the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

Coronavirus lockdowns highlighted just how much modern society relies on vital services such as manufacturing and healthcare, professions which require specialised vocational training to secure a job. The situation has brought home the need for governments to review the role vocational education and training (VET) can play for those entering work during the crisis.

At the same time, vocational education and training has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 crisis. But strong VET system can play an important role to buffer the negative economic effects of the pandemic.

Lessons For Education during coronavirus – Education television

Part of the Lessons For Education webinar series, join national and international education practitioners and researchers as they discuss educational television initiatives globally. The webinar will highlight different strategies for implementing educational television to support remote learning and introduce the cases of Telesecundaria in Mexico and Ubongo that reaches 33 countries in Africa.

Learn how and why the national initiative in Mexico has since been quickly adopted in other countries in Latin America, and what can be learned from the versatile approach used by Ubongo in Africa, offering educational content broadcast in multiple ways.

Q&A Webinar – The economic impacts of coronavirus-related learning losses

Economists Eric A. Hanushek (Hoover Institution, Stanford University) and Ludger Woessmann (ifo Institute and University of Munich) join OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher to discuss their new paper, The Economic Impact of Learning Losses.

The webinar discusses the implications of the findings for policymakers and education leaders. Regardless of instructional models or school re-opening decisions, it is necessary to consider improving schools and learning outcomes beyond pre-pandemic levels so that the already-accrued learning losses are addressed.

Virtual launch of Education at a Glance 2020

Andreas Schleicher unveils the latest data on the performance of education systems in the United Kingdom and across other OECD countries in this virtual launch event in collaboration with Education and Employers.

A panel of key stakeholders then discuss vocational education and training and take questions on what impact the coronavirus crisis is having on education and young people.

Q&A Webinar – How to implement an education response to COVID-19

We present a toolkit to help countries continue in their efforts to design and implement education system responses during the coronavirus crisis. The toolkit can be used by individual policy makers or teams at the local, regional or national level to shape the implementation of their education response strategies.

Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills, discusses the important issues to consider when shaping education responses to COVID-19 with the Welsh Department of Education Policy Advisor Lloyd Hopkin, and OECD Senior Education Policy Analyst Beatriz Pont.

Lessons For Education during coronavirus – Remote student online examinations in higher education

Part of our Lessons For Education webinar series, OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher discusses how higher education is rethinking student assessments during COVID-19 with Portugal’s Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education Manuel Heitor, Global Lead for Tertiary Education at the World Bank Roberta Malee Bassett, Harvard University Professor Andrew Ho, and Associate Provost of McGill University Christopher Buddle.

Education continuity in São Paulo, Brazil during coronavirus

Part of our Lessons For Education webinar series, São Paulo Education Secretary Rossieli Soares, OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher, Professor of Practice in International Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education Fernando M Reimers, former Secretary of Education of Puebla, Mexico Patricia Vázquez, and President and CEO of the Center of Innovation for Brazilian Education-CIEB Lucia Dellagnello discuss the experience of São Paulo schools during the COVID-19 crisis.

Education continuity in Egypt during coronavirus

Part of our Lessons For Education webinar series, Egyptian Minister of Education Dr. Tarek Galal Shawki, Advisor to the Egyptian Minister of Education Nelly ElZayat, World Bank Global Director for Education Jaime Saavedra, and OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher discuss the lessons to be learned from Egypt’s education response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Education continuity in Colombia during coronavirus

Part of our Lessons For Education webinar series, Bogotá Deputy Secretary of Education Mauricio Castillo, Bogotá education advisor Mariana Sanz De Santamaria, Allianza Educativa CEO Pablo Jaramillo, Professor Fernando M. Reimers of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher discuss the experience of education experts in the OECD’s newest member country, Colombia, during the COVID-19 crisis.

Education continuity in Spain during coronavirus

The first in our Lessons For Education webinar series, Spanish Secretary of Education Alejandro Tiana, World Bank Global Director for Education Jaime Saavedra, Professor Fernando M. Reimers of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and OECD Director for Education and Skills Andreas Schleicher discuss the experience of education experts in Spain during the COVID-19 crisis.

Schooling disrupted, schooling rethought: How the COVID-19 pandemic is changing education

What did and didn’t work for students, teachers, families and schools during the coronavirus crisis? The OECD’s Andreas Schleicher and Harvard University Professor Fernando Reimers discuss their report on the lessons for education from the pandemic, based on a global survey.

PISA 2018 – Are Students Smart about Money?

Are students knowledgeable about money matters? With the current economic uncertainty, how prepared are students for their futures? The OECD’s Andreas Schleicher and Flore-Anne Messy discuss the latest PISA results that explore financial literacy of 15-year-old students from 20 countries.

TALIS 2018 – Teacher Professionalism in the face of COVID-19

How can the results of the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey help education systems deal with the coronavirus crisis? With Andreas Schleicher – Director of the Directorate for Education and Skills (23 March 2020)

Why do gender gaps in education and work persist?

Webinar for International Women’s Day 2020 with Andreas Schleicher – Director of the Directorate for Education and Skills (8 March 2020)

Dream Jobs

Teenagers’ Career Aspirations and the Future of Work” with Andreas Schleicher – Director of the Directorate for Education and Skills (30 January 2020)