As artificial intelligence integrates into the world of education, how can we ensure it supports effective learning in the classroom? AI learning bots and other AI tools are increasingly being used by students and teachers, but not every agrees this is a good thing. While supporters champion AI as a transformative force that improves personalised learning and efficiency, sceptics are concerned about the erosion of critical thinking skills, the potential for algorithmic biases and privacy...

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD, is a growing concern for many policymakers around the world. It affects approximately 5% to 10% of children globally and can influence how they learn and behave, including through hyperactive and impulsive behaviour. In this episode of Top Class, Sam Pittis, a British radio presenter who was diagnosed with ADHD and hosts the podcast “You're Wrong About ADHD”, discusses how to navigate ADHD in schools with OECD Editor Duncan...

Sola Mahfouz was pulled out of school in Afghanistan at the age of 11 after a group of men threatened her safety if she continued studying. After years with no education, she began to secretly teach herself through online classes. Against the odds, Sola later passed a college entry test, travelled to the US to study and is now a quantum computing researcher at Tufts University. Writing under a pseudonym, she is also co-author of her memoir Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who...

While some countries have maintained or improved performance in maths and reading, many countries across the globe have seen large drops in educational performance, according to the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. Almost 700,000 15-year old students from 81 countries and economies took the PISA test in maths, reading and science in 2022. Why have there been such large drops in performance? In this episode of Top Class, OECD Director for Education and...

Sal Khan is the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, a non-profit which aims to provide free, world-class education for everyone. His organisation has developed an AI tutor and teaching assistant that he believes will transform global education for the better. Is he right? In this edition of Top Class, OECD Editor Duncan Crawford explores the far-reaching implications that thinking and learning machines pose for students, teachers and society as a whole.

On a daily basis, academic studies, reports and news tell us that the Earth’s ecosystem is in danger. But are schools doing enough to help raise awareness about climate change? OECD PISA test results show that schools play a central role in educating kids about environmental issues. In 2018, about 90 percent of school principals across the OECD reported that climate change and global warming were covered in the school curriculum. However, Matthew Pye, a philosophy teacher and founder of...

Rapid developments in technology and society mean education is constantly on the move. These developments are having a profound effect on both students and teachers. So what should the teaching profession look like in the future? In this Top Class podcast, Professor A Lin Goodwin from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College and Marco Snoek, Professor of Teacher Development and School Innovation at Amsterdam’s University of Applied Sciences, speak to OECD Editor...

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has led to the destruction of much of the country’s education system. Thousands of schools and universities have been damaged or destroyed, with teachers, students and parents killed in Russian attacks. With the education of millions of children interrupted, how should policymakers, schools and teachers respond? This episode of Top Class explores how to support the education of Ukrainian children, both inside and outside the country. Frederik Smets,...

US National Teacher of the Year Rebecka Peterson on teaching struggles, “flip” lessons, & what it was like to meet US President Joe Biden & US First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden. Listen to Top Class with Duncan Crawford

In a world of tablets, smartphones and AI – how exposed should young children be to digital technologies? This episode of Top Class explores the latest research on the use of digital tech in creches, nurseries and kindergartens. OECD policy analyst Carlos González-Sancho tells OECD editor Duncan Crawford about the findings of the OECD report “Empowering Young Children in the Digital Age” and answers many questions, including: ✅ Should 2-6 year olds be allowed to use digital tech? ✅ How much...

🎧 Top Class Micro-credentials are bite-sized qualifications designed to help people demonstrate they have certain skills or experience. Dr Monique Ositelu from data consultancy firm Itàn & Shizuka Kato, Education Policy Analyst at the OECD explain why they’re becoming more popular.

‘A focus on social & emotional skills is fundamentally about high quality teaching’ Professor Stephanie Jones from Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) talks to Duncan Crawford, Senior Content Manager at the OECD, about the challenges to teaching these skills, practical tips and Sesame Street.

On this OECD Education and Skills podcast Professor Patrick Newell from Shizenkan University joins Duncan Crawford, Senior Content Manager of the OECD's Education and Skills Directorate, to discuss how learning in schools could drastically change in the future.

On the latest Top Class podcast 🎧, OECD's Education Senior Editor Duncan Crawford is joined by John McLaughlin, President & CEO of Atlantic Education International, to discuss educational challenges in Canada, teachers under pressure, and how to ensure all children get an equal chance to succeed at school.

Cyberbullying is a growing problem worldwide and has serious consequences for students. It can take place on social media, gaming platforms and mobile phones, and often involves scaring, angering or shaming an individual or group. The experience can be incredibly traumatic for young people, who sometimes feel that escaping from it is impossible. It can also have academic consequences, with OECD data suggesting that students who are regularly bullied score lower on reading tests. As digital...

From the autumn of 2019 till the pandemic shutdowns, schoolchildren in the millions marched to save Earth from irreparable climate crisis. Calling on world leaders to keep the planet’s temperature rise below 1.5°C by cutting carbon emissions, teens organised an unprecedented scale of climate strikes around the globe. And they are still going. Evidence from PISA 2018 bears out Generation Z’s environmental commitment: more than 2/3 of 15-year-olds in every country and economy feel they need to...

The uproar over the 2021 Revision of the California Mathematics Framework shows us how passionate people are about mathematics – and how we learn it. For many, however, math arouses not so much passion as fear, even, loathing. But does it have to be this way? Jo Boaler is a professor of mathematics education at Stanford University. She is the author of nine books on mathematics learning, including Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead and Live Without Barriers. In 2013, Boaler taught the first-ever...

There’s a gaping hole in the global education budget and it’s 200 billion US dollars deep. Yearly. Part of the problem has to do with taxes: Many developing countries raise less than 20% of their GDP in tax revenues and out of this, education should take up between 4 to 6% of GDP. That’s a tall order in deficitary times. Michael Ward, OECD Senior Analyst specialising in global educational development issues and Bert Brys, Senior Tax Economist at the OECD, walk us through efficient education...

Sometimes the road to doing well at school goes through surprising places, like hip hop. In 2015, the Lycée Turgot in Paris pioneered a programme for 15- to 18-year-olds that combines regular academic classes with hip hop dance. The brainchild of teacher David Bérillon, Hip Hop Turgot now has students from all over the country, as well as the city’s less privileged catchment areas. Diversity is just as important as dancing in this small programme, along with academic excellence, and the...

Never before has critical thinking been so…critical. With so much compromised information online, how do we know what’s opinion? What’s fact? And what’s disinformation? Education can teach us to ask questions, check sources, and understand how algorithms impact the information we’re getting. And, none of this needs to be taught in STEM-based computer science courses – digital media and algorithmic literacy can be cleverly integrated throughout the curriculum. Kara Brissin-Boivin is Director...

For many LGBTQI+ students, school can be a hostile place. Bullying and the social and emotional strain of not feeling part of the sexual and gender mainstream is tough, especially for teens. Can teachers, principals, students and governments come together for the well-being of LGBTQI+ students? Can schools be safe, and creatively and intellectually stimulating places where LGBTQI+ students can not only learn in peace but succeed beyond their wildest dreams? That is the goal. To celebrate...

When factual information comes under attack, societies head into Orwellian waters. OECD’s Andreas Schleicher and Molly Lesher discuss disinformation and other forms of “untruths” and how to get the measure of a tenacious and elusive phenomenon. Societies can tackle harmful information through citizen- and AI-driven fact-checking and content tagging. Platforms can boost transparency and collaborate with governments to tamp down fake news and synthetic media. But the best defence of all is...

Kim Kardashian has been apprenticing with two lawyers for the past few years to become a lawyer herself in California. Apprenticeships like Kardashian’s “reading law” and vocational education training are career pathways that not enough young people are considering when deciding on what to do after high school. And maybe they’re not thinking about what happens after graduation because schools aren’t getting them “career ready” enough. New analysis of national longitudinal datasets and 2018...

After the immediate needs of food, medical and psychosocial care, and housing, comes education. According to the UNHCR and UNICEF, “education for refugee children is arguably the best means available to help them, here and now, and to transform their futures.” Estonia is one of the countries on the front line for refugees fleeing the war. We talk to Viivian Jõemets, Chief Expert at the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, specialising in language learning and migration, and OECD...