1. The Danish Evaluation Institute 10 th Anniversary 15 th September 2009 World class Primary & Lower Secondary Education Peter Mortimore Former Director Of The Institute of Education, University of London & Professor of Pedagogy, University of Southern Denmark.

2. Plan Introduction – does the Danish system need to improve? World context What do we mean by world class education? Some data on school systems How world class is the Danish system – an outsider’s view Different ways to improve The challenge ahead.

3. World conditions 80% of people live on less than $2.5 a day 25,000 children die of poverty each day 72 million children cannot go to school.

4. Use of resources by richest and poorest tenth of population Use of resources by richest and poorest tenth of population Global Issues www.globalissues.org

5. 2005 Human Development Index 2005 Human Development Index (CIA world Factbook 2009)

6. Unicef Report Card 7 (2007) Overall rank COUNTRYAverage rank 1Netherland4.2 2Sweden5 3Denmark7.2 4Finland7.5 5Spain8 ### ### 20US18 21UK18.2

7. Does Danish education need to improve? No Done a good job up to now - why mess with it? Yes It is not as good as it might be Too many young people are handicapped by school failure All institutions need to keep improving or they start to decline.

8. What do we mean by education? Formal training through school Teaching/instruction by another Self learning.

9. Positive outcomes of education As well as skills for survival and employment Improved health New knowledge Respect ‘A trained mind’ Empathy and imagination Appreciation and character.

10. Education and power Advantaged people create and control the formal education system These advantaged people usually ensure their children have better access to formal education As education enhances people’s ability it enables them further to increase their wealth and power Thus education predominantly benefits families which are already advantaged Yet the disadvantaged families are the ones who need education most in order to change their lives.

11. What disadvantage means Poorer diet, health and housing Proximity to pollution, crime and drugs More frequent disruption and accidents Necessity for part-time paid work Fewer books, computers, outings and holidays The constant shame of poverty For some, the stress of racism.

12. So what might be the characteristics of a world class system ? Equitable Aspiring Success-oriented Patient Broad Fun.

13. Significantly different reading average scores and standard deviations

14. % of population with upper secondary education % of population with upper secondary education EAG 2009)

15. % of population with tertiary education % of population with tertiary education (EAG 2009)

16. Adult literacy average scores

17. English reforms Ongoing since 1988 – Removal of local authority powers – Abolition of HMI & creation of OFSTED – Changes to Teacher Training – National Curriculum – New types of schools –Technology, Faith, Specialist and Academies – Marketisation of schooling based on league tables – High stakes assessments.

18. Reactions to high stakes testing Teaching to test Turning learners off Unreliability Collusion and even cheating Stressed children/parents Costs Negative effects of league tables on all aspects of schooling.

19. The Finnish system Comprehensive system No streaming or setting Reading recovery type programmes No inspections or national testing 5 year university-based teacher training Trust and esteem.

20. Possible ways to improve an education system A pressure on equity as well as quality A lifelong learning perspective Maximum support for the disadvantaged Teacher education only of highest quality Autonomy for teachers within clear limits Contestability of curriculum/methods Constant search for improvement.

21. So what should Denmark do to achieve world class? Build on strengths of existing system & work with teachers not against them Use tests to support learning - not just for accountability - and avoid league tables Adopt a reading recovery type programme Evoke a culture of evaluation in all schools to raise expectations Encourage innovation & experiments.

22. Post script Hvad solskin er For den sorte muld Er sand oplysning For muldets frænde. The challenge for educators today To do all that is possible (and a little bit more) within the context of a society’s culture.

23. References Boston. J, Martin. J, Pallot. J and Walsh. P (1996) Public Management: The New Zealand Model. Auckland: OUP Laukkanen. R in Nils C. Soguel and Pierre Jaccard - Governance and Performance of Education Systems Springer Books 10.1007/978-1-4020- 6446-3_14] Mortimore, P. & Whitty, G. (1997) Can School Improvement overcome the effects of Disadvantage? London: IOE. National Commission on Education (1995) Success against the Odds: London: Routledge. Poverty Facts and Stats http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and- statshttp://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and- stats Twain. M (1898) Mark Twain's Notebook. Wells. H. G. (1919) The Outline of History Vol 120 Chap 41 Page 4. London: George Newnes. Wilkinson. R & Pickett. K (2009) The Spirit Level. London: Allen Lane. World Health Organization (2008) Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health. Geneva: WHO.

24. More references Mortimore. P (2000) Does educational research matter? British Journal Research Journal 26. 1. 6 – 24. Noss. R & Pachler. N (1999) The challenge of new technologies: doing old things in a new way, or doing new things in P. Mortimore (ed) Understanding pedagogy and its impact on learning London: Paul Chapman Publishing. OECD (2001) Knowledge and skills for life: first results from PISA 2000 Paris: OECD. OECD (2004) Denmark: lessons from PISA 2000 Paris: OECD. OECD (2004) Learning for tomorrow’s world: results from PISA 2003 Paris: OECD. OECD (2007a) Science competences for tomorrow’s world: results from PISA 2006 Paris: OECD. OECD (2007b) No more failures: ten steps to equity in education. Paris: OECD. OECD (2007c) Education at a glance Paris: OECD. UNICEF (2007) Child well-being in rich countries IRC Report Card 7 Florence: Innocenti Research Centre.