Ei-iE

As governments around the world await the results of the OECD’s 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) this September, trade unions are mobilising to ensure that teachers’ voices are included in the conversation.

An online workshop organised by Education International recently invited union representatives to learn more about how they can get involved in the report launch, through working in collaboration with education ministries in their home countries. Speakers emphasised the importance of moving beyond a simple discussion of ranking winners and losers, and using this as an opportunity to learn from one another and focus on investment in education.

Looking beyond the headlines

In his opening remarks, Larry Flanagan of the Trade Union Advisory Committee likened the PISA results to the “World Cup of Education,” emphasising that politicians often like to treat the event like a competition, focusing on which countries are performing near the top and which are near the bottom. He spoke to how this type of framing often misses the truly useful and relevant aspects of PISA.

“When you look beyond the rankings, PISA provides some really rich data which, as trade unions, we can use. This pre-launch event helps prime our member organisations to make full use of that data in persuading their own ministries around what is needed in terms of investment and where that investment should go.”

An updated exam for a changing world

PISA 2025 marks a departure from previous models of the exam, with new subject areas that seek to measure students’ preparedness for an increasingly complex world. These include Learning in the Digital World (LDW), which assesses computational problem-solving and self-regulated learning, and a revamped science section that focuses on real-world decision making in addressing environmental challenges.

“Success today requires more than literacy, numeracy, and scientific understanding,” expressed OECD senior analyst Miyako Ikeda in her presentation to workshop participants. “Students increasingly need to navigate digital environments, manage their own learning, and critically evaluate information. They need to solve unfamiliar problems. Therefore, PISA 2025 broadens the lens.”

The first volume of PISA results will assess students’ readiness not only through these academic evaluations, but also through an analysis of academic environments and learning conditions. Students were asked a series of questions about teacher support, school policies on digital devices, and frequency of AI use for schoolwork. These elements were then correlated with data on student performance and attitudes towards school.

Ikeda stressed that this section, in particular, would hold special relevance to trade unions and policy-makers: “These are data points which would give insight into what is going on in the classroom and around the students. PISA 2025 will provide valuable evidence on how these different elements relate to student learning and engagement.” She expressed that this data can be used to determine which school practices are most effectively preparing students for the world and which are less successful, statistics that unions can then bring to law-makers and ministries when advocating for certain policies.

“We have sports games for that”

In her remarks during the workshop, AFT President Randi Weingarten echoed Flanagan’s comments about moving beyond a competition mindset, arguing that the PISA results offer a chance at collaboration between nations.

“In terms of our goal and our world and our obligation, the way to help all students is through a collaborative effort... it's really different than markets. It really is about how we help all, which is part of the reason why OECD doesn't just talk about top performers. They talk about everyone. We have to really figure out how we help all, and that's a real policy imperative, and hard to do in a world that loves to see winners and losers.”

However, she also cautioned against simple “policy tourism,” a phenomenon in which nations simply try to copy programmes from other countries: “Policies can't just simply be transported with a snap of a finger from one to another. This is why PISA is so important in terms of thoughtful learning and adoption, as opposed to just saying, let's imitate and copy.”

Randi Weingarten’s full blog post on teaching in the era of AI, published on Worlds of Education, is available here: Devices down, eyes up, hands-on: 10 points to boost teaching and learning in the AI era.

From theory to practice

Marjolaine Perreault, General Director of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) and member of EI’s Executive Board, shared practical experience in how PISA results are used to inform policy decisions in Canada. Apart from highlighting areas in public education that need to be reworked, they also provide valuable insight to the union itself, Perreault stated:

“For the CSQ, the importance of this data also lies in the fact that it provides an opportunity to strengthen social dialogue, because it allows us to have a discussion. And every moment when we can talk about education is, for us, an important moment — one that matters and gives us an opportunity to act. Teachers are important; they are at the heart of the school team’s work, and education personnel are important too.”

Matthieu Pelard, economist at the CSQ, also spoke to the organisation’s ability to translate PISA data into action at the government level, by pointing out how the highest-performing nations in PISA are those that ensure genuine equality of opportunity:

“In Quebec, we continue to advocate for increased investment. We truly believe that school inequalities must be reduced, particularly for certain students — students with special needs, whose numbers in regular classrooms have grown exponentially in recent years. The workload associated with this for education personnel is very significant. It is important to use PISA to show that we must be able to build a strong argument for supporting all students in their educational success, regardless of the country.”

Flanagan closed the workshop with a clear call to action, once again bringing attention to the strength of collaboration between policy-makers and practitioners:

“As the voice of practitioners, education unions have a particular role to play in fostering those partnerships. So, if there is a national launch taking place and your union is not involved, ask the question– why?”