Mike's Minute: A deeper dive into the PISA numbers
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Why does the latest PISA report feel off despite seemingly good news?
Now, as big a fan as I am of good news, something wasn't right in these latest piece of reports. This is the bit I want to get to. Like all reports, you can look at these stats in any number of ways. For example, if you want to feel good about yourself, have a look at the Australian results, as I did yesterday. They are not good. And so for a bit of trans-Tasman rivalry, their numbers will give you no end of vibes. In other words, we beat them. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. The social economic gap that Erica Stanford talked about on this program yesterday, that's real.
What does the socio‑economic gap reveal about Australia's PISA performance?
So that's indisputably good. We like that. Two major worries for me, though. One, we look good because essentially we went nowhere, and we went nowhere against an OECD that went backwards. Standing knee-deep while others drown doesn't seem to me to be a thing. I mean, you'll take it, obviously, but I would have thought that comparing yourself to the ordinary is not quite as fulfilling as actually moving forward. But the really big one is the OECD going backwards and the why. I surmise, is the death basically of critical thinking. Kids no longer think for themselves, and it's only going to get worse.
Which classroom issues and screen‑time concerns are highlighted in the PISA findings?
The reports raise serious issues around disruptive classrooms, of course, the old screen time issue, and the facts that kids don't read. So this is global. We've got multiple generations, I would have thought now, of non-readers. Reading is the key to everything. It is the key to everything. Mix the lack of reading Mix that with AI, which will give an answer to anything you want these days. Basically, we're headed for intellectual oblivion. Like the calculator before it, technological advance is efficient.
How is AI and technology impacting critical thinking according to the episode?
It gives you the answer. But the link to critical thinking is, do you know the answer is right? Of course you don't. And you don't care either. No one asks questions anymore. You notice that? No kids asking any questions. No one's inquiring. The rise of gormlessness is frightening.
Why does the host argue that average performance isn’t enough in a declining global education landscape?
It's all there in the piece of reports. Our kids are going backwards. They're not reading. They're not adding. They're not firing up the old brains. In the intellectual swamp... that is global education, we aren't too bad. We can say that. We're not doing too badly. So instead of worrying about that, we decide to pretend it's a good news story. But being okay or average in a world of the hopeless isn't what I call
achieving.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why does the latest PISA report feel off despite seemingly good news?
0:00–0:26
2
What does the socio‑economic gap reveal about Australia's PISA performance?
0:26–0:58
3
Which classroom issues and screen‑time concerns are highlighted in the PISA findings?
0:58–1:25
4
How is AI and technology impacting critical thinking according to the episode?
1:25–1:41
5
Why does the host argue that average performance isn’t enough in a declining global education landscape?
1:41–2:12
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Mike Hosking Breakfast
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