Leadership in Education
The Lithuanian presidency of the Council of the European Union 2013 organised a conference in Vilnius in the beginning of September on Leadership in Education with the aim to provide the Council of the EU with recommendations on how the EU should work with educational governance in the future. The event brought together national education ministries, representatives of the European institutions and non-governmental organisations active in the field of education. OBESSU and our Lithuanian Member Organisation Lietuvos moksleivių sąjunga (LMS) were present to represent the voice of the European school students.
The conference was opened by Androulla Vasiliou, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, followed by a speech by the Minister of Education and Science in Lithuania, Dr. Dainius Pavalkis. Other speakers at the event included Michael Schratz (Universität Innsbruck), Pasi Sahlberg (CIMO), and Beatriz Pont (OECD). Ms. Pont stressed the fact that it is unreasonable to speak about education without involving everyone active in education: teachers, parents, school heads, politicians and school students themselves. Mr. Sahlberg spoke about the secret behind some countries’ success in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) test, and the worldwide tendency to change educational systems towards GERM (Global Education Reform Movement). He pointed out that the factors in education systems leading to good results in education often go against the ones supported within the GERM ideology. OBESSU was happy to hear the conclusions; education needs to be free, equal and focused on the individuals in order to be efficient and qualitative. Competitiveness and standardisation in education is thus the wrong way to go.
Learners in focus
The discussions in the workshops and in the plenary sessions focused on how schools should be governed, how co-operation between different actors should be facilitated and where education should head in a global, high tech and fast changing world. It was pointed out that education has a responsibility in times of crisis to answer the needs of the labour market; a statement that OBESSU does not agree with. We believe education has a value in itself, and that the purpose of education should always be to answer the needs of the learner, not those of the labour market More diverse teaching methodsinclusive school environments and improved school democracy were other things OBESSU brought up as answers on what the common aim of school governance should be, in order for the schools to answer the societal needs.
Written by Ida Kreutzman, OBESSU Board Member
