Cyprus can become leaders in education for 2030 and beyond

It is a known target in Cyprus to eliminate illiteracy, to aim to promote all human values, critical thought, dexterities, faculties and talents and to offer knowledge from the all spectrum of sciences with a belief that the educational community, and the political forces, will contribute effectively a upgrade Education in Cyprus

In a recent report by Dr. Charalambos Vrasidas, Dr. Sotiris Themistokleous, Center for the Advancement of Research & Development in Educational Technology (CARDET) it was reported that Cyprus has made great progress in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

We all know education is one of the the most efficient means to promote the 2030 Agenda. Providing quality education is not only the basis of the specific the Cyprus Agenda for 2030 but underpins the successful implementation of all targets. With education you develop leaders who are ready for the 21st century, confident, critical thinkers, great communicators, collaborators and above all creative in problem solving and innovation.

The 2030 Agenda has a long horizon for implementation in part because it speaks to a need to transform societal practices. There is no doubt in my mind that education is the most effective means to build these skills and competencies, that will become the change agents and provide the innovation required for the Goals 2030.

According to the Government’s recent review a main aim was to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. In other words they are recognising that we are all born with unique gifts and talents - lets as educational leaders now motivate and inspire.

There is no doubt that Cyprus has made significant progress in its implementation, because many of its targets are linked with EU policies and the framework of its Education and Training 2020 (ET2020).

The educational policy of Cyprus is based on the values of equality, inclusivity, creativity, innovation and lifelong learning. How wonderful. Cyprus still provides free and easily accessible education to everyone at all education levels (pre-primary, primary, secondary general and secondary technical and vocational education and training), without discrimination.

Regarding primary education, schools include children with mixed academic abilities and several ethnic groups (including migrants and refugees). A true intercultural and multicultural ethos.

To support and enable the smooth integration of foreign pupils into the education system, an intensive programme of learning Greek as a second language is also provided.

Perhaps now time to look at introducing the IB https://www.ibo.org/programmes/ where programmes encourage both personal and academic achievement, challenging students to excel in their studies and in their personal development developing students who work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others, principled, acting with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for the dignity of the individual, groups and communities. They take responsibility for their own actions and the consequences that accompany them.

Cyprus invests 6 percent of its GDP on education, which is one of the highest expenditures compared with other EU countries! The money is there ...

Education to promote sustainable development has also improved, however, the skills and knowledge needed by teachers to promote sustainable development really need a focus on if the impact is to become embedded.

The Ministry of Education and Culture is also undertaking initiatives and actions regarding the promotion of human rights education, gender equality, the promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity. Schools participate in programmes and progress is made. This is commendable.

Teacher training has improved, with a new professional learning system for teachers and teaching both in elementary and secondary education. One of the remaining challenges is the teacher evaluation process and the framework with which teacher tenure will be evaluated.

Regarding special education, although progress has been made, and several schools receive support and resources such as specialized teachers, care assistants, special equipment and educational materials, a lot more needs to be done.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2015 (TIMSS 2015) international study revealed that primary students performed quite well in mathematics and less good in science.

The proportion of low achievers in Cyprus is the largest in the EU for mathematics (43%) and science (42%), and it is the third largest for reading (36%) according to results from the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015). The results for Cyprus have further deteriorated compared to 2012 in all tested areas, placing the country well below OECD and EU averages.

Cyprus - PISA, Science - 5, Reading, - 6, Mathematics, - 3. 60 points below average and 123 points below Singapore.

https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2015-results-in-focus.pd

There is an urgent need to redesign the curricula, establishing indicators where learmers can succeed, with a comprehensive action plan for improving student learning outcomes at all school levels.

Action is required to put Cyprus at the top of PISA again. We have the skills and capacity in our society.

After all, recall Socrates, our ancestor, born in Athens in the 5th century BCE where Athens was a center of learning, with sophists and philosophers traveling from across Greece to teach rhetoric, astronomy, cosmology, and geometry.

There is no doubt that every parent still wants their child to attend a school where their child can achieve the best academic success.

What success looks like is now becoming clearer to us as educational leaders as the universities and employers are looking for students with innovative skills and talents as well as academic results. It seems to be a perception that Cyprus is "slow" to innovate in education, in digital citizenship, in inspiring our children to become innovative learners. there is still an emphasis on defining academic success with how much students learn, their results, their grades, their certificates, by the number of hours doing homework the child does at night and by the number of private tuitions.

Defining Academic Success

So with the changing and developing landscape worldwide, with our young now more inquiring, with globalisation, the explosion of digital technology - the how do we define academic success? Some schools still speak about how hard it is to achieve a grade, A levels, GCSE, A*, 45 at Diploma, many still measure how many students get these grades as a measure of academic success and celebrate their school by the number of high achieving students.

Redefining Academic Success

Thinking skills

The business community is now looking for different skill sets in its youngsters as it innovates much more rapidly than its source of leaders - schools!

To be able to provide the community with youngsters who will lead and make an impact to society we should not be preparing our children to lead their learning based on challenge, reading and evaluating articles, media, resources from the internet, the environment. Most important we should inspire them to understand concepts, to dig deeper, to thinking critically, to not accept anything on face value without challenge, rather than the repetition of similar problems over and over again until they are able to ‘pass the test”.

As educational leaders, we should define what we see as our roles in learning and teaching. We should be driving learning with imaginative, inspiring and creative challenges, with questioning that challenges real depth thinking and promotes insight, with rich opportunities for deep dialogue, discussion and reflection?

Companies are now looking for individuals who can think critically thinking, solve problems innovate and work independently. An ideal learner perhaps should show enthusiasm, focus, and a real understanding of their strengths and weaknesses - with the ability to take targeted actions to improve. As leaders of learning, it’s our responsibility to inculcate these values, right?

Role of the Teacher and Measuring Academic Success

Where there is collaboration, interaction and meaningful real life connections there is a deepening understanding of the world. Where there is innovation, enterprise in learning styles, learners becoming so resilient that they no longer depend on the teacher, but they can effectively find out things for themselves, where students can use technology to further their learning where they can think critically about all their research. At an academically-rigorous school, students feel both success and challenge on a daily basis. In the classroom, there are high levels of student engagement and challenging learning activities, creative, inspiring .... After all, learning should also be fun, right?

There is flexibility in learning / lesson planning with a real focus on conceptual understanding, there is flexibility in grouping and ungrouping students within classes to ensure that effective relationships drive and inculcate conceptual understanding rather than just listening to the teacher dictating factual knowledge. There is be no adherence to a textbook - which after all, becomes out of date months and in some cases days after publication, but an open recognition of inquiry based learning using multiples of resources.

Testing is important but not as a judgment of the child. It is important for teachers be able to gather data and assess where the child is in their learning journey, just like a doctor diagnoses his patients, which will better inform the treatment, in our case our teaching and learning. It’s about finding ways that we can provide a child with additional guidance if they require it. It’s about reviewing the curriculum to drive learning not forcing the curriculum into the child.

So perhaps redefining academic rigour should be about the level of opportunity we provide for students to take their learning into their own hands, in and beyond the classroom? After all, we are preparing them for the real real-world without the protective classroom and school environment. It’s important that the questions and challenges we design for our learners lead to deeper curiosity and that we challenge students to connect concepts across all subjects. It’s important that we reinforce the skills of comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation — using the knowledge they acquire in their learning journeys. After all, if learning isn’t applicable to the real world, what is this ‘education’ all about?

There is also no doubt that when a child is able to look objectively at their own strengths and areas for improvement rather than comparing themselves with others this maximises their own learning through self motivation, and personal goals and challenges. Ownership and determination kick in.

Are we ready to redefine educational success?

So if we are to have an impact on education lets talk progress not about the end of the journey. Lets talk about the quality of the teaching and learning not the results of the test. Lets talk about the deeper learning that is happening every day, every minute, world-leading learning opportunities. Lets redefine authentic learning so that tour youngsters can make a difference to the community and the world and being able to articulate the style of learning that is relevant to them, to become innovators who can applying their learning to real life situations and as a result be happy positive learners.

There is no doubt that all schools strive to provide an outstanding learning environment where all students emerge as happy confident learners with the skills to be able to secure a good future academically, become confident life-long learners, and develop personal leadership skills to lead their own learning but also use learning to become service minded individuals with an international perspective. 

Taking action ...

We have the educators, we have the leaders, we have the experience, I would be keen to hear from fellow educational professionals on what they see as the key areas that we can innovate in upgrade education in Cyprus. Lets all now start to work together ... lets share ideas and release our innate acumen in educational leadership.

“Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth learning can be taught.” — Oscar Wilde

Learning is fundamentally an act of vulnerability. It is an acknowledgement that what one knows is not sufficient, and that new information and new thinking about that information is needed ...

Dr. Tassos Anastasiades

Contact me on: [email protected] if interested in forming a discussion group.