1.
Starting strongWollongong
Andreas Schleicher
Tech, Tools and Trust
Andreas Schleicher, OECD Parliamentary Days

2.
2
Digitalisation and education
Democratizing
Concentrating
Particularizing
Homogenizing
Empowering
Disempowering
Environmental
degradation
Climate change
Migration
Middle class
Polarisation
of societies
Renewable energy
Loss of
biodiversity
Water and food
shortages
Natural
disasters
Financial
crises
Nationalism
Democratisation
Multinational
companies
Harmonization
of values
Interdependent
markets
Trade
openness
Emerging
economies
Poverty
Ageing
Radicalisation
Tourism
Inequality
International
governance
Global
integration

3.
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
ChineseTaipei-2
Sweden-9
France-5
Portugal
Greece
Singapore-2
Thailand
Macao(China)-7
Brazil-2
Spain
UnitedKingdom
Bulgaria
HongKong(China)
Korea-7
Belgium-4
Denmark-4
Croatia-5
Israel-10
NewZealand-4
Netherlands-3
Uruguay
Hungary4
Australia
OECDaverage-3
DominicanRepublic
Ireland-7
Poland-3
CostaRica3
Lithuania
Japan-5
Mexico
Russia-8
CzechRepublic
Italy
Peru
Colombia4
Finland-6
Chile
Latvia
SlovakRepublic
B-S-J-G(China)11
Switzerland
Austria-3
Luxembourg
Iceland
Germany
Estonia
Slovenia
%
Boys Girls
15-year-olds feeling bad if not connected to the Internet (PISA) Figure III.13.6

4.
Increase in time spent on line outside school on a typical school day
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Chile39
Sweden56
Uruguay33
CostaRica31
Spain44
Italy40
Australia52
Estonia50
NewZealand51
Hungary43
Russia42
Netherlands48
Denmark55
SlovakRepublic40
CzechRepublic43
Austria42
Latvia46
Singapore45
Belgium44
Poland46
Iceland51
OECDaverage-2743
Ireland48
Croatia40
Portugal42
Finland48
Israel34
Macao(China)45
Switzerland40
Greece41
HongKong(China)39
Mexico30
Slovenia37
Japan31
Korea20
Minutes per day
2015 2012
Figure III.13.3
Percentage of High Internet Users (spending 2 to 6 hours on line per day), during weekdays

5.
• Virality seems privileged over quality
in the distribution of news
• Truth and fact are losing currency in decision making
and democratic choices
• Assertions which “feel right” but have no basis in fact
seem to be accepted as valid on the grounds that
they challenge elites and vested interests
The post-truth world where reality becomes fungible
• A study by Stanford University
– Over 80% of middle-schoolers couldn’t distinguish
between an ad labelled “sponsored content” and a real
news story on a website.
– Less that 20% of high-schoolers questioned the use of a
photo of deformed daisies in an article about toxic
conditions near a nuclear plant in Japan, despite the
absence of a source/location; in fact, nearly 40% argued
the photo enhanced the article’s reliability.

6.
• Algorithms that sort us into groups of like-minded
individuals create echo chambers that amplify our
views, leave us uninformed of opposing arguments,
and polarise our societies
• Those algorithms are not a design flaw, they are the
heart of why social media work
Scarcity of attention and abundance of information

7.
Consumer protection
vs.
Developing transferable skills
for meaningful engagement
Online risks: harmful content, contact and conduct

8.
100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40
Turkey
Greece
Chile
Lithuania
Israel
United States
Poland
Russian Federation
Ireland
Slovak Republic
England (UK)
Northern Ireland (UK)
Japan
OECD average
Slovenia
Estonia
Denmark
Austria
Australia
Canada
New Zealand
Germany
Czech Republic
Norway
Flanders (Belgium)
Netherlands
Sweden
Finland
Korea
Singapore
Level 2 Level 3 Level 2 Level 3
Skills to navigate the digital world – digital problem-solving skills
Young adults (16-24 year-olds) Older adults (55-65 year-olds)

9.
Comparing skills of computers and adults
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Level 1 and Below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4-5
Literacy Proficiency in OECD Countries (PIAAC)
Near-term
computer
capabilities

10.
Interpersonal Trust
• Interpersonal trust corresponds to an “expectation that other members of
the community will behave in a cooperative and honest way”
• The social and economic importance of interpersonal trust is widely
acknowledged. It is a associated with:
• Collective problems solving
• Economic development and functioning democratic institutions
• Lower rates of criminality and juvenile delinquency
• The literature indicates that greater diversity is associated with lower trust
• What role for education systems?

11.
Generalised trust across countries
0 2 4 6
Italy
Greece
Slovak Republic
Chile
Czech Republic
France
Slovenia
Estonia
Poland
Ireland
Germany
Austria
Lithuania
South Korea
United Kingdom
United States
Spain
Australia
Singapore
Israel
Belgium
Canada
New Zealand
Netherlands
Japan
Norway
Finland
Sweden
Denmark
few people trust completely
other take advantage

12.
Trust, Education and Cognitive Abilities
• Education one of the strongest correlates of interpersonal trust
– but lack of clarity on what mechanisms are responsible for education gradients in interpersonal trust
• Cognitive mechanism
– To trust others you need to be smart (and not too trustful). Trusting anonymous others requires
individuals to feel confident about being able to evaluate the quality of particular interactions with
others and to adapt behaviour according to environmental stimuli (Hooge et al., 2012).
• Societal stratification mechanism
– Trust is a privilege of the ‘winners in society’(Newton 1997). Those who have a higher socio-
economic status will find it easier to express trust in the social arrangements that have provided
them with this high status. Better educated individuals are more likely to be employed, to earn
higher wages, to be in better health, to live in neighbourhoods with low levels of crime.
• Direct mechanism
– Socialisation processes

13.
The role of education:
is what you learn or who you become that matters?

14.
Increased likelihood of positive outcomes
among adults with higher literacy skills (age 16-65)
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Being Employed High wages Good to excellent
health
Participation in
volunteer activities
High levels of
political efficacy
High levels of trust
(scoring at Level 4/5 on PIAAC compared with those scoring at Level 1 or below)
Odds ratio

15.
Some findings
• At the individual level, education is positively associated with
generalised trust both directly and indirectly through social
sorting and cognitive mechanisms
• The association between education and generalised trust, as
well as the relative importance of direct and indirect
mechanisms differ across countries

16.
Some findings
• The relationship that varies the most is the relationship between
literacy and trust
• Diversity vs. uncertainty:
– The association between literacy and generalised trust is stronger in countries
that are characterised by greater birthplace diversity.
– The association between literacy and generalised trust is weaker in countries
characterised by greater income inequality
• Maintaining trust in the presence of increased social diversity arising
from international requires significant investments in equipping all
individuals with high levels of information processing skills

17.
• The first place where children encounter the diversity of society
• Provide students with opportunities to learn about global
developments that affect the world and their own lives
• Teach students to develop a fact-based and critical worldview
• Equip students with an appreciation of other cultures and an
awareness of their own cultural identities
• Engage students in experiences that facilitate international and
intercultural relations
• Promote the value of diversity, which in turn encourages
sensitivity, respect and appreciation
A role for schools in building bridging social capital

18.
Global competence (PISA)
Effectively combining knowledge
and critical reasoning in order to
establish an informed opinion on a
global or intercultural issue.
Globally competent students can draw on
and combine the disciplinary knowledge and
modes of thinking acquired in schools to ask
questions, analyse data and arguments,
explain phenomena, and develop a position
concerning a local, global or cultural issue
e.g. history course about industrialisation in
the developing world

19.
Global competence (PISA)
Willingness and capability to
understand global issues, and
others’ perspectives and behaviours
from multiple points of view.
Recognising that perspectives and
behaviours – including one’s own –
are inherently shaped by various
influences and concepts of reality
Globally competent students can
retain their cultural identity but are
simultaneously aware of the cultural
values and beliefs of people around
them, they examine the origins and
implications of others’ and their own
assumptions
e.g. student noticing culturally-related behaviour

20.
Global competence (PISA)
Understanding the cultural norms
of different contexts and adapting
behaviour and communication
accordingly
The capacity to interact with others in
ways that are open (i.e. with sensitivity
and engagement), appropriate (i.e.
respectful) and effective.
Globally competent students create
opportunities to take informed, reflective
action and have their voices heard

21.
Global competence (PISA)
Readiness to respond to a given
local, global or intercultural issue.
Being ready and willing to take
informed, reflective action and an
engagement to improve living
conditions in one’s own
communities and beyond.

22.
Global competence (PISA)

23.
Global competence (PISA)
Knowledge of global issues and
intercultural issues
Content domains:
• Culture and intercultural relations
(as students engage in learning about other cultures
they recognise multiple, complex identities and
avoid categorising people through single markers)
• Socio-economic development and
interdependence
• Environmental sustainability
• Global institutions, conflicts and
human rights

24.
Global competence (PISA)
Global competence builds on specific
cognitive and socio-emotional skills,
including
• Reasoning with information
• Communication in intercultural
contexts
• Perspective-taking (the cognitive and social
skills to understand how other people think and feel)
• Conflict resolution
• Adaptability

25.
Global competence (PISA)
The mind-set that students adopt
towards a person, a group, an
institution, an issue, a behaviour or a
symbol
Openness towards people
from other cultural backgrounds
Respect for cultural differences
Global-mindedness

26.
Global competence (PISA)
Values go beyond attitudes as they
transcend specific objects or
situations
People use them consciously and
unconsciously as reference for
judgements
• Human dignity
• Cultural diversity

27.
• 90% of employers in 9 countries surveyed reported they value intercultural skills,
and 47% screen for intercultural skills
• More than two thirds of employers report that their employees engage frequently
with colleagues outside of their country, and over half say that their employees
engage frequently with partners and clients outside of their country.
• By far the most highly valued skill is “demonstrating respect for others”, followed
by “working effectively in diverse teams”. These skills outranked having
“qualifications related to the job” and “expertise in the field”.
• More than one quarter of employers globally see the education provision in their
country as inadequate in producing graduates that meet the intercultural skills
needs of their organisation
• Source: British Council (2013) “Culture at work: The value of intercultural skills in the workplace”
Global competence

28.
Find out more about our work at www.oecd.org/pisa
– All publications
– The complete micro-level database
Email: Andreas.Schleicher@OECD.org
Twitter: SchleicherOECD
Wechat: AndreasSchleicher
Thank you