Society = its PISA results

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Johan Leman, 14 September 2026

As far as I am concerned, the clearest cause one can point to when explaining whether a country performs well or poorly in the PISA results is the functioning of society as a whole (including the functioning of the media within it).

If you constantly bombard young people with the message that there is so much weakness to be found among many young people, then you should not be surprised when a generation grows up feeling insecure.

If you constantly expose young people to games with high levels of visual appeal and sound, then you should not be surprised when a generation grows up reading little and quickly considers reading “not fun”.

And how do you expect young people to perform well in mathematics if mental arithmetic is no longer used as a playful exercise in the classroom, or if there are no more memory exercises?

Am I arguing for a return to the past? No. But I do think that some educational experts are less expert than they themselves are willing to admit when it comes to very concrete situations.

I will never forget that one of the most tedious teachers I have ever had was actually an educational expert… (I know, it is not an argument…) I experienced this years ago, when I wanted to obtain my certificate that would also allow me to teach in secondary education. I passed, but after attending two of his classes, I always “skipped” his lessons… It has saved me, I think.

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