The Education Policy Outlook, the OECD’s analytical observatory of education policy, is a collaborative effort between OECD countries and economies, the OECD Secretariat, and invited institutions, as well as all actors working within participating education systems, to help students achieve their potential.
This report was prepared by members of the Education Policy Outlook Team (Diana Toledo Figueroa [Project Leader], Jonathan James [as part of the OECD Secretariat, and then as external consultant during the finalisation of the report], Christa Rawkins, Clément Dumont and Thaiane Pereira). Nicholas Biddle contributed with comments during the initial stages of the report, as part of his Thomas J. Alexander fellowship with the Education Policy Outlook Team during 2020. This report was prepared under the responsibility of Paulo Santiago, Head of the Policy Advice and Implementation Division, and Andreas Schleicher, Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD Secretary-General, and Director for Education and Skills. Stephen Flynn provided editorial support and Cassandra Davis, Rachel Linden, Jason Fallow, Henri Pearson, Sophie Limoges and Anne-Victoire Suteau provided communications support.
The preparation of this report was possible thanks to the work undertaken by the Education Policy Outlook in its three strands of work—comparative and thematic analysis, country-based work mainly through the preparation of country policy profiles, and policy dialogue. These act as building blocks to develop, strengthen and mobilise international knowledge of education policy.
The OECD Secretariat is immensely grateful to the many contributors who helped shape the objectives of the work of the OECD Education Policy Outlook during 2020 and 2021. From March 2020, in the context of the global pandemic, the Education Policy Outlook started integrating the topic of resilience into its ongoing research into how education systems can become more dynamic and responsive. It combined desk-based research and policy dialogue to develop the report Lessons for Education from COVID-19: A Policy Maker’s Handbook for More Resilient Systems, which was published in December 2020. The Handbook provided a valuable springboard towards the development of this report.
In 2021, the Education Policy Outlook National Co-ordinators provided further guidance and comments throughout the development of this Framework for Responsiveness and Resilience in Education Policy, including exchanges with over 30 education systems through focus group meetings. These exchanges aimed to help the OECD Secretariat gain deeper understanding of how the framework could be made most relevant and useful for the changing realities of education policy makers across social, economic and political contexts. In April 2021, this framework was also presented for discussion and guidance at the 29th session of the Education Policy Committee Meeting. Revision processes of the report also took place with over 40 education systems, as well as the European Commission and the social partners, Business at the OECD (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC).
This report was launched at the Education Policy Reform Dialogues 2021: Thriving through Change, co-hosted with the Flemish Community of Belgium in the city of Ghent on 22-23 November 2021. The Education Policy Reform Dialogues, organised annually since 2018, are the leading OECD forum on education policy. Outcomes of the discussions inform the future work of the OECD’s Directorate for Education and Skills, including the Education Policy Outlook.