Estonia is globally recognised for its high performing and equitable education system. Since joining PISA in 2006, Estonia has been one of the highest performing countries in science, and its performance in reading and mathematics has significantly improved since PISA 2009. In PISA 2018, Estonia was the highest-performing country in the OECD in reading and science, third for mathematics, and among the top performers across all participating countries and economies in the study (OECD, 2020[24])
Notwithstanding the clear strengths of its education system, Estonia continues to seek improvements in students’ learning experiences and to monitor its progress across a range of key indicators. As part of this continual improvement effort, Estonia is increasingly focusing on children’s early years development, particularly through early childhood education and care (ECEC), as well as through its participation in IELS.
Estonia took a number of actions following the first release of IELS data in 2020. The first was to inform and engage the early years sector on the findings and potential implications of these findings for ECEC teachers, heads, teacher educators and parents. A range of accessible and engaging materials, including video, were widely distributed and a virtual, nation-wide conference was held. During the national conference, teachers confirmed the importance of IELS and other evidence-based studies as a means for learning how to create better learning environments for children.
Building on this national engagement, the Estonian government has put in place a number of changes to the ECEC system. These aim to strengthen children’s early development in areas highlighted by IELS findings. There is now a clearer legal framework for ECEC, which is part of the general education system. There have also been changes to professional development for ECEC teachers and heads. This particularly focuses on supporting children’s language and speech, Estonian as a second language, supporting children with special needs and the use of child-centred strategies, including digital pedagogy. The child-centred approach followed in Estonia focuses on the child's general skills, including play, cognitive and learning skills, social and self-regulation skills. Different fields of teaching and learning are integrated, e.g. language and speech, mathematics, environment, art, music and movement.
The Estonian characters of the IELS study stories: Miia and Toomas
Source: (OECD, 2020[24]) Early Learning and Child Well-being in Estonia, https://doi.org/10.1787/15009dbe-en.