Where should education go after PISA: "We must stop the pedagogical reform and look at what we are doing"

PalmaThe school year begins in the Balearic Islands with a question that goes beyond the PISA report grades and the sense of uncertainty and disappointment they have caused: what should be done now? The results of PISA 2025, published this Tuesday, have left the Islands below the Spanish, EU, and OECD averages in the three evaluated competencies: 441 points in Reading, 449 in Mathematics, and 471 in Science. Compared to the 2022 edition, the drop is 31 points in Reading comprehension, 22 in Mathematics, and 9 in Science.

But if the diagnosis is already on the table, now it is time to decide what to do about it. The president of the Federation of Student Families of Mallorca and teacher, Xavier Ferriol, specifically calls for avoiding the debate about who is to blame. "What is needed is to overcome this stage of the Government blaming Spain, and Spain blaming whatever. We must stop finding culprits and look at what measures we can take together," he argues.

One of the first issues that Ferriol puts on the table is technology, not because it explains the educational decline by itself, but because its massive entry into the lives of adolescents forces us to review its use. "It is evident that technology has occupied a space in Spain that it should not occupy," he states. Families, he admits, must also engage in self-criticism: "We have given mobile phones when it was time, we recognize it."

The question, therefore, is for what, when, and how technology is used. Ferriol demands that this discussion take place with educational centers and that they be the ones to explain what tools they need. "All this implies collaborating with educational centers and knowing what they want: books, computers, a computer lab to work on digital competence?", he poses. As he denounces, digitalization has sometimes advanced faster than the system's ability to decide how to use it. "If centers don't know what they want, we have children coming home with Chromebooks that they made us buy and doing activities with AI". And families, he adds, cannot assume the role of permanent overseers: "Families cannot be behind them watching everything they do".

Not everything is the fault of technology

Ferriol warns, however, that it would be a mistake to turn screens into the explanation for all evils. PISA also points to factors such as the socioeconomic environment, the composition of the student body, and the conditions of the schools. For this reason, the president of the families focuses on the available resources. "The report also says things we must look at. For example, that 50% of management teams say they lack staff". In his opinion, this lack of resources makes it difficult to respond to an increasingly diverse student body. "We know that these results have gone badly because there are more students who are not reaching minimums. Diversity is not being addressed and there is no equity, which is important", he states.

It is here that Ferriol rejects that the setback be read as a problem of the students. "Blaming the students for the ills is not fair". And he also demands to review what happens inside the classrooms. "In many high schools, competency-based work is not done, which is what PISA asks for. Work is done with books and in a memorization-based way". The paradox is evident: while PISA tries to measure to what extent adolescents are capable of applying knowledge to real situations, Ferriol considers that there are still centers where a model based on memorization carries more weight. "We all have to look at ourselves, I as a teacher too", he says. "It is unfair that the blame is given to the LOMLOE, because it is a competency-based law, and the PISA tests are also that way.

Stopping to know where to go

This review should also affect the pedagogical reform. Ferriol advocates for pausing and analyzing what has worked and what has not. "I believe we must stop the pedagogical reform and look at what we are doing". It is not, however, about eliminating innovation: "There is a part of pedagogical innovation that is good, but it is evident that technology has done harm".

The debate about screens goes beyond the school. Students spend a good part of their time outside of the centers and social networks have increasingly more influence on their way of getting informed, relating, and learning. "The world has changed and, if we are not careful, social networks are educating the students", warns Ferriol. In his opinion, this affects basic capacities for learning: "Concentration, memory, and attention are affected". Ferriol considers that the problem also affects families. "It is not only about the young, because there are families that are already entering this dynamic. I need to look at my mobile every so often". For this reason, he calls for better defining the spaces for technology use and involving families in this regulation, while admitting that "it is convenient for many families" to leave children with screens.

The second major challenge posed by the poor PISA results, according to Ferriol, is to restore trust between families and educational centers. "I believe that families do not trust the school." This trust, he considers, must be built through communication and participation, although the reality is uneven: "There are centers that do it and centers that do not, and teachers in one center who do and others who do not."

For this reason, he argues that families must have more of a voice in the life of the centers, also through the AFAs (Parent-Teacher Associations) and school councils. "One of the ways is for the AFAs to be present on the school council in order to be able to submit proposals." This participation should also allow for detecting problems and resolving them before they become chronic. "If there is a teacher who has complaints, it must be stated in order to resolve the conflicts."

The problem, he laments, is that this participation is still limited. "Families do not have broad participation; everyone goes their own way." This causes some problems to repeat each school year: "You find within the same center that there are problems that repeat every year because no action is taken to address them."

The big question

Beyond screens, methodologies, or the relationship between families and school, Ferriol places the main problem on the system's ability to guarantee minimum learning. "What PISA tells us is that one in three students does not have the minimum competencies." In his opinion, this data also forces us to look at inequalities outside the classroom. "The system works for families who have resources and knowledge to be able to dedicate time to their children." For this reason, he argues that PISA poses a question about the educational system itself: what must change so that the school can compensate for, instead of reproducing, initial inequalities?

The answer, according to Ferriol, does not involve looking for a single culprit. "We all need to take a look at ourselves, myself as a teacher too." The academic year that is beginning is, therefore, the moment to move from diagnosis to decisions and review what works and what can be changed.