OECD Schools+ Network

What is the OECD Schools+ Network?

Meeting the challenges of the 21st Century means that schools must be empowered to play a more central and active role in leading improvements in education.

To support this, Schools+ will bring together major education networks to put schools at the centre of education design. Schools+ participants will unite around three core objectives:

Foster exchange: to provide a space for education networks to learn with and from each other on the leading practices to support schools.
Drive structured learning & innovation: to advance schools’ knowledge by identifying grassroots innovations and facilitating co-creation and evidence generation on common pressing challenges.
Inform policy: to leverage schools’ innovations and expertise to better inform education policy across countries.

What will Schools+ achieve?

As a ‘network of networks’, Schools+ will bring together education experts, school leaders and teachers from across the globe to respond to common challenges and inspire advances in classrooms, schools and policies.

During 2023 and 2024, Schools+ participating networks will join forces to examine new approaches to classroom practice and will:

Create connections within a new Global Community, providing opportunities for peer-learning and exchange, as well as shaping the global learning agenda.
Gather schools in a learning circle, to co-create practical solutions to pressing common challenges and co-develop new resources that help set global standards.
Collect and showcase schools’ promising practices in an open online platform that synthesizes and disseminates new school-level evidence, innovation and learning.
Shape the global education conversation and policy through a new Schools’ Outlook Report and a Global Schools’ Council.

Who are the participants?

Participants in Schools+ consist of large education networks and organisations, including governments, teachers, teacher and school leader representative organisations, existing school networks, evidence brokerage organisations, and organisations supporting education development such as philanthropic foundations and international organisations. Participants include countries and organisations in both developed and developing economies, and are united by common interests, including:

Working closely with primary and/or secondary schools.
Strongly committed to evidence generation and dissemination.
Fostering innovative practices generated within school communities.
Aiming to spur system-level changes to enhance students’ learning and well-being.
Being passionate about sharing experiences globally.

In addition to national governments and local education authorities, organisations include:

Australia Education Research Organisation (AERO), Council of British International Schools (COBIS), Digital Promise Global, Education Endowment Foundation, Education International, European School Heads Association (ESHA), European Schoolnet, Eutopía, Global School Leaders, HundrED, International Baccalaureate, International Confederation of Principals (ICP), Jacobs Foundation, Keller Education, LEGO Foundation, Magis Qualis, Networks of Inquiry and Indigenous Education (NOIIE) , Nord Anglia Education, Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU), Results 4 Development (SALEX), Schools 2030, SUMMA, T4, Teach for All, UNESCO, Transcend Education, and the Varkey Foundation and VVOB - education for development.

The work of Schools+ is being guided by an informal Advisory Group consisting of founding participants, notably the representatives of Education International, the International Confederation of Principals, the European School Heads Association, SUMMA, UNESCO, the Governments of France and Portugal and the Jacobs and LEGO Foundations.

Schools Learning Circle

The cornerstone of the work of Schools+ will be the Schools Learning Circle, where over 130 schools from 40 countries will come together to build a Toolbox of Effective Classroom Practices. The first meeting of the Learning Circle took place on 18 October 2023, with over 170 school representatives coming together to launch their joint activities. Together they will be working with evidence around the 5 dimensions in the pedagogical taxonomy to understand what research says about effective teaching and learning, and how it can be applied in classrooms across the globe.

Generative AI in the Classroom

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now at the fingertips of every teacher and student. Stay tuned for the official background paper, following public consultation, which outlines what GenAI is capable of doing and how it has evolved, provides a very initial assessment of the potential implications in and outside classrooms, and presents some pointers for teachers, school leaders and policy-makers from around the world to consider in unlocking the potential of GenAI while safeguarding against its potential pitfalls. This was presented and discussed in the launch event of Schools+ Network and opened for comments on the analysis, resources and examples on the potential impact that generative AI might have in the classroom.

Did you miss the World Teachers Day webinar on the implications of Generative AI on the teaching profession?

Watch the webinar here
Read the webinar summary, written with the help of ChatGPT, here
Consult the presentation by Andreas Schleicher on Generative AI in the classroom
The current background document, Generative AI in the classroom: from hype to reality? is available here.

Learn more about the official launch

On 22-23 May, we officially launched the OECD Schools+ Network with the hybrid event Schools as drivers of innovation, with representatives from some 40 countries and 25 organisations. During the interactive panel discussions, over 160 schools experts, leading thinkers and innovators came together to explore:

The current state of education and aspirations for cross-border learning and collaboration between schools
How networks are creating powerful ecosystems of education practitioners to learn, collaborate and share innovations, opportunities and challenges
How generative artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT, is transforming teaching and learning, and how it will shape a new learning agenda.

Would you like to learn more about the launch of the Schools+ Network?