In Ireland, students are not spoon-fed knowledge. They learn how to learn

Ciarán Walsh is confident about how his school will fare in the latest PISA results. Forty-six students from St. Mary’s Holy Faith Secondary School in northern Dublin were selected at random for the international tests, a group he says reflected the school’s full range of academic levels.

The tests assess 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics and science across more than 90 countries. Walsh coordinated the assessment at St. Mary’s, one of 172 Irish schools that took part last year. He said the organizers handled the testing arrangements in detail, even instructing students to sit opposite one another rather than in traditional rows.

Ireland has consistently ranked highly in PISA, often placing among the strongest countries in the European Union. Walsh believes the country’s curriculum helps explain that performance. He teaches mathematics and geography and describes both programs as broad, high-quality and open to creativity. Students have room to explore their own interests, while sports, debate clubs and other activities receive substantial attention.

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Independent learning is strongly encouraged, and I think that plays a major role in how we perform. The teachers facilitate our learning process, but we have to do it ourselves.

Those activities also help students build relationships, Walsh said, and those relationships support their schoolwork. Seventeen-year-old student Nada Ayornu offered another explanation: Irish students are not simply handed knowledge. “Independent learning is strongly encouraged, and I think that plays a major role in how we perform. The teachers facilitate our learning process, but we have to do it ourselves,” she said.

Ayornu, who plays basketball and has represented Ireland’s national team, has just begun her final year at St. Mary’s. She may study medicine or education after secondary school. “Whatever it becomes, I want to do it well,” she said.

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Broad in scope, with plenty of room for creativity.