The PISA results are interesting but do not compare ‘like with like’. In Australia, one of the most diverse nations in the world, teachers work with an incredible diversity of students, and need to meet the needs of a wide range of learning styles and do not benefit from a ‘culture of compliance’, arising from structural factors, evident in other nations. Thus a critique of different education systems needs to be moderated by understanding the unique factors that characterise schools in each nation.

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