Canadian Students’ Test Results in Global Ranking Should Bring the End of ‘Discovery Learning’

Commentary The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published the results of the 2022 PISA test this week and the news for Canada is not good. PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is a standardized test used by many OECD countries to gauge how kids in their public school systems are doing in subjects like math, science, and reading. These assessments are not content-based but rather skills-based tests. We have been told for at least a decade, and sometimes longer, that a fabulous new way of teaching called “discovery learning” was being introduced into Canadian schools because it would emphasize the learning of skills. It would replace the boring “drill and kill” approach associated with content-based education—you know, that old-fashioned method of education that says kids should actually learn stuff....