It is Wednesday morning at Mustamäe high school in Tallinn, Estonia.
About thirty sixteen-year-olds pour into the classroom and some of them toss their mobile phones on the bench in front of them, next to pencil cases, binders and pads.
We've traveled here to find out why the country's teenagers are top in reading, maths and science in the latest Pisa surveys.
At the beginning of September, the Swedish results hit like a bomb. It turned out that Sweden in both reading comprehension and mathematics had fallen to its lowest levels since the Pisa measurements started in 2000. This led to war headlines in the newspapers, politicians who spoke of "national emergency" and parents who panicked.
So what is the secret behind the Estonian school wonder?
The school in Tallinn is called the Silver Arrow because it has the shape of an arrow-shaped spaceship that should signal speed and precision. It is quite expensive. The inside consists of light woods, mainly birch. There are large open spaces and sparingly with colors, mostly white.
The lesson we get to participate in is about media and communication. At home, the students have read two research articles about why young people do not consume news.
Teacher Maarja-Liisa Vokksepp has given them a task. They will discuss in small groups how the media can make them understand the world better.
When five minutes later they have to present their conclusions, it is the teacher who distributes the floor. She doesn't have to raise her voice once, even though there are more than 30 students in the room. Those who do not speak are dead silent and wait for each other by raising their hands and taking turns.
The contrast to the chaos I have encountered in Swedish classrooms could not be greater.
But despite all the order and discipline, Maarja-Liisa was surprised when the news that the Estonian 15-year-olds were at the top in the Pisa survey was broadcast.
- Because even here we talk a lot about how difficult our students have with reading, she says.
At the front of the classroom sit Piret Sepp, Elle Marie Kangur and Sigrid Ojala.
- We were also surprised, say Piret and Elle, but are interrupted by Sigrid Ojala, who thinks it's completely understandable.
- We are a small country in a dangerous world. This means that we have always valued education and taken school very seriously. It is important for our own, but also for our country's security.
Maarja-Liisa Vokksepp nods.
- Well, that's probably true, and if we look back, at our history, you can see how much education has really meant to us. It is the way we have as individuals to get somewhere in life, she says.
Before the afternoon lesson, the students must read an eight-page short story by the Estonian writer Mehis Heinsaar.
- As a teacher, I really see how they struggle with reading. Some people love books, but the majority don't. And I can partly understand them, I just need to go to myself to see that I read less, says Maarja–Liisa Vokksepp.
The texts she gives the students have become shorter, even though she knows the importance of the long reading because it forces them to slow down and think "slowly".
- When they don't get all the information in a quick flow, they have to stop and go deep, she says and snaps her fingers to imitate the clips in social media: tick tick tick.
83 percent of Estonian teenagers performed at level two or higher in reading comprehension. This means that they have basic skills to be able to function in future study and working life. This can be compared with only 69 percent in Sweden.
But also in Estonia, the reading ability has decreased somewhat compared to Pisa 2022. The Estonian teenagers do not read as much, or as well, as they once did.
The Pisa measurements also show that it is the advanced reading – which involves evaluating and reflecting, but also remembering and being able to bring together different pieces of information – that more and more students have difficulty with.
At the same time, what is called "hasty reading", where you rush through a text and give quick but incorrect answers, has almost doubled.
In Sweden, this is about 11 percent of teenagers. In Estonia, the proportion is 9 percent.
And the Estonian teachers have seen the deterioration for several years. At the national final exam in upper secondary school, students must write an essay of 400 words. It must be argumentative and contain concrete examples that support their reasoning.
- But they have difficulty retelling a story that they have read or seen. They pick examples from different directions that have nothing to do with the story itself.
They are unable to put forward a reasoning with their own examples, what is called practical reading and writing skills.
- That's why I was surprised that we passed Pisa so well, because our own measurements show something else, says Maarja-Liisa.
One explanation for why the Estonian school successes are still so great is that the teachers have a high status. In any case, if the country's education minister Kristina Kallas is to be believed, who also claims that the young generation wants to train as teachers.
- Yes, we have authority, says Maarja-Liisa Vokksepp and adds that it may stem from the country's history and the Soviet occupation.
Teachers not only enjoy the respect of students, but also have great freedom to design their own teaching.
When we ask her how strictly she has to follow the curricula, she replies:
- There are lists of what we must include in the teaching. But it says nothing about how we should teach what is on the lists. It is a freedom we value very highly, she says.
The teachers' authority also explains their attitude towards mobile phones. In Sweden, we have legislated to remove them, not only in lessons, but throughout the school day.
In Estonia, the teachers can decide for themselves whether the students can have mobile phones in front of them or not. That a teacher would say: "I can't decide on this on my own", is something that Education Minister Kristina Kallas described as a horror scenario. Then they would lose their authority in the same way that teachers have done in other European countries.
- Yes, and mobile phones are already there, regardless of whether we try to legislate them away or not, says Maarja-Liisa Vokksepp. Therefore, students need to learn how to deal with them.
When she asks the students to put them away, they usually obey. And otherwise they have themselves to blame, she says.
- They must take responsibility for their own learning. In that case, the important thing is that they do not disturb others.
The Estonian schools are in the middle of a huge digitization reform where AI is also moving into the classrooms. The idea is to be one step ahead so that the AI tools are used in the right way.
Among other things, they have developed a special school chat bot, designed to be "Socratic". It should therefore not serve ready-made answers, but function more as a sounding board. If a student asks for help with a math number, it does not calculate the answer, but asks a question back.
Aren't you afraid that students will lose more of their skills?
- Yes, of course we are worried, says Maarja-Liisa Vokksepp.
It's about getting the brain, the books and the screens to work together, she believes.
- For example, I can ask the students to summarize the most important thing in a text and then have them ask the AI to do the same. Then they can compare the results. In this way, AI can become a tool for critical thinking and not something that does homework for them.
Although the teachers have great authority, their salaries are not higher than average and correspond to a regular academic salary. It is a salary that does not correspond to the hard work they do, believes Maarja-Liisa Vokksepp.
Before we leave the school, we ask two students who are slumped on a sofa if they have thought about becoming a teacher themselves.
- I have done it, but not anymore, says Kärol Riisal, 18 years old. Say there are 36 students in a class and you have five lessons in a day. This means you will be standing in front of hundreds of students every day.
Maximillian Valjauga, on the other hand, is thinking of becoming a teacher, but only part-time, and alongside some other work.
- The difficult thing is to be inspiring, in the same way that my teachers have inspired me.
Read more:
The professor: Here are the keys to reversing the reading crisis
The Swedish teacher on the Pisa results: "It's not just about screens"
