Interview: Researcher: “Even if Meta switches off Instagram at night, no one should believe that Pisa benefits are exploding”

The educational researcher Olaf Köller sees major deficits in the German education system. He doesn't cite immigration or social media as the main cause, but rather a completely different point.

Educational researcher Olaf Köller: “Tasks that were created 20 years ago or even earlier no longer motivate students today.”

Professor Köller, many educational tests, most recently the current Pisa study, show devastating results for the German education system. Germany's students performed worse than ever in reading, arithmetic and natural sciences. What needs to happen now?

The risk group is behind these poor results: 32 percent of 15-year-olds fail to meet the minimum level in reading and 34 percent in mathematics. Due to their low skills, these young people have little chance of getting qualified vocational training. You cannot read fluently, especially not with meaning. In mathematics, too, they are at best at the level of sixth graders. Here it would be essential to significantly increase the promotion of very basic skills.

After the first Pisa shock 25 years ago, the country seemed shaken up. Do you feel the same way this time?

In fact, after 2001 we had a clear offensive in language support in daycare and in the other educational stages. However, many of these programs were project-based and have expired. We lack sustainability in the system. Now we're starting again, but in between we've slept through at least ten years.

What specifically was missed?

Let's look at mathematics at high school: Since 2009, Germany has lost 55 Pisa points. This means that our 15-year-olds in 2025 are about two school years behind those in 2009. Something has gone wrong here in improving the quality of teaching. This probably has little to do with immigration, with social media or with the fact that everyone is having such a hard time emotionally.

Lessons have to be catchy.

Rather?

We need 21st century teaching that is more closely linked to the students' lives. We're talking about global crises, climate change, pandemics, energy problems - and in many school classes, mathematics lessons still involve working through routine tasks.

This draws attention to the teachers.

Yes, we need to abandon the belief that teaching methods and assignments that worked well in 2000 still work today. Tasks that were created 20 years ago or even earlier no longer motivate students today. What is needed is a further development of didactics and a realignment of the task culture. Digital media can also help here, keyword: intelligent tutorial systems that support students in their work. Lessons have to be “catchy”.

What could that look like?

Evaluate, graphically prepare, interpret and draw conclusions from data on climate change or biodiversity. Understand that the connection between two variables does not automatically mean that one is the cause of the other - for example, questioning the correlation between cell phone use and school performance in terms of what is the cause and what is the consequence. The Pisa tests are full of interesting tasks like this. We rarely see something like this in class.

Vita Olaf Köller

Olaf Köller is Professor of Empirical Educational Research at the University of Kiel, where he has also headed the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) since 2009. Köller received his doctorate in psychology, first taught educational psychology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and then educational research at the Humboldt University in Berlin. He was the founding director of the Institute for Quality Development in Education (IQB).

Since 2021, Köller has been co-chair of the Standing Scientific Commission (SWK) for educational policy, the independent scientific advisory body of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs. The 62-year-old is also a board member of the Center for International Student Assessment (ZIB). In September 2025, Köller took over the co-chairmanship of the independent expert commission “Child and Youth Protection in the Digital World”, which was appointed by Federal Education Minister Karin Prien (CDU).

The educational researcher's motto: "With my research, I want to help ensure that as many children and young people as possible learn so much that they can later live in prosperity and contentment."

At many hotspot schools it is difficult to even reach the students.

Yes. There is a lack of educational aspirations here. Especially with particularly weak students, it's cool to skip school, do poorly and possibly not want to work at all later. These students with identities that undermine their performance cannot only be addressed with German and mathematics support. Here the school has to adapt more to the challenging psychology of the students.

Education Minister Karin Prien says the promise of advancement is not working in Germany at the moment. How do you see that?

I don't share that. Empiricism says otherwise. Every more Pisa point contributes to the prosperity of the individual and society. We need a narrative that presents education and high levels of skills as central to individual advancement. Conversely: the students from the risk group are later the ones who take advantage of the benefits of the welfare state.

Are we expecting too little from the children?

We are seeing a reduction in requirements. What was a grade 3 ten years ago is now a grade 2. It is obviously rated very liberally. This is shown again and again by the great contrast between preliminary grades and the grades in central final exams. We no longer let students repeat a school year if they have poor learning success, but at the same time we fail to support them accordingly. We just turn a blind eye to everyone and let them pass until they are in the risk group in Pisa.

Schools must instill a culture of effort.

Does Germany need more performance and more discipline again?

It cannot be the school's goal to just make all students feel comfortable. Schools must convey a culture of effort in which children and young people experience that their efforts lead to learning success. Challenging tasks are needed in which students can utilize their intellectual resources. Students like to work hard when it's fun.

You briefly mentioned social media earlier. How much does use or excessive cell phone use contribute to the negative trend?

There are studies around the world that deal with exactly this topic. But there is a chicken and egg problem here. Bad students use their cell phones a lot? Or is the poor performance the result of cell phone use? There is probably a mutual connection, but overall it is very weak.

Cell phone use by children: Social media cannot explain the decline in performance.

Please explain this in more detail.

Our high school students have lost 55 PISA points in mathematics since 2009. Perhaps five of these can be attributed to the use of social media.

You were the chairman of the expert group “Child and Youth Protection in the Digital World” set up by Education Minister Prien. You've listed all the risks.

Of course, the use of social media is reflected in other areas. Anyone who travels there excessively feels bad and exposes themselves to danger. We have approximately 300,000 young people who are addicts and over a million with problematic social media behavior. But social media does not explain the dramatic decline in performance over the last 15 years. Even if Meta switches off Instagram at night, no one should believe that Pisa benefits will then explode. Simply not using your cell phone is not a substitute for good teaching.

Immigration is also seen as a major challenge for the education system. What should be done?

We need comprehensive language support at all stages of education in order to support disadvantaged children and young people. Ideally, this starts in daycare, otherwise the deficits will accumulate later. For example, children with an immigrant background who do not speak German when they start school learn far too little in primary school.

And the problem is likely to get worse.

Exactly. Since 2022, as a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, we have included additional children and young people who speak a different native language into the education system. We must continue to think about the people who came to Germany during the refugee crisis from 2015 and in the years that followed. It is important for your children who were born in Germany to have more contact with the educational language of German as early as possible in daycare. At home, the language of origin is often spoken a lot.

Do you support compulsory daycare?

There is a lot to be said for making at least one or two years of daycare compulsory. Otherwise, children with educational disadvantages in particular will not be reached. We also need strong public campaigns to motivate parents to send children under three to daycare.

So Germany needs more money for early childhood education?

The sizes of birth cohorts are currently decreasing. This makes it easier for every child to get a daycare place. It is also important that there is not only enough staff for the children, but above all qualified staff. It is important here that Minister Prien provides funds for professionalization.

We are failing to use AI profitably in the school context.

Now comes artificial intelligence. How can Germany meaningfully cope with the upheaval caused by AI in the education system?

Things aren't going well at the moment. The children and young people use generative AI somehow, but uncontrolled, unbridled. You're sitting at home with ChatGPT doing complete cognitive offloading. So you don't even think about what the AI ​​is doing anymore. You may not learn anything anymore. We call this “deskilling”. This is an educational policy problem: we are failing to use AI profitably in the context of schools.

As with the digitalization of schools?

Yes. The problem basically applies to the entire digitalization of schools. Although we have the Digital Pact 2.0, we still do not have a national strategy. We lack a national concept for how we can profitably introduce new technologies to students. We have made recommendations on this with the Standing Scientific Commission of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (SWK). So far nothing has been recorded.

What would be a good step?

We need systems that do not generate finished products for students, but rather support them in learning. How about ChatGPT or some other system saying, “I’m not giving you the answer, but I’m happy to work with you to develop the answer.” And then the solution is worked out through dialogue. Such systems see us in other countries. They are learning companions and not performance producers. We have to do better here.