"OECD Reviews of School Resources: Austria 2016"

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) published this article in 2016. The OECD is a forum comprised of 37 democratic countries, including the United States and Austria, who "collaborate to develop policy standards to promote sustainable economic growth".  This article provides an overview of the Austrian school system's organization, funding, quality, and equity. It provides contextual information about Austrian education for international readers before proceeding to a summary of Austria's 2015 Education Reform Proposal. 

More than half of Austria's citizens live in mountainous areas of the country, with 45.1% in rural areas and 23.9% in urban areas. While immigration in the 1990s and 2000s caused rapid population growth, urban areas had stronger growth rates than rural areas. Immigration compensates for the country's low birth rate. As young people also move from rural regions to large cities, some districts have experienced negative population growth. 

German is Austria's official language, but the surge in immigration has increased linguistic diversity to varying degrees depending on the size of the cities. While small cities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants had 10% of their children speak languages other than German with their families, medium cities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants had 30%. Vienna, with a population of 1,765,580 in 2014, had more than half of their children speak another language at home. Unemployment, income inequality, and a large gender pay gap were becoming an issue at the time of this article, and low-skilled workers and immigrants were disproportionately affected. These concerns highlight "the need to improve their labour market integration and educational outcomes (OECD, 2015c: 28)."

The 6 key reforms included in Austria's 2015 Education Reform Proposal are as follows:

1. Early childhood education and care: Strengthening kindergarten as an educational institution

   • This reform suggests adding a second compulsory year of Kindergarten(starting at age 4 rather than 5); improving documentation of language development portfolios; improving the preparation and professional development opportunities for teachers; and strengthening early childhood education research.

2. Transition to school, primary education, and support for language development

• The second reform calls for increased collaboration between Kindergarten(early childhood education) facilities and primary schools through data-sharing and joint meetings between school supervisors; participation in international research; updating school curricula; and increasing school autonomy for implementing alternative assessments for Years 1-3.

3. School autonomy 

   • This section is the largest by far; it is divided into subsections:

   • Section A proposes increasing the amount of control that schools have in pedagogy, organization, staff, and finances; continuing school and community partnerships; flexibility with school hours, work schedules, and professional development.

   • Section B proposes increasing the school's role in hiring decisions, which had not previously been within the school's jurisdiction.

   • Section C suggests increasing financial autonomy at the school level. This means that schools would have more control over how to allocate funding for teaching, support staff, and updating curriculum materials based on their needs. It also proposes a "new administrative body" to direct the materials budget for "autonomous schools or school clusters".

   • Section D clarifies who will be responsible for each aspect of "evidence-based quality control". It gives the federal government the responsibility for education targets, auditing resources, monitoring results, and implementing a strategic plan for improvement. Autonomous schools would be responsible for "operative implementation and pedagogical organisation". This section also provides for annual school quality reports, regular collection of data, new school inspections, and staff evaluations (self and peer).

4. Model regions: schools for 6-14 year-olds

   • This proposal outlines the creation of school regions, which seem similar to public school districts in the United States. Private schools have the option to join these regions. This proposal recommends equal distribution of teachers and students(all levels of achievement) among schools in each region; availability of support staff; "no funding cuts for schools facing particular challenges"; and partnerships with community members, including experts, to optimize student learning.

5. School organization, education directorates

   • This reform proposes abolishing the "executive president, the vice president, and the collegiate boards" in favor of establishing an "education directorate". The directorate will be responsible federal teachers, provincial teachers, school organization, administrative staff, and inspection of schools. The directorate also assumes the responsibilities which were "held by the province education board or education departments of the provinces".

6. innovation in education

   • This final proposal only includes two goals: "comprehensive internet access for schools by 2020" and "establishment of a national education foundation"

My impression of these reforms is that Austria saw the problems their schools faced based on data and sought evidence-based reforms to ensure the success of all students. It was somewhat difficult to conceptualize certain descriptions of the 2015 education systems and the reforms proposed in this article because my background knowledge of education is limited to schools in the United States; we also did not visit schools or speak with educators while in Austria. Given the age of this article (published 2016), it leaves me wondering which, if any, reforms were implemented. How successful were these reforms? What does the data say about the success of the changes made to the school systems and individual schools in Austria? 

The Devil in Vienna

It is my opinion that Americans are obsessed with World War II; this has led to an oversaturation of World War II stories in books, movies, and video games. We are drawn to the horror in the same way passersby are compelled to gaze upon accidents on the highway. It is also easier for white Americans to closely examine this dark point in history because we feel that we were the heroes of the Holocaust rather than the knife that wounded our country. Ironically, America's Jim Crow laws influenced the Nazi Party's Nuremberg Laws, particularly the portion that revoked the German citizenship of Jewish people. Because of this opinion, I was hesitant to read another story about World War II.

The Devil in Vienna tells the story of Inge Dorenwald and her best friend Lieselotte Vessely, who live in Vienna and have just turned 13. The historical backdrop of this story is the Nazi's Anschluss or annexation of Austria in 1938. Inge's family is Jewish, while Lieselotte's is Catholic; furthermore, Lieselotte's father is an S.S. officer. For very different reasons, both fathers disapprove of the girls' friendship.

Despite this, Inge and Lieselotte continue their friendship in secret as political and racial tensions heat up. I found the description of these events frightening because of the parallels to America's own political and racial turmoil that has boiled over in recent years. We too have had racist ideology become more explicit and omnipresent; we too have had political unrest that (almost) toppled our federal government. I fear that the advancements in technology will allow America's racist practices to become increasingly insidious and impossible to weed from our government and culture. 

Inge and Lieselotte witnessed the first ominous stormclouds of World War II. They saw firsthand the hatred oozed from Nazi officers to their children and through the community, resulting in chaos, violence, and cruelty. Even community members who were once friendly, such as Oma Sofie's housekeeper Usch, used the threat of reporting them to Nazis to gain wealth from Jewish families. However, the loyalty of their friendship was not tainted by the events of the era; Lieselotte was a true friend whose help allowed the Dorenwald family to escape Austria. It was refreshing to see Inge's father apologize to Lieselotte once he realized the depth of her loyalty to Inge. Ultimately, I was glad to have read this book.

Haydnhaus

Franz Joseph Haydn was born in the Austrian village of Rohrau in 1732. His family enjoyed singing folk songs, and they noticed his remarkable talent for singing at a young age. Haydn was sent to the Church of Hainburg for further training at the age of 6. Later, Haydn joined the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He also learned to play violin and keyboard during this time. He remained there until his voice changed during puberty.

As a young adult, Haydn spent 8 years studying composers while working as a street musician and music teacher. His goal was to become a master composer. The Italian composer, Niccolo Porpora trained Haydn in the fundamentals of composition. Haydn's earliest work followed the Rococo style, which was simple and elegant.

Haydn worked for the Esterhazy family for 29 years. During this time, he was prevented from forming friendships with the staff due to his employer's strict rules for employees. He also experienced marital discord. Haydn's work reflected this isolation by becoming darker and more foreboding. This period of Hadyn's compositions is known as Sturm und Drang, or Storms and Stress.

After leaving the Esterhazy palace, Haydn met and became friends with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, despite their vast age difference and different musical styles. Haydn eventually moved to London, where he composed his 12 London Symphonies and experienced great success.

Joseph Haydn spent the last twelve years of his life in his Viennese house which became known as Haydnhaus. It is located in an area that was once an outer village of Vienna called Gumpendorf. Haydn composed The Creation and The Seasons while living in this home, but he was unable to continue composing as his health declined later in life.

The 200th anniversary of Haydn's death was in 2009. To commemorate the occasion, the Wien Museum renovated this house to more closely match historical models.