Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

PISA: Ideology and a Paradigm Shift

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Third International Handbook of Globalisation, Education and Policy Research

Abstract

This chapter argues that PISA helps to strengthen the hegemony of the ruling groups. Still, at the same time, it generates political opposition from local actors and criticism from scholars. It displays the contents in six sections. First, it provides a brief background on the rise of the OECD and PISA and describes the content of the test. Second, it portrays the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) and the role of the OECD in its promotion. Third, it presents an analysis of how the OECD and the governments that applaud its action use the parsing of science. It aims to strengthen the ideas that good education is only one in which 15-year-old students answer questions about language, mathematical understanding, and science. Fourth, it sets the speculation that on why teachers are the main piece of the reforms’ purposes and, consequently, provoke rejection and opposition to PISA. Fifth, it exhibits the case of how the Mexican government ask for the OECD help to launch an education reform in 2009. However, the Department of Education rejected the OECD proposal in 2010. Afterwards, the government that took office in 2012 made a move following the OECD commendations. Still, the new administration rejected them again in 2018. Sixth, it discusses whether PISA meets the characteristics of normal science, that is, a paradigm that helps solve problems that education did not disentangle before. Or, if it is another tool, with sophisticated methodology, to reinforce the dominant ideology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barber, M., & Mourshed, M. (2007). How the world’s best-performing school systems come out on top [report]. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/social-sector/our-insights/how-the-worlds-best-performing-school-systems-come-out-on-top

  • Bird, A. (2018). Thomas Kuhn. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Winter ed.) Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/thomas-kuhn/.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bocking, P. (2020). The trinational coalition in defense of public education and the challenges of international teacher solidarity. Labor Studies Journal, 23(2) Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0160449X20901649.

  • Bolivar, A. (2011). The dissatisfaction of the losers: PISA public discourse in Ibero-American countries. In M. A. Pereyra, H.-G. Kotthoff, & R. Cowen (Eds.), PISA under examination: Changing knowledge, changing tests, and changing schools (pp. 61–74). Boston: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Burns, T., Köster, F., & Fuster, M. (2016). Education governance in action: Lessons from case studies. Paris: OECD Publshing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Carnoy, M. (2015). International test score comparisons and educational policy: A review of the critiques.http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/international-test-scores

  • Carvalho, L. M., & Costa, E. (2015). Seeing education with one’s own eyes and through PISA lenses: considerations of the reception of PISA in European countries. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 36(5), 638–646.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coombs, P. H. (1968). The world educational crisis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuevas Cajiga, Y., & Moreno Olivos, T. (2016). Políticas de evaluación docente de la OCDE: Un acercamiento a la experiencia en la educación básica mexicana. Archivos Analíticos de Políticas Educativas, 24, 120. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.24.2283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Del Castillo, G., & Valenti, G. (Eds.). (2014). Reforma educativa: ¿qué estamos transformando? México: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández Marfil, L. (2019). Reforma educativa y cambio institucional en el sindicato magisterial. PhD dissertation. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Xochimilco, Mexico City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández Marín, K. (2010). Los juegos del poder: los dirigentes del SNTE. PhD dissertation. Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana – Xochimilco, Mexico City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grek, S. (2009). Governing by numbers: The PISA ‘effect’ in Europe. Journal of Education Policy, 24(1), 23–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández Navarro, L. (2013, January 22). La reforma educativa y la OCDE. La Jornada.

    Google Scholar 

  • INEE. (2015). Panorama educativo de México: indicadores del sistema educativo nacional 2014 educación básica y media superior. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional para la Evaluación de la Educación.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamens, D. (2013). Globalization and the Emergence of an Audit Culture: PISA and the search for ‘best practices’ and magic bullets. In H.-D. Meyer & A. Benavot (Eds.), PISA, Power and Policy: The emergence of global educational governance (pp. 117–139). Oxford: Symposium Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lauwerier, T. (2017). L’éducation au service du Développement: la vision de la Banque Mondiale, de l’OCDE et de l’UNESCO. Education en Débats: Analyse Comparée, 8, 43–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, S., Sellar, S., & Lingard, B. (2016). PISA for schools: Topological rationality and new spaces of the OECD’s global educational governance. Comparative Education Review, 60(1), 27–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lundgren, U. P. (2011). PISA as a political instrument: One history behind the formulating of the PISA programme. In M. A. Pereyra, H.-G. Kotthoff, & R. Cowen (Eds.), PISA under examination: Changing knowledge, changing tests, and changing schools (pp. 17–30). Boston: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Merquior, J. G. (1980). Rousseau and Weber: Two studies in the theory of legitimacy. Londres: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, H.-D., & Benavot, A. (Eds.). (2013). PISA, Power, and Policy: The emergence of global educational governance. Southampton: Symposium Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, C. (2011). Constructing the OECD programme for international students assessment. In M. A. Pereyra, H.-G. Kotthoff, & R. Cowen (Eds.), PISA under examination: Changing knowledge, changing tests, and changing schools (pp. 47–59). Boston: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz Armenta, A. (2008). Escenarios e identidades del SNTE. Revista Mexicana de Investigación Educativa, XIII(37), 377–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M. C. (2010). Not for profit: Why the democracy needs the humanities (Kindle ed.). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2010a). Strong performers and and succssful reformers in education: Lessons from PISA for Mexico. Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2010b). Students and schools at the center, teachers at the heart: Teacher policy and school management for the 21st century schools in Mexico. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2014). TALIS 2013 technical report. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2017). PISA 2015 data. In OECD (Ed.), PISA 2015 results: Collaborative problem solving (Vol. V). Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD Directorate for Education. (2005). Teachers matter: Atraccting. In Developing and retaining effective teachers. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD Directorate for Education. (2009). OECD-Mexico agreement to improve the quality of education in Mexican schools. Paris: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ornelas, C. (2010). Política, poder y pupitres: Crítica al nuevo federalismo educativo (2nd ed.). Mexico City: Siglo XXI Editores.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ornelas, C. (2018). La contienda por la educación: Globalización, neocorporativismo y democracia. Mexuco City: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereyra, M. A., Kotthoff, H.-G., & Cowen, R. (Eds.). (2011). PISA under examination: Changing knowledge, changing tests, and changing schools. Boston: Sense Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, M. Á. (2017, July 26). El gran fracaso del servicio profesional docente. Educación Futura.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popkewitz, T. S. (2011). PISA: numbers, standardizing conduct, and the alchemy of school subjects. In M. A. Pereyra, H.-G. Kotthoff, & R. Cowen (Eds.), PISA under examination: Changing knowledge, changing tests, and changing schools (pp. 31–46). Boston: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ravela, P. (2011). Qué hacer con los resultados de PISA en América Latina? Programa de Promoción de la Reforma Educativa en América Latina (Vol. 58). Santiago de Chile: PREAL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ringarp, J., & Rothland, M. (2010). Is the grass always Greener? The effect of the PISA results on education: Debates in Sweden and Germany. European Educational Research Journal, 9(3), 422–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivas, A. (2015). América Latina después de PISA: Lecciones aprendidas de la educación en siete países (2000–2015). Buenos Aires: Fundación CIPPEC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rivera Lomas, G. (2016). La reconfiguración de la forma política: el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (SNTE) y el Estado mexicano. In G. Á. Tenorio (Ed.), La política transfigurada. Estado, ciudadanía y violencia en una época de exclusión (pp. 105–130). UAM-Xochimilco: Mexico City.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2006). Globalization and the changing nature of the OECD’s educational work. In H. Lauder, P. Brown, J.-A. Dillabough, & A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Education, globalization and social change (pp. 247–260). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahlberg, P. (2015). Finish lessons 2.0: What can the world learn from education in Finland. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schleicher, A. (2019). PISA 2018: Insights and interpretations. Paris: OECD Directorate of Education and Skills.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner-Khamsi, G. (2004). Globalization in education: Real or imagined. In G. Steiner-Khamsi (Ed.), The global politics of educational borrwing and lending. Nueva York: Teacher College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stromquist, N. P., & Monkham, K. (2014). Globalization and education: Integration and contestation across cultures (2nd ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sypnowich, C. (2019). Law and ideology. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Summer ed.) Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/law-ideology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takayama, K. (2012). Educational transfer studies cultural politics of PISA and the OECD in Japanese education reform. In G. Steiner-Khamsi & F. Waldow (Eds.), World yearbook of education 2012 policy borrowing and lending in education (Kindle ed., pp. 148–166). New York: Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamez Guerra, R., & Martínez Rizo, F. (2012). Las reformas que necesita la educación mexicana. Mexico City: Fundación Olga y Rufino Tamayo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tröhler, D. (2013). The OECD and the Cold War Culture: thinking theoretically and historically about PISA. In H.-D. Meyer & A. Benavot (Eds.), PISA, Power and Policy: The emergence of global educational governance (pp. 141–161). Oxford: Symposium Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, D. A. (2014). Neo-liberalism and Public Goods. In D. Turner & H. Yolcu (Eds.), Neo-liberal educational refoprms (Ebook ed.). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldow, F. (2009). What PISA did and did not do: Germany after the PISA-shock. European Educational Research Journal, 8(3), 476–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldow, F., & Steiner-Khamsi, G. (2019). Understanding PISA’s attractiveness: Critical analyses in comparative policy studies. London: Bloomsbury, Adobe Digital Edition.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman, A. (2013). Policy responses to PISA in comparative perspective. In H.-D. Meyer & A. Benavot (Eds.), PISA, power, and policy: The emergence of global educational governance (pp. 302–322). Southampton: Symposium Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. (2018). Globalisation and education reforms: Paradigms and ideologies. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2020a). Globalisation, ideology and neo-liberal higher education reform. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2020b). Human rights education globally. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zajda, J. (Ed.). (2020c). Globalisation, ideology and education reforms: Emerging paradigms. Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, Y., & Meyer, H.-D. (2013). High on PISA, low on entrepreneurship? What PISA does not measure. In H.-D. Meyer & A. Benavot (Eds.), PISA, Power, and Policy: The emergence of global educational governance (pp. 267–278). Southampton: Symposium Books.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Metropolitan Autonomous University Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

    Carlos Ornelas

Authors
  1. Carlos Ornelas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Catholic University, Melbourne Campus, Melbourne, Australia

    Joseph Zajda

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ornelas, C. (2021). PISA: Ideology and a Paradigm Shift. In: Zajda, J. (eds) Third International Handbook of Globalisation, Education and Policy Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66003-1_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66003-1_17

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-66002-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-66003-1

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation