PISA’ s Violence: Success, Money, Exclusion.
Author(s):
Vasco d'Agnese (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2015
Network:
09. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Format:
Paper (Copy for Joint Session)

Session Information

09 SES 12 E JS, Long Paper Session

Paper Session Joint Session NW 09 with NW 13

Time:
2015-09-11
09:00-10:30
Room:
336. [Main]
Chair:

Contribution

In this paper, I intend to provide a critical analysis of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) based on an examination of OECD’s public documents, including publications, webpages, and videos. Based on this analysis, I argue that PISA is not an assessment tool but rather an all-encompassing framework that intends to govern education and schooling worldwide. PISA, de facto, allows a monopoly on the right to establish who is well prepared for life, who is well prepared for society, and who can achieve success. Far from being only an assessment tool, PISA is a life brand. In a strong (although hidden) chain, the OECD identifies education with learning, learning with assessment, and assessment with PISA’s test.

Method

In my paper I will analyse examine several OECD’s documents regarding PISA, including publications, videos and webpages. I will also examine part of the literature about PISA and testing, both favourable and critical.

Expected Outcomes

Through the analysis of OECD’s public document I will argue how PISA, in the OECD’s opinion, signifies education. By such a gesture, the OECD expropriates culture and knowledge from subjects, denying their legitimacy, imposing its own univocal logic and excluding anyone who disagrees with PISA. Under the aegis of objectivity, PISA manifests a clear ideology and situates education in a well-defined value square: money, success, evidence, and competition. This situation raises substantial doubts concerning a tool that claims to be “a mirror” (Pearson Foundation and OECD, 2015) of education.

References

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Author Information

Vasco d'Agnese (presenting / submitting)
Second University of Naples, Italy

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