Academic Press in Cultures of Learning: An Examination of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009

• In Event: The Influence and Relevance of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism for Education, Self, and Research

Abstract

The consistent successful performance records of East Asian students in large-scale international assessments bring forth an intriguing hypothesis: Countries with cultures that place a high value on education and student achievement may have unique and advantageous characteristics. In this paper, we test the cultural heritage hypothesis using the 2009 PISA results. Specifically we ask: Are there any common elements of culture of learning embedded in the schools of top-performing educational systems that share the cultural heritage of academic press? To what extent are such elements different from that of schools in societies such as the United States? How are these elements associated with the performance of 15-year-old students in mathematics literacy?

Authors

• Xiu Cravens, Vanderbilt University

• Nianbo Dong, University of Missouri - Columbia