OECD, PISA and the internationalization of schooling: the cases of the countries from the Southern Cone

• In Event: The OECD’s Defining Role in Education: Its Historical Rise, Global Impact and Comparative Perspectives

Proposal

The last decade has shown an increasing number of studies revolving around the issue of nation-states’ motivation for participating in large-scale assessment tests such as PISA, developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). From many different perspec-tives, a variety of reasons have been evoked: state legitimation, economic rationales, technical capacity building, educational reform and pedagogical innovation among others (Addey & Sellar, 2017; Fischman et al., 2018). Less attention has been paid to the connection between these ex-planations and the economic and political global role played by the OECD, especially in South American countries.
The purpose of this paper is to offer a comparison between Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile concern-ing their connections with the OECD. In particular, the paper aims to analyze how these three countries of the Southern hemisphere have established relations with the OECD at the level of the educational system through participation in PISA. The interest of focusing on these countries lies in the fact that they do not belong to the club of the wealthy nations of the North, where the OECD was created, yet they subscribe to OECD policies and use OECD assessment tools in their education systems.
Regarding reasons for participating in PISA, studies on transfer, policy borrowing and lending, trans-national circulation, policy diffusion and adoption among others have shown the wide variety of grey zones existing between global mainstream discourses and decisions attached to governing practices such as, for example, educational assessment (Phillips & Ochs, 2004; Steiner-Khamsi, 2010; Verger, 2016; Addey & Sellar 2017; Fischman et al. 2018). The paper’s argument revolves around the idea of a combination of two different reasons for participating in the PISA tests in the coun-tries mentioned above. On the one hand, an intensification of the historical process of internation-alization of schooling: in the nineteenth century modern states were supposed to establish educa-tional systems by schooling expansion; present-day globalized states are expected to legitimize schooling through standardized international assessment, where the OECD plays a significant role. On the other hand, the political and economic motivations underlying each country’s participation in PISA; in particular, the will to establish stronger ties with the OECD. The focus of the paper lies on the intertwining of these two explanations and their contribution to our understanding of edu-cation policy decision-making.
The analysis is based on secondary sources covering (1) Studies on the historical development of the educational system in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, (2) Studies on the historical relationships between each country and the OECD, (3) Studies on the PISA tests in these countries coming from reports by the OECD/PISA for each one of these countries and the local Ministries of Education.
This type of work contributes to a better understanding of the changes in the historical processes of internationalization of schooling as well as how global education policy is being constructed at present day.

Author

• Felicitas Acosta, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento