Neglecting the South: Examining PISA's Global Competency Framework and Its Disregard for the Global South

• In Event: Decolonizing Discourse and Practice: Acknowledging and Addressing Inequalities in Educational Policy and Assessment in the Core and Periphery

Proposal

Globalization has created a “bipolar world of connected and disconnected, economically advantaged and exploited, democratically represented and disenfranchised, ‘them’ and ‘us’” (Walker & Maxwell, 2009, p.152 as cited in Jooste & Heleta, 2017). Amongst such a chaotic world, PISA’s global competence is one of several symbolic tools produced by the OECD to construct new forms of global pedagogical governance. Even though the PISA Global Competency Assessment is foregrounded by the need to create global citizens, it is backgrounded by the OECD economic vision to nurture individuals who can compete in the global economy. Supposed to be a cultural project, OECD PISA global competence measurement became an economic project tied to human capital, individualism, and liberalism (Martini & Robertson, 2022). This paper analyzes how PISA’s global competence framework presented ideas representing the “Global North” to assess the “Global South.” This comparative case study complies with the multifaceted analysis suggested by Bray and Thomas (1995). The geographical level for comparison in this study (front face of the cube) involves the world regions classified as Global North and Global South. The demographic group in this study involves (second face) the entire student population presented by Global South and Global North. Moreover, the study deals with the global competency framework used by PISA as an assessing tool (third face). The study also represents the nuances in OECD policy documents and their impact on measuring global competency in the Global South and Global North. It also applies the horizontal, vertical, and transversal axes of the comparative case study approach proposed by Bartlett & Vavrus (2017). The purpose of the study is to shed some light on the Western hegemonic notion of the PISA global competency framework and how it impacts the global competency assessment in the Global South. The findings of the study suggest that due to the impact of the difference in colonization present in the Global North and Global South, the citizens in the Global South do not hold powerful ethnocentric beliefs (Lopez & Morales, 2021). The PISA global competency framework emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills, essential in many Western societies. However, it may not be as relevant for students in the Global South as they prioritize skills such as collaboration, community-building, and adaptability, which are not as prominent in the PISA framework. The colonial tendency is exemplified by the use of English as a language of assessment, which may disadvantage students who are not fluent in English and come from cultures that value different forms of communication. Rather than blindly employing such tools to compare students, as well as education systems in the country, it is essential to merge the local cultures and context-specific competencies while assessing students, particularly for the Global South. This study suggests the need for further studies to analyze the benefit of enriching global competency with significant cultural variations, depending on the local context in which it is employed.

Author

• Arya karumanthra, Indiana University