Cross-Nationally Comparative, Evidence-based Educational Policymaking and Reform by Wiseman Alexander W.;Davidson Petrina M.;

Author:Wiseman, Alexander W.;Davidson, Petrina M.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
Published: 2018-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

Cross-nationally Comparative, Evidence-based Educational Policymaking and Reform

International Perspectives on Education and Society, Volume 35, 127–160

Copyright © 2018 by Emerald Publishing Limited

All rights of reproduction in any form reserved

ISSN: 1479-3679/doi:10.1108/S1479-367920180000035011

CHAPTER 7

BEYOND LARGE-SCALE ACHIEVEMENT TESTING –THE ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL TURN’ IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS’ WORK ON EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT

Mike Zapp

ABSTRACT

This article put forward two claims. First, it argues that, historically, the rationale for education has shifted from religious and national indoctrination to, in the more recent neoliberal period, human capital and the related notion of individual empowerment. Second, the article argues that the recent shift toward individual empowerment is reflected in international organizations’ (IOs) changing emphases in education. IOs’ educational agenda has undergone various changes since their early work in the 1960s: From the structural expansion of national education systems to the measurement of individual educational achievement through a focus on competencies and, most recently, individual psychosocial development.

Based on a content analysis of 60 documents from 38 IOs involved in international education networks between 1990 and 2015, this work identified an expanding field of IOs directing attention to the mental capabilities of a learner. The proliferated model of an individual actorhood reflected in these novel assessment designs will be presented and embedded in wider discussions about the cultural construction of the individual in contemporary world polity.

Keywords: International organizations; global education and lifelong learning; international achievement testing; competencies; individual psychosocial development; empowerment

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