Education policy across the world is being driven by the single aim of pushing up national performance levels on Pisa, says one signatory, Stephen Ball, professor at London universitys Institute of Education. Its having a tremendously distorting effect, right down to the level of classroom teaching. Another signatory, Sally Tomlinson, research fellow at Oxford universitys education department, says that, though the Pisa league tables appear to be scientifically based, you really cant compare a country the size of Liechtenstein with one the size of China and nor can you compare education systems that developed over the years in different political, social and cultural contexts. The signatories are particularly concerned about the UK, the US and other countries imitating schools in Asian countries that come high in the Pisa rankings. They are suspicious of Shanghais success. Shanghais approach is an incredibly strategic one, says Ball. Their students practise the tests. Its difficult to see what their maths teachers can say to ours except teach to the test.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 11:15:35 +0000
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