Placing PISA in perspective: the OECD’s multi-centric view on education

Abstract

The OECD has become a major driver of domestic education reforms, especially since the establishment of PISA. However, we know very little about the contextualisation of PISA within the publication output of the OECD, and what ideas of education the IO is spreading. In this article, we explore the entire thematic portfolio of the OECD’s education publications and show that it goes far beyond PISA. Utilising a mixed-methods approach, we examine whether the OECD’s view on education is shaped by considerations of human capital formation on the one side or by issues of equality, equity, and social cohesion on the other.