Alluring Ideas: Cherry Picking Policy from Around the World

Abstract

A common feature of contemporary policymaking is the sharing and adaptation of policies from other countries. As neo‐liberal globalisation continues to impact on the development of policy, such practices are increasingly commonplace. This article considers the current phenomenon of ‘policy borrowing’ with reference to the use of data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the 2010 Schools White Paper The Importance of Teaching. The article also traces the origins of policy borrowing and shows what philosophy of education can bring to its discourse.

Fifteen years of research on PISA effects on education governance: A critical review

“…PISA is described as a 'power stabiliser' and disciplinary governing tool in a Foucaldian perspective (Pongratz, 2006); as a 'voice from nowhere' which became a 'modern-day Oracle' (Gorur, 2011), or as the symbol at a macro and political level of a new vision of knowledge which consists in picking alluring ideas worldwide (Winstanley, 2012). Even if these approaches may sometimes be criticised for their lack of empirical groundsfor a sociologist, for instance, a survey like PISA is the outcome of specific social determinisms and cannot spring 'from nowhere' -, they stimulate thought and can favour original conceptualisations.…”

“…Last, it is interesting to point out that the role of PISA in the 'neo-liberalisation' of education is not studied and conceptualised as such in the publications of our sample. This growing neo-liberalism is generally regarded as a taken for granted piece of context to analyse various topics such as the new Japan education policy (Takayama, 2008), the new global testing culture (Smith, 2016) or policy borrowing (Winstanley, 2012). This may be surprising since there is a discourse on that topic both at the global level on international education research 8 and in various countries, probably with more or less salience according to cultural contexts 9 .…”

New directions in education? A critique of contemporary policy reforms

“…The first encompasses a jurisdictional attachment to reference exemplars or status markers of excellenceFinland, South Korea (see Winstanley, 2012). The top tier jurisdictions "make teaching a more attractive profession by raising its standards and status, and by improving incentives and conditions" (DEECD, 2012, p. 9).…”

Deconstructing the ‘magnetic’ properties of neoliberal politics of education in Bahrain

“…It is generally thought that people from these countries need up-skilling and internationally standardised knowledge that will allow them to compete in the global context of magnet economies. This results in decisions about education, traditionally made by the nation states, to be overtaken by joined-decision making inclusive of foreign investors and international agencies (Winstanley 2012). Consequently, developments within countries become educating for 'export' and relying on foreign expertise for governance and management of education (Chana 2010).…”

“…For instance, Winstanley (2012) argues that the Conservative-Liberal Democrat agenda of expanding Free Schools based on the Swedish model illustrates exactly that, where the concerns about the authenticity, efficacy, costs and impact on inequality of this model in the UK context have been waived because 'Free Schools worked in Sweden'. Another example includes rebuilding of the Iraqi education system after the 2003 war, where the idea of harnessing American policies for the economic revival of the country and incompatibility with religious beliefs by banning references to Islam in school materials show how little understanding neoliberal 'rulers' have of the contextual importance of the economic and educational activity (Wang 2005).…”