Going beyond the ‘PISA Shock’ Discourse: An Analysis of the Cognitive Reception of PISA in Six European Countries,2001–2008

Abstract

The aim of this article is to open discussion by analysing the cognitive reception of PISA in six European countries which were studied in the European collective research project KNOWandPOL (Knowledge and Policy in Education and Health Sectors). Reception does not mean here a simple vertical transmission of messages from the international level to the national one, but a cognitive activity when messages are constantly accepted, refused or renegotiated by actors. The adjective ‘cognitive’ means that the focus is on the cognitive aspects of this constant process of redefinition, trying to understand what kind of knowledge actors talking about PISA in the public debate mobilise, in which context and for what reasons. To do so, the author proposes a specific theoretical framework which largely draws on some concepts and theoretical tools from the sociology of translation and their adaptation in policy analysis).