The educational aims of the OECD in its TALIS insight and lesson reports: exploring societal orientations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the societal orientations (individualist vs. collectivist) of educational aims, in constructions of teacher professionalism framed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) insight and lesson reports. The critical discourse analysis of OECD TALIS documents suggests that the OECD discourse on teacher professionalism attested to a dual orientation: individualist and anti-collectivist. Our results contribute to the theoretical understanding of the educational aims of the OECD, which lead the global discourse in education, and of the cultural orientation that is part of its conceptualization of new professional teaching. The article discusses the implications of its findings.

KEYWORDS:

• Aims of education
• international assessment
• OECD
• professionalism
• TALIS
• teacher quality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Many of the joiners are nonmember countries. For example, since 2009, the share of nonmember countries participating in PISA has been greater than that of OECD member countries.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Izhak Berkovich

Izhak Berkovich, Ph.D., is a faculty member in the Department of Education and Psychology at the Open University of Israel. He also serves as the Head of The Research Institute for Policy Analysis at The Open University of Israel. His research interests include policymaking, reforms, ethics, social justice and leadership.

Pascale Benoliel

Pascale Benoliel, Ph.D., is a faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, School of Education, Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Her research areas include school effectiveness, teamwork and team leadership, cross-cultural analysis and quantitative research.