From FIMS to PISA to our classrooms: Can large‐scale cross‐national studies help us to teach and learn differently?

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of large‐scale cross‐national studies, from the original First International Mathematics Study (FIMS) to the current Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The paper addresses two questions: can the studies help us to critique our curricula; and can they help us to critique our classroom methods, discourse and assumptions, and so consider teaching and learning differently? It is argued that there is much to be learnt from taking part in the process of carrying out such studies, and that their main benefits are obtained when international findings are rigorously evaluated and data examined at national level.