PISA Under Examination: Daniel Trohler's Keynote Speech

Daniel Trohler gave a keynote speech entitled, "Concepts, cultures, and comparisons: PISA and the German discontents."

The notes are as follows:

2002, the University of Heidelberg, Uni Spiegel: Lecture series: Are we still the educational elite?

• in response to PISA
• "are we still the people of poets and thinkers?"
• PISA a cultural crisis
• no country reacted the same
• created a market for PISA

Caused by a clash of two different traditions.

Five steps:

1. Bildung: competence, knowledge
2. clash of cultures
3. educational "system"
4. real world and challenges
5. double discontent

Germans are either pro- or anti-PISA

• in defense -- cite concept of Bildung
  
• distinction between useful/useless knowledge

PISA -- no measurement of curriculum in the English language , but in German "ability" translates to Grundbildung, or foundation, knowledge.

Grundbildung translates as literacy, but also as competence.

Married/connected concepts of Bildung, or the aim of knowledge, and Kompetenz.

This contrasts with knowledge, or Wissen.

• There was much discussion in Germany about these relationships
• inward Bildung vs. adjustment to the outer world
• Bildung -- "purposeless" knowledge not codifiable
• PISA -- value for money, ideology's cancer

The clash of cultures

• American pragmatism
  
• beginning of discussion in Europe
• "despicable utilitarianism"
• the clash between gentleman and Personlichkeit
• Bildung, or "masters of life" e.g. Humboldt, Goethe, "is unmeasurable"

The educational "system", its engineers and cognition psychology

• Sputnik
• education in the Cold War: emphasis on mathematics, science, foreign languages
• development of human capital theory
  

Something about the real world and its challenges: What exactly does PISA assess?

• performance of students
• basic competencies of the next generation
• students' literacy skills
• the educational system

The inner and outer harmony and the double discontent:

• concept of "one world"
• USA - development of industrial and scientific techniques
• PISA - not a specific cultural context: neglecting real-life situations and ignoring cultural competencies
• e.g. Germany: harmonious inner Personlichkeit vs. PISA: harmonious one world
• "inward Bildung" - Lutheranism
• "one world" - Calvanism
• questioning Bildung questions German national character
• German PISA -- less concerned with international standing, but the differences in German performance
• failure in integrating