Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Yong Zhao: PISA Peculiarities (2): Should Schools Promote a Competitive or Cooperative Culture?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Is it better to promote competition or cooperation in order to produce better educational outcomes? A good question, you think. But the after reading this Yong Zhao article you may conclude that the question is best not even asked. "PISA has the bad habit of looking for things that would work universally to improve education," he writes, and as a result goes on these fishing expeditions. "In some cultures, competition works to motivate students, but in some others, cooperation may be a stronger motivator. The variations can also be across tasks and situations... Bottom line: PISA needs to stop fishing for culture-free and universally applicable policies and practices to improve education in the world."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 5:17 p.m.

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