Introduction: the Programme for International Student Achievement and East Asia

The rise of large- scale assessments (LSAs) has created a new context of education policy making. High- achieving countries and economies in those assessments are now recognized as reference societies, a key point of reference for domestic policy discussion in many countries. The Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD)'s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has been instrumental in “challenging historically based reference societies for many nations in respect of schooling systems” (Lingard and Rawolle, 2011, p 492; Sellar and Lingard, 2013). The recent international attention given to Finland, Shanghai and Singapore is one such example, where a country and a city, known for its educational commitment in its own regional context, suddenly became the “mecca” for education policy makers and researchers around the world.

Most notable among those that are now acting as new reference societies – particularly for observers in Anglo- American countries – are East Asia countries and economies that topped the recent PISA rankings. Traditionally, East Asia has rarely been a popular source of education policy ideas on a global scale. According to Japanese and East Asian education specialist William Cummings, any call to learn from East Asia meets “the vehement defensiveness of Western educators and researchers” and results from “anxieties around their assumptions (about education) … being challenged and even threatened by the often contrasting eastern Asian approach” (Cummings, 1997, p 291). The defensiveness is underpinned by the widely held dismissive view of East Asian society and education: East Asia is authoritarian, the central government dictates what is to be taught and teachers dominate classroom discourse. Students study under enormous parental and societal pressure for academic competition and success, and engage in factual recall and rote learning. As a result, though they achieve well in standardized assessments, including international testing, they lose joy in learning and are weak in creativity, critical and independent thinking, and problem- solving skills (Takayama, 2017).