PISA and Self-Projection in Shanghai

Abstract

This chapter explores 'self-projection' by analysing the responses of Chinese education officials to Shanghai's success in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It is argued that the self-image projected is both positive and negative, with attention paid not only to Shanghai's impressive performance in PISA but also to its weaknesses, particularly the long hours put in by Shanghai students on doing homework. Drawing upon relevant features of Kleinian psychoanalysis, particularly of introjection and projection, and using a combination of document analysis alongside interview data with key policy-makers in Shanghai, this chapter further argues how Chinese officials attempt to construct an imagined identity that centres on 'quality-oriented education' (suzhi jiaoyu). Self-projection in Shanghai is designed to support assessment reform in Shanghai as part of reducing schoolwork burden and achieving holistic education. The experience of Shanghai demonstrates that self-projection is less about a society's actual performance in international assessments and more about domestic educational discourses.