ABSTRACT
As an artifact developed by the state, a school curriculum presents a highly politicized and ideological profile. Politics also underlies assessment, which aims to measure the knowledge and skills that students have gained from the curricular content. In Japan, contemporary education policies in general are driven by powerful discourses of globalization, neoliberalism and neoconservatism, determining what knowledge, skills, and dispositions are important for students, and what types of human beings are desirable for the society (cf. Singh, Kenway, and Apple 2005).
