The results of the first round of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) PISA (Programme of International Student Assessment) study in 2000 put Germany’s self-perception regarding education into perspective; some would argue even regarding its societal and cultural values and achievements. The PISA results have fundamentally undermined the implicit self-assessment of the

*University of Oxford, Department of Educational Studies, 15 Norham Gardens, Oxford OX2 6PY, UK. Email: [email protected]

country’s education system, an assessment that had been characterised by self-confidence, belief in its efficiency and the system’s important role in Germany’s economic achievements (cf. Sloane & Dilger, 2005).