ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the political debates that comparative international studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) gave rise to in Germany and Sweden. As a result of the PISA scores, both countries have gone outside their borders in order to find new models and policy norms. It analyses whether or not the debate on educational policy in the two countries plays a role in policy borrowing. Germany looks to the north, primarily to Sweden – the country at the forefront of pedagogy – but also to Finland. The debate initiated by the external PISA assessments dealt with the need to begin change work. But with regard to Germany, for example, no real transfer in educational policy has occurred. Instead, the debate has resulted in both a more theoretical pedagogical debate and a practical approach in the form of study and informational trips for teachers and other individuals in the field of education.
