The impact of PISA in the Spanish society: the case of written press

Authors

  • Héctor González Mayorga University of Leon (Spain)
  • Javier Vidal University of Leon (Spain)
  • María-José Vieira University of Leon (Spain)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/relieve.23.1.9015

Keywords:

Impact, PISA, competences, press, education and media, debate, public opinion, use of data

Abstract

In the last decade, the results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) have raised the debate about the quality of the Spanish education system, influencing public opinion and policy decisions. This study aims to analyze the impact the results PISA have had in Spanish society through the articles that appeared in El País (the non-sport newspaper with the biggest circulation in Spain) from 2001 to 2014, attending to the following issues: a) the press subgenres used to talk about PISA and its authorship; b) the evolution of articles from PISA 2001 to PISA 2012; and c) the frequency of use of the skills assessed by PISA as an information point. The results of our study show the great importance of PISA results as indicated by the amount of press coverage, especially since the 2003 edition, which was mostly reflected in descriptive and informative texts. On the other hand, the media´s treatment toward the competences in mathematics, science and reading is shown, with greater relevance to the last in recent years. Finally, we conclude that press coverage has been a great contributor when it comes to conveying the results of PISA to the public, despite the inappropriate use that is sometimes made of the data without considering the limitations of the study.

Author Biographies

Héctor González Mayorga, University of Leon (Spain)

Doctoral student in the Educative and Scientific Psychology program at Universidad de León. Certified in Psychopedagogy and elementary education teacher with a specialty in Speech Therapy. His research centralizes in the study of the impact of PISA in Spanish society. Departamento de Psicología, Sociología y Filosofía. Facultad de Educación. Campus de Vegazana s/n. 24071. Universidad de León. León (Spain).

Javier Vidal, University of Leon (Spain)

PhD in Philosophy and professor at Universidad de León in the Department of Research Methods and Diagnostics in Education. He was the University General Director of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Sciences (2006-2008). His research centralizes on higher education, especially research evaluation, institutional evaluation, and employee-training relations. He has collaborated with the European Commission. He participates in international projects dealing with Third Mission for the university. Postal address: Departamento de Psicología, Sociología y Filosofía. Facultad de Educación. Campus de Vegazana s/n. 24071. Universidad de León. León (Spain).

María-José Vieira, University of Leon (Spain)

Doctor and professor at the Universidad de León in the Department of Research Methods and Diagnostics in Education.. Her research centralizes on higher education on an international level, mainly Third Mission for the university, its governing and employee-university relations. She has collaborated with the European Commission on the Modernization Strategies of Higher Education. Postal address: Departamento de Psicología, Sociología y Filosofía. Facultad de Educación. Campus de Vegazana s/n. 24071. Universidad de León. León (Spain).

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Published

2017-06-20

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Research Articles

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