Understanding China’s policy responses to PISA: using a ti and yong framework

The Programme for International Student Assessment has become an important policy tool that has affected educational practices in many countries. Despite some remarkable results in PISA’s global ranking tables from China’s Eastern provinces, China’s distinctive policy response has not been well documented or understood. We systematically examine China’s policy response to PISA using a ti (体, ‘essence’) and yong (用, ‘function’) framework. We argue that what is articulated by PISA has been accepted in China. However, the translation has been complex: the policy responses were very different in the four areas we investigated. We also argue that ti and yong serves as an important framework enabling Chinese policymakers to translate and negotiate the relationship between China and ‘the West’, and between an internal reform agenda and external influences. This analysis provides a basis to re-interpret the impact of PISA comparatively.