The appeal of PISA for Development in Ecuador and Paraguay: theorising and applying the global ritual of belonging

This paper seeks to further conceptualise participation in International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) as a global ritual of belonging and apply it to understand the appeal of PISA for Development (PISA-D) in Ecuador and Paraguay. The paper develops the theoretical underpinnings of the global ritual of belonging through policy borrowing and lending theory. The paper draws on ethnographic observations and interviews carried out with high level policy actors in Ecuador and Paraguay during their first implementation of an OECD education programme to understand how global policy tools resonate locally. Beyond demonstrating global accountability, mobilizing resources, acquiring technical capacity, attracting investors, and accessing the transnational accreditation PISA provides educational systems, it emerges that PISA-D is valued for the global stage it provides and the relationship it entails with the OECD. In the era of ILSAs, having a relationship with the OECD and appearing on the OECD maps provides governments with a form of legitimization and denotes states as modern and responsible.