Unions are not opposed to international comparative research per se. However, the excessive focus of policymakers and media on PISA results as mere rankings has made unions more cautious. If PISA results are not explained nor analyzed in details, they can be interpreted in many different ways. Both unions and governments can employ PISA as a useful instrument, in whichever direction. In this sense, so far PISA has been used effectively in guiding, through its policy recommendations, national governments‟ policy directions in education towards an economic approach. The challenge now is to prove that PISA can be a means for redirecting the education policy debate towards quality and equity, achieved through publicly funded policies aiming at improving teaching and learning conditions.
