Governing adult learning through influencing public debate: how the media use PIAAC data in Denmark, Italy and the United Kingdom

This chapter examines how visible the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is in widely read newspapers in Denmark, Italy, and the United Kingdom, and how those newspapers use PIAAC data. Analysing 83 articles, editorials and opinion pieces, using a common protocol, it shows that press reporting of PIAAC tends to confirm general standards for adult learning. PIAAC data and PIAAC’s ‘implicit’ benchmarking of Level 3 in adults’ performances support European standard setting in adult learning. When national governments ask international organisations to do ‘objective’ evaluations, the latter’s power is enhanced. How PIAAC data is used by different newspapers varies not only between countries but also according to the role each newspaper plays within national debates.