Measuring social and emotional development with a ‘Western ruler’: problematising the ‘cross-cultural comparability’ of the Study on Social and Emotional Skills

In 2018, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) initiated the Study on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES). This paper investigates how the OECD has self-justified the cross-cultural comparability of SSES via analysing relevant reports. By primarily drawing upon the rich indigenous and cultural psychological and philosophical studies about China, it further examines whether the SSES framework can measure the social and emotional development in cross-cultural settings as the OECD claims. I argue that it is highly problematic of the OECD’s self-justification and employing a Western-originated personality model as the basis for a cross-national educational assessment. By extending the discussion beyond China, I call for critical reflections on the participation in SSES and possibly better construction of social and emotional education via deeply engaging with one’s own culture (rather than reproducing Western-centrism) while openly embracing others (rather than falling into Sinocentrism).