Research as a policy domain and social activity have undergone profound institutional, structural and cognitive changes in the last two decades. While larger fields of expertise such as natural sciences, social sciences and humanities have received considerable scrutiny, the causes and consequences of such changes in educational research are still unclear. Characterized by its multidisciplinary character and the extent and scope of its use, educational research can be considered a particularly complex field to study (Hofstetter & Schneuwly, 2002)
This symposium analyses the substantial changes in educational research governance at two analytical levels – transnational and national – making use of governance concepts (Pierre, 2000). It draws on findings from a larger study conducted within the Educational Research Governance project at the University of Luxembourg that combines and compares multiple levels and multiple cases in its analysis.
At the transnational level, we focus on the role of the European Framework Programmes and the European Research Council as the most important drivers in the Europeanisation of research policies (Featherstone & Radaelli, 2003). The two contributions highlight two distinct aspects of European research promotion. While the Framework Programmes define research priorities and create a specific mandate for European educational research combining a mission-oriented with a diffusion-oriented approach (Ergas, 1987), the European Research Council privileges a diffusion-oriented approach focused on the promotion of “excellent” or frontier research in order to boost innovation. This raises the question of what kind of research is considered a “priority”, “excellent” and “useful”. We argue that the European Union’s strategy reaffirms its role as a transnational regulatory body, but also as a driver of change capable of setting the agenda and creating new conditions for educational knowledge production.
At the national level, the symposium presents a comparative analysis between the two largest – the UK and Germany – national research system in Europe and one of the smallest – Norway, each with its particular educational research tradition (see Borgen et al 2010; Furlong 2013; Ertl et al., 2013; Aljets, 2015). Education has received massive policy attention in these countries over the past two decades. This political interest has not only substantially altered educational systems and their governance. It has also profoundly transformed the perceived goals and functions of educational research and the kinds of research to be promoted. In explaining this change, a particular focus on new forms of governance through evaluations, specific research programs and projects provides much analytical thrust (Lepori, et al. 2007). Policy actors launched a series of mid- and long-term programs, which host a myriad of smaller short-term projects, designed to re-shape educational research. More than simply providing regulatory or financial support, funding institutions also define research priorities, thus, cognitively shaping these (often burgeoning) research infrastructures. This becomes particularly visible in the case of Norway where the educational research infrastructure has dramatically expanded in the last 15 years. In our country case study, Norwegian educational research is analyzed in the context of extraordinarily generous funding and a highly internationalized agenda. Particular strategies of internationalization as mandated by funding agencies illustrate policy-induced changes in the organizational and cognitive development of science in a country that has only lately begun to promote educational research.
Comparing the transnational and national level reveals common trends in contemporary educational research. Firstly, transnational and national mandates for educational research rest on notions of evidence-based policy-making and practice in an increasingly internationalized community. Secondly, a new form of governance – through programs and projects – emerges that has the potential to steer the development of the disciplines by defining what counts as research priorities, excellent research and international collaboration.
