Context is arguably one of the most ubiquitous terms and concepts utilised in educational research in Europe and beyond. Nearly every article published in recent decades in the European Educational Research Journal, for instance, attends to context in some fashion, though understandings of and engagements with notions of context vary widely. Researchers working in sociology and comparative education in particular have long emphasised the role of context and its centrality to comparative inquiry (Phillips & Schweisfurth, 2014). Moreover, innovative approaches to policy sociology are reshaping our understandings of how policies and practices flow and mutate across networks, levels, and actors, calling into question previous understandings of what context entails across time and scales, and how to research (within) it (e.g., Addey & Piattoeva, 2022; Lingard, 2021). The time is thus ripe to turn renewed attention to the role of context in European and international research and, importantly, how it relates to the methodological approaches employed.

This symposium features three papers focused on the role of context in sociological and comparative education research. The first paper by Brown and Schweisfurth sets the stage by tracing the historical trajectory of context in global educational research, and how conceptualisations of it have evolved. The paper then explores how Massey’s notion of relational space addresses some of the weaknesses in how context has been conceptualised and operationalised, using examples from empirical research in Tanzania to more broadly highlight the utility of this approach to context. Next, Verger and Fontdevila examine how process tracing as a methodological approach within policy sociology and comparative education research can enable a more fine-grained analysis of context and contingency in policymaking. National case studies from the REFORMED project (e.g., Netherlands, Norway, Spain) highlight both the promises and challenges of using process tracing across diverse geopolitical and educational systems, calling further attention to context in studying policy processes and outcomes. The final paper by Luoto and Thomas explicitly considers how researchers employing observational research have interpreted, employed, or ignored context in sociological and comparative studies. Drawing on examples from empirical studies conducted in Europe, Africa, and North America, they explore three ways context has ‘mattered’ in observational research, linking thematically back to the first paper of the symposium. In sum, the symposium collectively raises new questions about what we mean by attending to ‘context’ in educational research and how it implicates and intersects with our methodological decisions.

Addey, C., & Piattoeva, N. (Eds.). (2021). Intimate Accounts of Education Policy Research: The Practice of Methods. Routledge. Lingard, B. (2021). Multiple temporalities in critical policy sociology in education. Critical Studies in Education, 62(3), 338-353. Phillips, D., & Schweisfurth, M. (2014). Comparative and international education: An introduction to theory, method, and practice. A&C Black.