Europeanisation of education represents a long lasting and dynamic process which is deeply reshaped by the policies promoting the digital transformation across member states to address common challenges and opportunities in education. In the context of the European Digital Education Action Plan (2021–2027) (European Commission, 2020) and the broader vision of the EEA, the governance through digital education encompasses digital tools and collaborative processes with the aim to foster integration, equity, and innovation in education.

The concept of Europeanization, as applied to education, involves the reconfiguration of national education systems under a common European framework. While this aims to promote harmonization and common benefits, it has also raised questions about how power and agency are distributed among member states and whether such frameworks adequately address local contexts (Landri, 2018a). The present study critically examines how digital education governance, underpinned by policy actions, such as the Digital Education Action Plan and the European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles (European Parliament, Council, and Commission, 2023), seeks to align educational goals to a new version of Europeanisation that adopts an idealized vision of digital tools and collaborations (e.g. through platforms) to solve structurally and socially complex educational problems e.g. access, participation (Landri, 2018a, Grimaldi, Ball & Peruzzo, 2023). Following this literature, we examine whether European policies promoting digital tools and collaborations among and beyond the topographical boundaries of the national educational systems has the potentials to contribute to a genuinely cohesive educational landscape or reinforce existing asymmetries in governance and implementation, e.g. in Greek education system. Rather than assuming a linear or universally beneficial process of Europeanization, the research underscores the need for a critical and context-sensitive approach-one that interrogates power asymmetries, acknowledges local specificities, and questions whose interests are ultimately prioritized in digital governance structures.

A key focus of our study for problematizing these issues is the role of digital tools such as SELFIE for TEACHERS, and frameworks like DigCompEdu. While these tools are often positioned as facilitating transnational cooperation and enhancing digital education across Europe, literature raises critical sociological questions about the extent to which they accommodate diverse educational practices or impose rigid models of compliance and evaluation (Punie & Redecker, 2017, Decuypere, Grimaldi & Landri, 2021). The study also critically examines collaborative processes, such as joint initiatives and cross-border partnerships, not as inherently beneficial but as structures shaped by broader governance logics and institutional constraints. While these mechanisms claim to foster policy alignment and knowledge exchange, they also reflect underlying pawer tensions regarding participation, influence, and decision-making among participants (Williamson, Eynon & Potter, 2020).

 Research questions:

• What are the main policies trends (means and processes) in the field of digitalization of education at European level?
• What kind of governmental logic do they promote to different educational settings of policy making and school practices?

The study emphasizes of the importance of both to highlight digital education as the core component of Europeanization today and problematise the policies, tools and processes that structure European digital governance as neutral solutions to societal and educational challenges such as the digital divide and social inequalities.  

The study employs critical discourse analysis (CDA) (Phillips & Jørgensen, 2009) as its primary analytical framework, focusing on the language, values, and priorities embedded in key European policy documents and official web resources relevant to the general EEA framework on school education, the Digital Education Action Plan (2021–2027) and prominent digital tools such as eTwinning, DigCompEdu, and SELFIE for Teachers (Veum & Undrum, 2018). Through CDA, the study aims to uncover how these policies construct narratives on skills development, innovations, learning, democratic participation, and transnational collaborations. By analyzing the discursive meanings within these documents, the research seeks to identify the implicit assumptions, power dynamics, and sociopolitical goals underpinning the European Union’s digital education agenda. The analysis will pay special attention to how concepts like digital transformation, and cooperation are operationalised and the ways to which they align with broader goals of European integration. In addition to the policy documents, the study includes an exploration of monitor and implementation reports related to digital tools and platforms. To ensure a comprehensive approach, the research is supplemented by a literature review on European digital education governance, offering a broader theoretical and contextual understanding. By exclusively employing CDA, this study aims to provide insights into how macro-level European policies can interact with diverse educational contexts across member states and discuss the potentials that digital tools and collaborative learning processes create for reshaping educational systems and school practices.

This presentation focuses on a part of my ongoing doctoral research, which is in progress, examining the role of European policies in shaping digital educational governance. It explores how these European frameworks are recontextualized within the national educational landscape, with specific focus on how they reshape the Greek educational system. This doctoral research, nevertheless, is expected to provide critical insights into the dynamics of European digital education governance, emphasizing its influence on shaping transnational policies, digital tools, and collaborative processes. The findings aim to contribute to academic scholarship while offering research based insights for policymakers and educators engaged in the evolving landscape of digital education. The findings produced by employing CDA to key policy documents demonstrate that digital education policies rearticulate the Europeanisation discourse, transform the form of European governance and reshape national based educational policies and practices through more and more refined digital tools and meticulous collaborative processes, that, functioning as strong governing mechanisms, structure, control access and participation, influence meanings and interconnect EEA space. Such kind of analysis creates the ground for researching the tensions and synergies between European aspirations and national implementations, providing insights into how these dynamics might influence the future of education across the continent.

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