This Round Table addresses the question of future potential directions for research in Didactics, Learning and Teaching and does so in relation to the publication of a recent book involving the members of the Round Table. This is entitled Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning and Teaching in Europe (Hudson and Meyer, 2011a).

The book emerges from the work of EERA Network 27 on Didactics, Learning and Teaching during the last five years and builds upon a number of key papers from the special edition of the European Educational Research Journal on Didactics, Learning and Teaching (Hopmann 2007, Caillot 2007, Chevallard 2007, Hudson 2007, Klette 2007, and Meyer 2007). These papers were based upon presentations made to mark the establishment of the network at the ECER conference in 2006 which was held at the University of Geneva.

In Hudson and Meyer (2011b) we offer proposals for building and extending common ground between the different traditions across Europe. As we see it, the exploration of differences and similarities in concept formation, didactical habits and problem solutions helps with bridging the gaps and offers the potential of a new dimension and fresh insights into didactics and reflective practice. These proposals address the potential for finding common ground in relation to the following aspects:

(i) content knowledge transformed into pedagogical content knowledge and Bildungsinhalt (subject matter) transformed into Bildungsgehalt (educational subject matter);

(ii) the French didactic joint action theory and Bildungsgangforschung (research on learner development and educational experience) which emphasises the importance of sense making in the instructional process, stressing that the teacher’s sense making will normally be different from the students’ sense making;

(iii) the semantic approach taken within the French tradition of joint didactical action;

(iv) the influence of the powers of formation (Bildungsmächte) which include the state, churches, industry, societal conventions and convictions, jurisdiction in relation to curriculum theory;

(v) the concept of Bildung as self-determination in relation to the shift from teaching to learning and the parallels with concepts of learner autonomy;

(vi) the concept of Bildung as a culture of freedom and that of "teaching for capabilities" (Carlgren, 2011);

(vi) the potential role for experimental schools in which teachers and researchers can engage in practitioner action research through which they have the chance to experiment on how much freedom for students is possible and how much is necessary (Kant, 1803/1964).

These proposals will be taken simply as starting points for this Round Table discussion with the aim of beginning to identify potential future directions for common research programmes in Didactics, Learning and Teaching at the European and wider international levels.

Caillot, M. (2007) The building of a new academic field: the case of French didactiques, European Educational Research Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2. Carlgren, I. (2011) From teaching to learning: The end of teaching or a paradigmatic shift in teachers’ work? In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) (2011a). Chevallard, Y. (2007) Readjusting Didactics to a Changing Epistemology, European Educational Research Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2. Hopmann, S. (2007) Restrained Teaching: The Common Core of Didaktik, European Educational Research Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2. Hudson, B. and Meyer, M. (2011a) (Eds.) Beyond Fragmentation: Didactics, Learning and Teaching in Europe, Verlag Barbara Budrich, Opladen and Farmington Hills. Hudson, B. and Meyer, M. (2011b) Introduction: Finding common ground beyond fragmentation. In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) (2011a). Hudson, B. (2011) Didactical Design for Technology Enhanced Learning. In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) (2011a). Hudson, B. (2007) Comparing different traditions of teaching and learning: what can we learn about teaching and learning? European Educational Research Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2. Klette, K (2007) Trends in research on teaching and learning in schools: Didactics meets classroom studies, European Educational Research Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2. Meyer, M. A. (2011) Professional teacher development and educational experience. In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) (2011a). Meyer, M. (2007) Didactics, sense making, and educational experience, European Educational Research Journal, Vol. 6, No. 2. Schneuwly, B. (2011) Subject didactics – An academic field related to teacher profession and teacher education. In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) (2011a). Sensevy, G. (2011) Overcoming fragmentation: Towards a joint action theory in didactics. In B. Hudson and M. Meyer (Eds.) (2011a).