During the last decades Educational research more and more turned to become a rather differentiated, even fragmented field of study with many partial perspectives, different theoretical and methodological approaches, various epistemological and normative grounds, intersecting networks and peer groups, and different sources, languages, infrastructural conditions and opportunities for producing an publishing educational research knowledge. At present, traditionally differentiated and ramified educational research communication is under pressure through attempts to govern educational research into the direction of politically desired and needed ‘practical’ and applicable research on education by means of research management and funding. Although educational research to a large extent still remains locked into their national and cultural borders, it more and more becomes a European, even global enterprise.

However, the more educational research crosses borders and unlocks its particular national and cultural restrictions (and certainties), the more educational research opens up its discourses and social networks into an rather unstructured, diverse open space. This space does not only provide great opportunities for the future or, in an euphemistic sense, a space of creativity and innovation. It also apperars as an intransparent space of cooperation and competition, of unequal distributions of means and power, of representing and represented participants, of actors and victims  of struggle and defence. In this context one could remember of notions of words which – in a Habermasian sense – denote public places and spaces of deliberate discourses and unrestricted communication. The Greek had their ‘agora’, the Romans the ‘forum’, the old British ‘moot’, and modern states ‘democracy’. Where in broad and ramified field of educational research could we identify places and spaced serving the function of a structured educational research moot?

The EERJ Roundtable wants to ask for such an open space of reflection and judgement educational research in Europe is working in. Its structure is not very clear; neither is it an ancient ‘agora’ or ‘forum’ nor a moot, it is not a democratic, public space and also not a research space straightly ruled according to the methodological gold standards. Could EERA and ECERs be interpreted as a ‘moot’? It is designed as a European Association of national Educational Research Associations, but there are other European Educational Research Associations. In addition, you find a high fluctuation of attendees some of them being member of a national Educational Research Association some of them, however, not. How, then, is educational research represented in Europe, and to whom it addresses its conference themes and research results? How does educational research exert influence on research, policy and practical educational fields, and how is this influence justified and legitimized?