Evidence in the history of school reforms in Sweden
2021 (English)In: What Works in Nordic School Policies?: Mapping Approaches to Evidence, Social Technologies and Transnational Influences / [ed] Krejsler, John Benedicto;Moos, Lejf, Springer, 2021, 1, p. 103-125Chapter in book (Refereed)
Sustainable development
SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Abstract [en]
This book offers an original contribution to the area of international research on comparative education policies and the influence of transnational agencies on national school policy and reform. With a focus on grasping what the Nordic model or the Nordic dimension means in school and educational policy, the book explores in depth the school policy contexts of the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It demonstrates how these particular national contexts engage with and contextualize transnational collaboration on issues like school reform, accountability, evidence and what works, and digitalization.
The book situates these policy issues over a long period of time while integrating the latest developments and reforms. It demonstrates how context matters. It shows how the often elusive, but pervasive Nordic dimension can only be fully understood by painstaking scrutiny of the five national contexts, their particular trajectories and mutual interactions in formal and informal education.
Abstract [en]
This chapter addresses the question of what counts as evidence in education from a historical perspective, with a focus on how different knowledge traditions have informed policy-making and educational reforms in Sweden. Four phases are identified. In the first phase during the post-war welfare expansion from the late 1940s to the 1960s, the rational planning of education was led by values such as equality of justice, solidarity, social security, and social mobility, and it was underpinned by scientific knowledge. The educational researcher was given an expert role and an adversarial mode of policy research emerged. During the second phase from the 1970s to the 1990s, this research role was called into question when, for example, the sociology of education brought democracy and equity dimensions into the policy exchange. Alongside the interpretative, qualitative research paradigm being challenging, the practice turn with professionally-relevant knowledge took place in the third phase of restructuring reforms in the 1990s. The fourth, current, contemporary phase is characterized by a downward shift toward immanence and instrumentalization as research is increasingly becoming a means for “what works” during the present performative accountability reforms. The chapter ends with some challenges for the future of educational research in the Nordic countries.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2021, 1. p. 103-125
Series
Educational Governance Research ; vol 15
Keywords [en]
Education reforms, Education research, Evidence, Knowledge, Policy-making, Sweden
National Category
Educational Sciences
Research subject
Pedagogics and Educational Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-103530DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-66629-3_6Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85103272790ISBN: 9783030666286 (print)ISBN: 9783030666293 (electronic)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-103530DiVA, id: diva2:1556645
2021-05-242021-05-242023-03-22Bibliographically approved