Evidence and Expertise in Nordic Education Policy. A Comparative Network Analysis

The use of expertise and evidence in educational policy and planning of five Nordic European countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The comparative studies draw on social network analysis as well as qualitative comparisons. Table of Contents 1 Introduction: A Comparative Network Analysis of Knowledge Use in Nordic Education Policies Kirsten Sivesind and Berit Karseth 2 What Is in a Reference? Theoretically Understanding the Uses of Evidence in Education Policy Gita Steiner-Khamsi 3 Exploring the Architecture of Policy Knowledge: A Methodological Note Oren Pizmony-Levy and Chanwoong Baek 4 Policy Borrowing and Evidence in Danish Education Policy Preparation: The Case of the Public School Reform of 2013 Trine Juul Reder and Christian Ydesen 5 Evidence and Expert Power in Finnish Education Policy Making: The National Core Curriculum Reform Saija Volmari, Jaakko Kauko, Juho Anturaniemi, and Íris Santos 6 The Irregular Formation of State Policy Documents in the Icelandic Field of Education 2013–2017 Berglind Rós Magnúsdóttir and Jón Torfi Jónasson 7 Structuring School Reform Policy with Evidence: The Inter-mediational Role of Knowledge Sources and Arguments Bernadette Hörmann and Kirsten Sivesind 8 The Complexity of Context in Legitimating National School Reforms: The Case of Sweden Andreas Nordin and Ninni Wahlström 9 Evidence-Based Policymaking in Nordic Countries: Different Settings, Different Practices? Chanwoong Baek, Dijana Tiplic, and Íris Santos 10 How Much Is Policy Advice Changed and Lost in Political Translation? Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Chanwoong Baek, Berit Karseth, and Andreas Nordin 11 The OECD and the Field of Knowledge Brokers in Danish, Finnish, and Icelandic Education Policy Christian Ydesen, Jaakko Kauko, and Berglind Rós Magnúsdóttir 12 Regional Policy Spaces, Knowledge Networks, and the “Nordic Other” Saija Volmari, Kirsten Sivesind, and Jón Torfi Jónasson 13 On Evidence, Impact, and Layers in Education Policy Processes Kerstin Martens 14 Evidence-Based Policy Making and Educational Reform in Nordic Europe: Key Contributions of the POLNET Study Antoni Verger 15 Conclusion: Toward a Renewed Understanding of Evidence-Based Policy in Education Berit Karseth and Kirsten Sivesin

The design of compassionate care

Aims and objectives To investigate the tension between individual and organisational responses to contemporary demands for compassionate interactions in health care. Background Health care is often said to need more compassion among its practitioners. However, this represents a rather simplistic view of the issue, situating the problem with individual practitioners rather than focusing on the overall design of care and healthcare organisations, which have often adopted a production-line approach. Design This is a position paper informed by a narrative literature review. Methods A search of the PubMed, Science Direct and CINAHL databases for the terms compassion, care and design was conducted in the research literature published from 2000 through to mid-2013. Results There is a relatively large literature on compassion in health care, where authors discuss the value of imbuing a variety of aspects of health services with compassion including nurses, other practitioners and, ultimately, among patients. This contrasts with the rather limited attention that compassionate practice has received in healthcare curricula and the lack of attention to how compassion is informed by organisational structures and processes. We discuss how making the clinic more welcoming for patients and promoting bidirectional compassion and compassion formation in nursing education can be part of an overall approach to the design of compassionate care. Conclusions We discuss a number of ways in which compassion can be enhanced through training, educational and organisational design, through exploiting the potential of brief opportunities for communication and through initiatives involving patients and service users, as well as practitioners and service leaders. Relevance to clinical practice The development of contemporary healthcare systems could usefully address the overall design of compassionate care rather than blame individual practitioners for a lack of compassion

(Re)shaping Educational Research through ‘Programmification’: Institutional Expansion, Change, and Translation in Norway

Educational research in Norway has experienced unprecedented structural expansion as well as cognitive shifts over the past two decades, especially due to increased state investments and the strategic use of extensive and multi-year thematic programs to fund research projects. Applying a neo-institutionalist framework, we examine institutionalization dynamics in cultural-cognitive, normative, and regulative dimensions over the past two decades using interviews, research program calls, policy documents, and funding data. In the cultural-cognitive dimension, we find references to the knowledge society, the importance of evidence in policy-making, and ideas of quality, excellence, and relevance. In the normative dimension, we find the introduction of new professional and methodological standards, reflecting broader global patterns of academic and epistemic drift. In the regulative dimension, the strengthened role of both government and the Research Council of Norway is manifest in substantial growth in both funding and large-scale, long-term planning, including thematic choices—evidence of ‘programification’. The importance of external models has grown in an era of internationalization, yet translation occurs at every level of governance of educational research. This results in a specific Norwegian research model, guided by a mode of governance of programs, that maintains social values traditionally strong in Nordic societies

Didaktik in Forschung, Lehrerausbildung und Lehrplanentwicklung in Norwegen

Zu Beginn des Aufsatzes werden die in Norwegen zur Zeit wichtigsten Forschungsgegenstände auf dem Gebiet der Allgemeinen Didaktik vorgestellt. Im Anschluß gibt der Autor Beispiele für Untersuchungen zur Fachdidaktik. Der dritte Abschnitt lenkt die Aufmerksamkeit auf einige neu erschlossene Forschungsgebiete. Im vierten Kapitel wird sich mit Didaktik und Lehrerausbildung auseinandergesetzt, während im letzten Teil Anmerkungen zu neueren Entwicklungen und Reformen im norwegischen Bildungswesen folgen, welche die Bedeutung der Forschung und Ausbildung in didaktischen Fragen hervorheben. Der Aufsatz weist folgende Gliederung auf: (1) Einleitung; (2) Forschungsrichtungen im Bereich Didaktik; (3) Fachdidaktische Forschung und Studien; (4) Die Erkundung neuer Bereiche; (5) Didaktik und Lehrerausbildung; (6) Didaktik und Curriculumentwicklung; (7) Abschließende Bemerkungen. (DIPF/We.

Qualifications frameworks for the European Higher Education Area. A new instrumentalism or "much ado about nothing"?

The purpose of this article is to explore the development of qualifications frameworks as a key element in the Bologna process, which aims to develop a European Higher Education Area by 2010. By setting up descriptors of learning outcomes, a European qualifications framework is intended as an instrument that enables Europe to coordinate and exchange qualifications. Furthermore, the article analyses the proposal of a national qualifications framework in Norway and institutional responses to it. Despite general support for the idea of a framework, the analysis shows that the institutions question the possibility of a qualifications framework that fits all types of educational programmes. With reference to curriculum theory the article concludes that the idea of a qualifications framework based on measurable learning outcomes represents a turn towards an instrumental curriculum approach in higher education, in contrast to a traditional curriculum approach which foregrounds disciplinary content and its mastery. Drawing on institutional theory the article also questions the possible impact of qualifications frameworks in higher education

Sykepleierutdanning i en reformtid

Reorganiseringen av det regionale høgskolesystemet i 1994 og opprettelsen av 26 statlige høgskoler har i stor grad berørt sykepleierutdanningen. På oppdrag fra Norsk Sykepleierforbund (NSF) ble Norsk institutt for studier av forskning og utdanning (NIFU), derfor bedt om å foreta en evaluering av høgskolereformens effekt på sykepleierutdanningens faglige virksomhet. Evalueringen har vært knyttet opp mot den generelle evalueringen av høgskolereformen som Norges forskningsråd hadde ansvar for å gjennomføre på oppdrag fra Kirke, -utdannings og forskningsdepartemente

Revista española de educación comparada

Resumen tomado de la publicación. Monográfico con el título: El proceso de Bolonia : dinámicas y desafíos de la enseñanza superior en Europa a comienzos de una nueva épocaAnaliza la corriente política de reestructuración de currículos en educación superior. Muestra cómo el nuevo discurso presentado por el proceso de Bolonia, pone en entredicho los discursos tradicionales en educación superior en referencia al currículo. La acumulación y transferencia de créditos necesitan moverse en un marco más actual, que realce la movilidad, empleabilidad y competitividad. El objetivo, es desarrollar un espacio fiable para la educación superior que sea manejable y predecible. Aunque se abogue por un tratamiento flexible del currículo y una pedagogía centrada en el estudiante, el proceso de Bolonia puede ser contemplado como un programa racional que tiende a crear un discurso propio para el control estudiantil, basado en objetivos fijados con anterioridad.MadridUniversidad de León. Facultad de Educación. Servicio de Biblioteca; Campus de Vegazana, s. n.; 24071 León; Tel. +34987291146; Fax +34987291145; [email protected]; [email protected]

Curriculum restructuring in Higher Education after the Bologna Process: a new pedagogic regime?

By adopting the Bologna Process as the frame of reference this article discusses the ongoing policy of curriculum restructuring in higher education.The analysis is based on policy documents produced on the European scene and documents which describe the restructuring process in the highereducation system of Norway. The article shows how the new discourse presented by the Bologna Process challenges the traditional curriculum discourses in higher education. The credit accumulation and transfer discourse asks for a curricular framework which enhances mobility,employability and competitiveness. Although the rhetoric calls attention to institutional autonomy the curriculum restructuring represents a standardisation of higher education whereby the management of credit transfer and accumulation becomes the salient task. The aim is to develop a highly reliable space of higher education which is manageable and predictable. Although a flexible curriculum approach together with a studentcentred pedagogy are advocated, the Bologna Process can be read as a rational programme that tends to create a discourse for the governing of the student (the self) in light of the objectives already set.Tras adoptar el proceso de Bolonia como punto de referencia, este artículo se encarga de analizar la corriente política de reestructuración de currículos en educación superior. El análisis se basa en documentos producidos en el ámbito europeo, algunos dedicados al estudio del proceso de reestructuración de la educación superior en Noruega. El artículo muestra cómo el nuevo discurso presentado por el proceso de Bolonia, pone en entredicho los discursos tradicionales en educación superior en referencia al currículo. La acumulación y transferencia de créditos necesitan moverse en un marco más actual, que realce la movilidad, empleabilidad y competitividad. Aunque la retórica pueda ser importante en términos de autonomía institucional, la reestructuración curricular representa una estandarización a nivel de Educación Superior, por la cual la transferencia y acumulación de créditos se convierte en una tarea saliente. El objetivo es desarrollar un espacio fiable para la educación superior que sea manejable y predecible. Aunque se abogue por un tratamiento flexible del currículo y una pedagogía centrada en el estudiante, el proceso de Bolonia puede ser contemplado como un programa racional que tiende a crear un discurso propio para el control estudiantil, basado en objetivos fijados con anteriorida