Managing expectations by projecting the future school : Observing the Nordic future school reports via temporal topologies

This study focuses on the politics of time in education by analysing 'The Future School' reports published by Nordic state authorities between 2010 and 2015. Building on a system-theoretical understanding of social time, steering and second-order observations, we investigate how temporal political communication frames the future of Nordic basic education. By applying semantic analysis, we identified four temporal topologies according to which these reports deal with the future: (a) calculated futures based on future projections with numbers; (b) unpredictable futures based on future projections contrasting learning with adaptivity; (c) technology-determined futures; and (d) personalised futures based on child well-being. Whereas these topologies constitute a shared semantical base for discussing the future of school education, a comparison of the reports also reveals differences and paradoxes between the temporal topologies in the Nordic welfare state context.Peer reviewe

Regional Policy Spaces, Knowledge Networks, and the “Nordic Other”

Peer reviewe

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

Historical Trajectories of the Contract-School Model in Norway

By situating the analysis in cultural studies of education history, this chapter explores how school authorities in Norway have promoted a school system that reflects historical reform trajectories influenced by both national and international reform ideas. Most of the school reforms in Norway have built on the contract-school model, which began as a Lutheran project in Northern and Central Europe during the early eighteenth century. This chapter presents this model, focusing on how it developed in Scandinavia and Norway and how complementary ideas and powerrelations emerged and contested the old legacy of this model during the nineteenth and twentieth century

An officially endorsed national curriculum: institutional boundaries and ideational concerns

Recently, there has been a notable renewal in nationalisation processes, which has had consequences on public policies and curriculum development in different countries (Winter 2018). There are both pros and cons associated with this development; increased nationalism can favour a kind of populism that hinders a society from adequately acting upon global problems, or national movements can result in domestic unification as people defend their democratic rights using institutional boundaries (Calhoun 2007; Hroch 1996). National movements can, for example, justify public education as an egalitarian project to guarantee democratic rights for all citizens. This was the case for the populist movement that evolved in the last part of the nineteenth century within the Nordic countries, where a folk movement served as a counter-force to state regulations that did not take egalitarian values and people’s interests into account (Jarning 1998; Lauglo 1995). It is from the viewpoint of relational power developed through local deliberations and public endorsement that this article examines a set of rationales for developing a national curriculum

Oppgaver som medierende betingelser for læring og danning – erfaringer fra et bachelorstudium i pedagogikk

I dag er det nærmest en selvfølge å be studenter om å gjøre obligatoriske oppgaver underveis i et studieløp. Likevel er det forsket lite på hvordan studentene erfarer å arbeide med denne typen oppgaver. Denne artikkelen presenterer et forsknings- og utviklingsprosjekt der målet var å utvikle ny kunnskap om hvordan arbeidet med obligatoriske oppgaver kan muliggjøre danning. Vi prøvde ut forskjellige oppgavetyper i et bachelorstudium i pedagogikk. Gjennom en spørreskjemaundersøkelse og fire gruppeintervjuer undersøkte vi studentenes erfaringer og vurderinger. Den første oppgaven var utgangsorientert ved å presisere hva arbeidet skulle munne ut i. Den ba studentene om å lage en Pecha Kucha i form av en PowerPoint-presentasjon med både tekst, bilder og lyd. Den andre oppgaven var i større grad inngangsbestemt. Den innebar å analysere et utvalg høringssvar relatert til en utdanningspolitisk sak og fokuserte på innholdet. Begge oppgavene la vekt på undersøkende arbeidsformer. Funnene tilsier at studentene erfarte den andre oppgaven som mest meningsfull. Studentene satte pris på den faglige innrammingen og den konkrete hjelpen de fikk. Oppgaven ga større rom for å studere en sak i dybden. Undersøkelsen illustrerer problemer med å innføre en ny oppgavesjanger, der både formatet og oppfølgingen har implikasjoner for studentenes erfaringer

Oppgaver som medierende betingelser for læring og danning – erfaringer fra et bachelorstudium i pedagogikk

I dag er det nærmest en selvfølge å be studenter om å gjøre obligatoriske oppgaver underveis i et studieløp. Likevel er det forsket lite på hvordan studentene erfarer å arbeide med denne typen oppgaver. Denne artikkelen presenterer et forsknings- og utviklingsprosjekt der målet var å utvikle ny kunnskap om hvordan arbeidet med obligatoriske oppgaver kan muliggjøre danning. Vi prøvde ut forskjellige oppgavetyper i et bachelorstudium i pedagogikk. Gjennom en spørreskjemaundersøkelse og fire gruppeintervjuer undersøkte vi studentenes erfaringer og vurderinger. Den første oppgaven var utgangsorientert ved å presisere hva arbeidet skulle munne ut i. Den ba studentene om å lage en Pecha Kucha i form av en PowerPoint-presentasjon med både tekst, bilder og lyd. Den andre oppgaven var i større grad inngangsbestemt. Den innebar å analysere et utvalg høringssvar relatert til en utdanningspolitisk sak og fokuserte på innholdet. Begge oppgavene la vekt på undersøkende arbeidsformer. Funnene tilsier at studentene erfarte den andre oppgaven som mest meningsfull. Studentene satte pris på den faglige innrammingen og den konkrete hjelpen de fikk. Oppgaven ga større rom for å studere en sak i dybden. Undersøkelsen illustrerer problemer med å innføre en ny oppgavesjanger, der både formatet og oppfølgingen har implikasjoner for studentenes erfaringer

State School Inspection Policy in Norway and Sweden (2002-2012): a reconfiguration of governing modes?

There is growing research interest in school inspection throughout Europe; however, there have been few comparative studies between Swedish and Norwegian school inspectorates. Such a study is necessary since little is known about how inspection policies are shaped through ‘governing modes’ in the two Nordic countries. This paper explores the similarities and differences between state school inspection policies within the two countries from 2002 to 2012. Based on a rigorous, comparative document analysis of 23 policy documents, a particular focus is given to how school inspection adheres to professional-bureaucratic control as a mode of governing and/or details national expectations through performance audit, potentially intervening into school practices. We demonstrate that even if the cases of public administration seem to be somewhat homogenous from the outside, there is substantial evidence of major differences in the inspection policies of these two countries which can be explored by comparative analysis. Specifically, this paper contributes both conceptually and comparatively to understanding how a study of purposive and evaluative modes of governing can add to the field of school inspection studies. The final version of this research has been published in the Journals of Education Policy. © 2014 Taylor & Franci