Bücher der Reihe Educational Governance Research

This volume draws together interdisciplinary approaches from political philosophy, social work, medicine and sociology to analyze the theoretical foundations and practical examples of evidence-based and evidence-informed education for the public good.

This book discusses principals¿ prerequisites and work within the five Nordic countries and focuses on schools as formal institutions that carry out functions delegated to them by the social collective. It includes a discussion about what kind of state policy demonstrates autonomy in Nordic schools, as well as the ways in which school leaders as sense makers in local schools possess and enact policy in a globalized economy and a changing world.The book draws both on a range of theoretical frameworks and educational leadership and policy research to provide multiple comparative perspectives of school leadership in the Nordic countries, the moral purpose of schooling, school governance and power relations, expectations towards school leadership, handling of crises, and cultures of trust. The chapters range from in depth-case studies and policy document analyses to large-scale data sets and literature reviews. All chapters have multiple messages for practitioners, policymakers and researchers as they seek to engage with school leadership as a core activity in times of societal changes.As democratic welfare states, the five Nordic countries have many similarities, but also differences which makes it interesting to understand more about various ways to strive towards democracy and well-educated citizens.

This book addresses governing by numbers and human capital policy in higher education by asking how higher education is quantified, how the quantitative information is used in educational governance, and how the information is perceived by students, teachers, managers, and policymakers, and affects decision-making. It also thematically discusses how human capital theory affects the quantification practices and, thereby, their effects. Based on these analyses, the book asks whether governing by numbers and human capital in education policy are necessarily neoliberal practices, and thus questions the theory of global convergence in educational governance.The book provides a thorough analysis of the quantification of graduate outcomes based on the philosophical framework of Agential Realism, thus offering a novel analytical approach to the study of data and indicators in educational governance. The book draws on a comprehensive ethnographic case study from Danish higher education, and relates the findings from this case study to empirical cases in other countries and international research in the field. The book brings together literature from various fields, including political science, accounting, education, and sociology of quantification, in order to provide a comprehensive account of how quantification practices affect education. 

This work discusses how the complex relationship between welfare policies of equity and market efficiencies/deficiencies of education policies is handled in local practices. It offers contributions from the five Nordic countries - Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland - and pays special attention to questions about access and diversity in upper secondary education. The book draws on a wide range of theoretical frameworks and research projects and provides multiple perspectives of how upper secondary staff and students have experienced reforms of education governance during the last two or three decades. The research projects range from in-depth case studies to the analysis of large-scale data sets and inform practitioners, policy makers and researchers about practices of education policy that are highly influenced by market forces.

This book discusses the central role education and research play in generating both value and comparative advantages in the (imageries of) global competition, competitiveness and transnational value chains. They are seen as assets placed at the forefront of developments that are arguably reshaping individuals, society and economy. This edited volume explores these developments in terms of changing relations between society, economy, science and individuals.The idea that we live in global knowledge societies and knowledge-based economies or that present-day productive systems constitute an industry 4.0 have gained currency as descriptions of contemporary society that are said to bear direct and indirect consequences for political, economic, and social orders. In this context, innovation, science and education are central themes in contemporary discussions about the future of modern societies. Innovation is enthusiastically embraced as the panacea for all sorts of societal issues of our times; science is equally deemed to play a decisive role in solving current problems and in heralding a bright future with more wealth and more welfare for all citizens; education is conferred the task to producing individuals equipped with both skills and competences considered key to innovation but also displaying the attitudes and dispositions that will secure continuous innovation and economic growth. 

This book describes and analyses the organisation, functions and development of national educational authorities and agencies and the influence they have on local schools in 20 countries around the world. How schools become successful is important for the individual students as well as the local community and the national state.

This volume contributes significantly to the ongoing international and Nordic paradigm shift in educational leadership research.

The second chapter describes the national reform processes of the six selected countries, giving a voice to the individual university rectors and officials who played an important role during the reform processes.

This book represents a set of critical analyses of educational reforms where issues of transnational governance are of vital concern.

Yet, the traditionally disparate fields of educational leadership, curriculum theory and Didaktik have developed separately, both in terms of approaches to theory and theorizing in USA, Europe and Asia, and in the ways in which these theoretical traditions have informed empirical studies over time.

This book describes and analyses the organisation, functions and development of national educational authorities and agencies and the influence they have on local schools in 20 countries around the world. How schools become successful is important for the individual students as well as the local community and the national state.

The research presented in the book addresses the international literature on accountability in public administration and in education, the current transformations of governance in education, as well as the forms taken by the globalisation of education policies in countries differently exposed to international influences.

It suggests that the Bologna Process works as a subtle means to circumvent the EU's subsidiarity principle, making it possible to accomplish a European governance of higher education despite the fact that education falls outside EU's legislative reach.

The second chapter describes the national reform processes of the six selected countries, giving a voice to the individual university rectors and officials who played an important role during the reform processes.

This book analyses local school district governance in a comparative, cross-cultural perspective based on national studies of local school boards in the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

This book is a comprehensive study into and about consultants doing consultancy, and having influence in ways that generate concerns about an emerging 'consultocracy', with privileged access to governments and public services.

This book examines the transformations of epistemic governance in education, the way in which some actors are shaping new knowledge, and how that new knowledge impacts other actors in charge of implementing this knowledge in the context of the decision-making process and practice.

This volume draws together interdisciplinary approaches from political philosophy, social work, medicine and sociology to analyze the theoretical foundations and practical examples of evidence-based and evidence-informed education for the public good.

Yet, the traditionally disparate fields of educational leadership, curriculum theory and Didaktik have developed separately, both in terms of approaches to theory and theorizing in USA, Europe and Asia, and in the ways in which these theoretical traditions have informed empirical studies over time.

This book analyses the superintendent position and relations and shows how the well-known policy umbrella, the New Public Management (NPM), is being adapted to national contexts.

This book analyses local school district governance in a comparative, cross-cultural perspective based on national studies of local school boards in the Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

This book brings together the notions of material school design and educational governance in the first such text to address this critical interrelationship in any depth.

This book represents a set of critical analyses of educational reforms where issues of transnational governance are of vital concern.

This book analyses the superintendent position and relations and shows how the well-known policy umbrella, the New Public Management (NPM), is being adapted to national contexts.