Idén om en forskningsbaserad skola. Förskjutningar och implikationer, 1997–2015

Abstract in English

This dissertation examines a central yet contested idea within Swedish education policy: the idea of a research-based school. The idea generates assumptions and expectations regarding schools and research, accompanied by a vision that school development and improvement can be achieved if policy and professional practice are grounded in research. The study approaches this idea from a curriculum-theoretical perspective, focusing on two central questions: what counts as research-based knowledge within the educational system? and how is that research-based knowledge organized? Against the backdrop of these questions, the aim of the thesis is to develop knowledge about shifts in the idea of ​​a research-based school during the years 1997-2015.

Previous research demonstrates how this idea has historically been linked to various developments: the professional ambitions of the teaching profession, the formation of the welfare state in the mid-1940s, critical educational research in the 1970s, and the emergence of New Public Management in the late 20th century. In more recent contexts, attention has been drawn to the evidence movement within education, and its impact on political decision-making and teaching practices.

The empirical investigation spans the years 1997 to 2015, a period characterized by substantial changes and political reforms in both education and research policy. Through analyses of public documents, government documents, as well as interviews with policy actors, the study explores how different interpretations and meanings of the idea of a research-based school take shape. These interpretations are analyzed through a linguistic lens, using the conceptual pair of idea and discourse as analytical tools.

The results and analysis show how two dominant clusters of ideas were generated and took shape during the investigated period: an academic cluster centered on interdisciplinarity, scientific quality, and funding through a national research council; and an evidence-oriented cluster emphasizing relevance, accessibility, reliability, systematic research reviews, and practice-oriented research.

Based on the empirical findings, three key shifts in the idea of a research-based school are illuminated: from direct to indirect relevance, from pre-service teacher education to professional development, and from the academic research community, traditionally represented by universities and teacher education departments, to governmental agencies. Finally, these shifts are discussed in relation to their implications for governance, the distribution of roles and power, and influence over educational institutions.