POLNET Book Launch: Evidence and Expertise in Nordic Education Policy

POLNET held a book launch seminar on the findings from the recently published book "Evidence and Expertise in Nordic Education Policy."

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Photo credit: Monica Bjermeland / UiO

On May 18, 2022, POLNET celebrated the launch of its book “Evidence and Expertise in Nordic Education Policy” (Palgrave Macmillan) with a vibrant discussion on the book findings. The seminar was held in a hybrid format (in Helga Eng’s house, Room 241 and on Zoom) and attended by more than 40 people from Norway and abroad.

The seminar began with the introduction of the POLNET project and team members by Kirsten Sivesind (PI, University of Oslo). She presented the overall research purpose of the POLNET project and an overview of the 15 book chapters written by a group of renowned scholars from eight countries in the project. It was then followed by the presentation of the key findings and implications focusing on the Norwegian context by Chanwoong Baek (University of Oslo) and Gita Steiner-Khamsi (Teachers College, Columbia University). They demonstrated how knowledge brokerage facilitates the translation of research into reform politics. The findings and interpretations are summarized here.

Afterward, the findings of the book were explored from a Nordic perspective by the panelists, including Jaakko Kauko (Tampere University), Berglind Rós Magnúsdóttir (University of Iceland), Ninni Wahlström (Linnaeus University), and Christian Ydesen (Aalborg University). The panelists discussed how evidence was produced and used in education policymaking of each Nordic country and how the “Nordic” practices of evidence-based policymaking can be better understood by new methodological approaches, including bibliometric network analysis. The discussion was chaired and moderated by Berit Karseth (University of Oslo).

Hege Nilssen, the director of the Norwegian Directorate of Education, then shared her commentary on the book. She commented on the interesting variation across the Nordic countries in terms of the national program evaluations that in Norway have provided policy-relevant knowledge for the renewal of school reforms since the 1990s. She also pointed to the importance of distinguishing between policy knowledge and research knowledge. The seminar ended with open discussion with the audience, followed by a reception.

You can access the full program of the event here.

Published June 6, 2022 12:04 PM - Last modified June 6, 2022 12:04 PM