For many years the EERJ Roundtable has been a standing event within the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER). In a discursive style it addresses issues related to contemporary relationships between educational research and educational policy in Europe. The changing educational landscape, together with shifting practices and…

This article advances the enlightened discussion of the nature, logic, and possible effects of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The purpose is to analyse the assumptions regarding how PISA is to achieve its intended effects, that is, to reconstruct PISA's programme theory (PT) and to probe the validity of its…

The creation of a European education space has been extensively discussed in Europe. Many scholars are concerned about the way in which the emergence of "global governmentality," such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)'s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has produced a "soft…

The activities of the European Educational Research Association (EERA) and the yearly European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) are mainly organised in standing networks. Through the example of the Policy Studies and Politics of Education network, this article takes a closer look at network activity and the ways in which it contributes to…

Drawing on their personal experiences, the authors reflect on the relationship between the European Educational Research Association (EERA) Council and the National Educational Research Associations (NERAs). The article will argue that while much of the work undertaken by the EERA Council is hugely valuable, at times it can be difficult to see a…

In this article, the authors begin to frame a discussion of the educational research space that the European Educational Research Association (EERA) has been given and aims to take. The educational space is not merely a geographical phenomenon, but rather refers to the networks, flows and scapes that form the foundation for the construction of…

Research associations tend to be voluntary by nature and therefore unstable in character, and thus are subject to threat for their continuity. History has shown that the European Educational Research Association (EERA) is not an exception to this rule. Because EERA Council and the board members are volunteers with limited time, experience and…

This article explores the ways in which commercial actors are operating in state education by focusing on the case study of England's academies policy. First of all the discussion outlines the development of academies over time and the way in which the policy has provided opportunities for private actors to become involved in the state…

New forms of activities now shape and govern the Swedish education system, based on governance through comparison. The focus on comparison can be regarded as soft governance and different types of (self-) evaluations and valuations are, at present, deeply embedded keystones in the decentralised education system. Recently this has, together with…

A number of studies in the past few decades address how the governing of educational systems are changing as a result of intensified measurement and use of statistics. This article suggests that another consequence may be the construction of solutions, tools, and methods which target the problems constructed through comparable indicators and…

This article explores the increasing commercialisation of education through the empirical case of Teach For All, a network of social enterprises which is spreading a new model of teacher training across Europe and around the world. This model, which is supported and funded by a heterogeneous mix of public institutions and private sector…

This article discusses the dynamic interaction between global policy and knowledge flows and two post-communist education systems--Hungary and Romania--with special attention to the appropriation of post-bureaucratic regulation tools and the structural changes enhanced by the knowledge transmitted by the Programme for International Student…

The article addresses the widespread claim to make educational research more relevant for practitioners, policy makers, potential users and stakeholders, and proposes a problematisation of the notion of "useful knowledge". The article illustrates the conceptual, instrumental and legitimative relevance of knowledge and highlights empirically the…

The curriculum is a governance technology of knowledge production and is also itself governed by complex dynamics within European education policy space. This article focuses on how the curriculum is governed by comparative knowledge; in particular, it identifies how this facet of governance has manifested itself within the policy space of…

European Schools are a particular type of school that are not integrated into any national education system but are nonetheless official educational establishments that constitute a European Schools System (ESS) governed jointly by the Member States of the European Union. This positioning creates particularly interesting issues of governance that…