During the last few decades, educational research has increasingly tried to legitimise itself by its alleged capacity to contribute to the solution of certain societal problems. The article discusses this claim on the basis of historical evidence. It addresses two episodes of educational change aimed at a 'freer' pedagogy and society and at expanding and democratising educational power relations in the classroom: the immediate consequences of the educational provisions of the first Spanish Constitution adopted in the city of Cadiz in 1812, and the reform of drawing pedagogy at primary schools in Munich at the beginning of the twentieth century. In both cases, educational research contributed marginally, if at all, to the transformation of society and educational practices. Processes of political participation and teachers' activism seem to have played a more major role in these two transformative processes than any other activity related to educational research.