The aim of the article is to offer a base for discussions on educational equality from the viewpoint of changes in the world causing widening disparities between pupils and students. The essence and possibilities of educational equity and equality in the Nordic educational realm are discussed from six viewpoints. The outcome is that all children…

In this paper, I discuss and critically assess how the relationship between philosophy of science and qualitative methods is presented and discussed in research on qualitative research methods education (QRME) and qualitative methods textbooks. I argue that both typically convey the idea that philosophy of science guides or influences the use and…

The purpose of this paper is to propose a revision of the well-known Campbellian system for causal research. The revised system, termed the COPS model, applies to both applied and basic research. Five validities are included, where two validities are adopted from the Campbellian system, and the validities are partly hierarchically ordered.…

Research on educational activities generally focuses on the importance of positive emotions in the interaction between teachers and children. This article will focus on the challenging emotions that can arise when kindergarten staff interact with the children. The empirical material has been collected from a qualitative study of conflicts between…

This paper is designed to contribute to the discussion on how to conceptualise and study contextual influence in local school development. We propose a theoretical framework and an empirical illustration to supplement former research on rural school research. Focusing on what the school perceives as important in its community may explain why…

In the 1980s, Norwegian researchers pioneered efforts towards developing school support for bereaved children. Eighteen years later, a Danish approach was created based on these foundations. This article explores the Danish school bereavement response plans (b-plans) and investigates their ability to support both teachers and bereaved children.…

The children's parade, the use of national flags and school banners are key features in the celebration of Norwegian Constitution Day. This article provides a historical analysis of the origin of the school banner and its emergence and development into a living and popular tradition from the late-nineteenth century. This article shows how the…

The Nordic Education Model was an important part of the social democratic welfare state for many years in the second half of the 20th century. Since the millennium, transnational agencies have drawn education from the realm of politics into a global market place by advocating strategies such as efficiency, competition, decentralisation, governing…

In this paper, we aim to differentiate the internal and external horizons of "fusion." "Fusion" in the internal horizon relates to the structure and meaning of the object of learning as experienced by the learner. It clarifies the interrelationships among an object's critical features and aspects. It also illuminates the…

The aim of this article is to present arguments for an integrated empirical research on teaching and learning based on previous research and the phenomenographic research tradition. From 1970 and for some years after, the main focus in phenomenographic research was on students' approaches to and understanding of subject matter. Later, based on…

This special issue includes 5 contributions of contemporary work based in the phenomenography and variation theory research tradition and also actualises theoretical and methodological discussions. This introduction consists of 3 main parts. First is a brief introduction to and framing for the contributions through pointing to some of the main…

With a point of departure in the concept of democracy, this article aims to show how Swedish Popular Adult Education influenced the content of the established school system in Sweden. The Popular Adult Education and established school systems are studied through their relation to democracy, based on curricula, as well as on visionary and political…

This paper aims to show how the Goffman frame perspective can be used in an analysis of school and education and how it can be combined, in such analysis, with the frame factor perspective. The latter emphasizes factors that are determined outside the teaching process, while the former stresses how actors organize their experiences and define…

This paper addresses ethical issues in educational research with a focus on the interplay between research ethics and both internal and external quality of research. Research ethics is divided into three domains: (1) ethics "within" the research community; (2) ethics concerning relationships with "individuals and groups directly…

This paper explains and illustrates a method of argumentative reconstruction that may be used in the teaching of stories. Without maintaining that argument is superior to narrative or that all narratives should be cast as arguments, I illustrate the benefits of this approach for critical thinking and the discussion that ensues when one seeks to…