Research

Summary page

Research

Education research in the knowledge society: Key trends in Europe and North America

This paper examines certain key trends in education research in a selection of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) countries in Europe and North America and considers their implications for the work of vocational education and training (VET) research agencies such as the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).

The countries and international agencies included in the study are Britain, Germany, the United States of America, the OECD and the European Union. The report pays particular attention to the role of education in building the knowledge base for educational policy and practice in a world of constant and unpredictable changes to society and the economy, with growing pressures for lifelong learning.

Two key questions are discussed:

In what ways can research-based knowledge in education accumulate and be accessible for policy and practice?

How can a stronger interaction and interface between research, policy, and practice be achieved so that the impact of research on practice is strengthened?

These questions are significant in a context where pressures for knowledge and evidence-based policy and practice have come to the fore in public discussion of education in both Europe and North America. In the United States for example, legislation was passed during 2002 to establish the Institute of Education Sciences in the Department of Education to strengthen the research role in education reform.

While such efforts have been made in both Europe and North America over the past decade to strengthen the role of educational research, and its impact on policy and practice, this has been accompanied by a so called 'crisis of confidence'-a loss of faith in the influence and impact of this area of research. The OECD has returned to this theme on a number of occasions over the past decade, and it has been a recurring theme in the United States where it has accompanied concern at the slow process and seeming failure of education reform. The impact of education research is often compared with the impact of research in other sectors such as health.

In addition to these central themes, two other major themes examined are:

a heightened concern with cross-sectoral linkages so that a common knowledge base is built up for all sectors of education and training

a concern to strengthen international linkages so that the evolving knowledge base for education policy and practice can draw on international experience and research findings.

The implications of these trends for the work of VET research agencies such as the National Centre for Vocational Education Research are examined.

The heightened importance of developing and maintaining the knowledge base of society is likely to broaden the research role to one which encourages collaborative learning and co-development of knowledge. This involves moving away from traditional linear research-development-implementation models to interactive models for knowledge development, with closer relations between research, policy and practice. The European Union's Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) has been innovative in testing these models through programs such as the Centre for the Development of Vocational Training's Research Arena (CEDRA).

It is suggested that the knowledge development process in vocational education and training might be seen as one involving primary, intermediate, and mature stages in the progression towards the development of a robust research base to underpin policy and practice. There are resource implications in strengthening the research role, but if VET policy and practice is to be truly based on knowledge and evidence in a context of unpredictable change and shifting roles and relationships, an investment in a strengthened research role will be necessary. These questions merit extensive discussion in the context of strategic planning for 2004-2010.