Prof. Dr. Daniel Muijs Appointed Editor-in-Chief of Education Sciences

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Daniel Muijs, who, on 1 March 2024, assumed editorial leadership over the Education Sciences journal (ISSN: 2227-7102).

Homepage: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/daniel-muijs
Affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast, UK
Interests: educational effectiveness; teaching effectiveness, pedagogy; school networking and collaboration; curriculum; school improvement; school leadership; place-based interventions

Prof. Dr. Daniel Muijs is an experienced manager, and he has held senior roles in both academia and the public sector. He is a recognized expert in the fields of school and teacher effectiveness and school leadership, and has published in these areas extensively.

From 2011 to 2013, he was Director of the Leadership, School Effectiveness, and Improvement Research Centre at Southampton Education School, UK. From 2013 to 2016, he was the Director of Research and the Deputy Head of School at Southampton Education School. In semester 1 of 2016, he was the acting Head of School. From 2011 to 2015, he was the Treasurer of the International Congress on School Effectiveness and School Improvement (ICSEI) and a member of the board of ICSEI. At the University of Manchester, he was Director of Postgraduate Research and the coordinator of Research Methods Training across the School of Education, as well as the Programme Director for M.Sc. Educational Research.

As Dean of the School of Education and Society, Prof. Dr. Muijs was in charge of the largest faculty of the Netherlands’ newest university. As Deputy Director, he led the Research and Evaluation team at Ofsted. This team consisted of 40 researchers and administrators. He was in charge of developing research and evaluation frameworks, liaising with the Executive Board, and ensuring all projects are successfully delivered with the intended impact. As a member of the Senior Civil Service and the Corporate Strategy senior management team, he was part of the senior management team at Ofsted. He contributed to strategic decision-making and was an external-facing member of Ofsted, frequently presenting work to a range of audiences, including practitioner bodies, government departments, and academics. As the Head of Research at Ofsted, he led a team of 15 researchers. He was in charge of managing 18 research projects from conception to delivery across two years. He was a member of the senior management team, with joint responsibility for developing the new inspection framework. Now, he is an elected member of the Executive Committee of the European Association for Learning and Instruction, a member of the board of the Teacher Development Trust, and the Impact Board of Teach First.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Daniel Muijs, who shared his vision for the journal with us, as well as his views of the research area:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role of its Editor-in-Chief?
I was attracted by the open access publishing model of the journal, its broad reach and scope, and interests, and the novel and more speedy publishing model used at MDPI, which alleviates the issue of research becoming outdated by the time it is published, especially in fast-moving areas like educational technology.

2. What is your vision for the journal?
The journal has already evolved very strongly, and I believe we can continue to do so. My vision is of a journal that combines reach with rigor, providing a place for research from across the discipline and across the world, and I particularly want to encourage scholarship from the Global South. I want to make sure that we select on quality and relevance, and are open to all research methodologies. I strongly believe we can further improve our impact and rankings.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
Education research has been subject to criticism in the past in relation to its rigor and relevance to practice, but the field is developing a greater sense of rigor, and an increasing emphasis on co-constructing research with practitioners. The field has always been multidisciplinary, and that will only increase as we take onboard new findings from psychology, economics and the social sciences. We will see increasing attention to some of the key issues that confront us in education and society, such as environmental sustainability, social justice, the use of AI and technology, and changes to motivation and attitudes in relation to learning.

4. What do you think of the development of the open access format in the publishing field?
Open access publishing is a highly positive development. In the past, it was very hard for those working outside of universities in the Global North to read journal articles, and this was especially an issue for practitioners who wish to be research-informed. Open access publishing provides the means for many more people across the world to read and use original research.

We wish Prof. Dr. Daniel Muijs success and prosperity in both his research and the development of the journal. Further details regarding the Editorial Board can be found at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/education/editors.