Education Systems and Policy—Evidence, Theory, Philosophy and Ethics

Dear Colleagues,

Research plays an important role in understanding how education policy does or does not work. Evidence should arguably inform policy design and implementation. However, depending on the ideological orientation of policy makers (whoever they may be), their ability to control policy agendas, and the political context in which they are developed, policy at times determines the research agenda. This Special Edition calls for papers that explore the nexus between policies and evidence within systems.

Researchers sometimes talk about ‘systems’ as though they are hierarchical, hegemonic, national or even global. But education systems take a variety of forms—they can be national, global, regional or sectoral (e.g., primary, secondary, vocational, non-formal, tertiary). As with policy, we might expect them to be driven by evidence. But what counts as utilizable acceptable evidence for one system may not apply in another. Likewise, the theoretical or philosophical underpinnings of how systems employ evidence will depend on a number of factors.

For researchers working in competitive policy spaces, achieving recognition and knowledge translation towards evidence-based policy can be something of a holy grail. Beyond the competitive challenges, the goal of evidence-based policy may lead to ethical dilemmas. Many researchers want their work to be utilized at the highest levels in policy design and implementation, but achieving an outcome that produces ‘no harm’ at the same time may be equally problematic.

Dr. John Guenther
Dr. Ian Falk
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Evidence-based policy
• Education policy
• Knowledge translation
• Ethical policy research
• Research utilisation
• Education systems
• Policy theory and philosophy
• Research for policy design and implementation