Comparison and Educational Policy-making
Monday 1st of June, 2015, 9.30–20.00
Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki
Research Unit focusing on the Sociology and Politics of Education (KUPOLI), the Nordic Centre of Excellence (NCoE) Justice through Education in the Nordic Countries (JustEd), the Doctoral Programme of School, Education, Society and Culture (SEDUCE) and the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences invites researchers, teachers and students interested in the sociological and cultural studies of education to the annual ESC conference. The theme of the 17th ESC conference is ”Comparison and Educational Policy-making”.
This year we are honoured to have two excellent keynote speakers Professor Florian Waldow (Humboldt University, Berlin) and Professor Jouni Välijärvi, (Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä).
Participants are encouraged to present their own research, or to participate in the conference without presenting. The conference offers a unique opportunity for researchers ranging from undergraduates to professors to meet and discuss of their research in a relaxed atmosphere.
The conference is free of charge and open to the general public. All events will be held at Minerva Square, Floor K2, Siltavuorenpenger 5A.
For more information: www.helsinki.fi/kyk or janne.varjo@helsinki.fi
PROGRAMME
9.30–9.45 Opening of the XVII ESC Conference
9.45–10.45 Professor Jouni Välijärvi, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä: International large scale assessments and national education policy
10.45–11.45 Professor Florian Waldow, Humboldt University, Berlin: “Educational paradise” versus “examination hell”: Projecting images of the “good” and the “bad school” onto PISA top scorers
11.45–13.00 Lunch break
13.00–14.30 Thematic sessions
14.30–15.00 Coffee*
15.00–16.45 Thematic sessions
17.00 Snacks and drinks*
*These are included for the participants.
KEYNOTES
Professor Florian Waldow, Humboldt University, Berlin:
“Educational paradise” versus “examination hell”: Projecting images of the “good” and the “bad school” onto PISA top scorers
Educational reforms are frequently “lent” and “borrowed” across national boundaries. In the course of the last two decades or so, some top scorers in international large-scale assessments such as PISA have become particularly attractive as countries from which to borrow.
Many studies have shown that borrowing always is selective and adapts what is borrowed to the receiving context. The keynote address wants to take this line of reasoning one step further: not only does borrowing operate selectively and adaptively, what appears to be borrowed from other contexts does not even have to exist there. Thus, what appears to be transfer from one national context to the other often really should more adequately be called projection.
Also, the existing research on educational borrowing and lending has mostly studied positive models from which it is attractive to borrow and which serve to legitimate policy agendas. The presentation attempts to show that references to “education elsewhere” can also serve to construct negative models with the function of de-legitimating policy agendas.
The keynote address will explore how PISA top scorers are used as projection screens for conceptions of the “good school” and the “bad school”. It will address why countries are selected as projection screens and which functions projection fulfils in the educational policy-making debate. The presentation will mainly focus on the German case, but will also take some comparative glimpses at Sweden and the United Kingdom. Empirically, it is mainly based on frame analyses of mass media.
Professor Jouni Välijärvi, Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä:
International large scale assessments and national education policy
Education policy in most countries aims to guarantee for young people adequate knowledge and skills for decent life in the modern society. International large scale assessments offer many possibilities to analyze equality and equity in education systems worldwide. The most advanced systems manage to bring 95 percent of students to minimum level in reading literacy, mathematics and science at the end of their compulsory studies when in some other systems only less than 20 percent reach the minimum level.
Variation between individual students in their basic skills is also enormous. This means that the readiness of young people for further studies, working life, active citizenship, and lifelong learning in general varies a lot. Learning outcomes are also related to many individual, socio-economic and societal factors. Some correlations are universal in nature (e.g. socio-economic status and cognitive skills), some related to cultural factors. In Finland, for instance, correlations between affective factors (engagement, self-concept, interest etc.) and cognitive outcomes are very high, but in many other countries these factors do not seem to be related at all. In the Finnish education policy importance to focus on pedagogy and well-being of students is resulted from this.
International studies produce important and reliable benchmarks for national policy making, but straightforward conclusions from the results must be made very carefully. In education, policy making should always lean on deep understanding of cultural values and practices. One can always learn from other countries, but never merely copy successfully models from one country to another.
BIOGRAPHIES OF THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Florian Waldow is professor of comparative and international education at the Humboldt University, Berlin. Before assuming this post in 2013, he taught and researched at the University of Münster, Germany, and the Universities of Uppsala and Stockholm, Sweden. He took his doctorate at Humboldt University in 2005.
One of Professor Waldow’s major areas of interest is educational “borrowing and lending”. He is particularly interested in the ways in which the “international argument” serves to legitimate and de-legitimate policy agendas, and which role international comparative data such as the data produced by international large-scale-assessments play in these processes.
Another important area of interest is the cultural context of assessment (including its historical aspects) in a comparative perspective. He currently leads a major project financed by the German Research Foundation entitled “Different worlds of meritocracy? Educational assessment and conceptions of justice in Germany, Sweden and England in the age of ‘standards-based reform’”.
Jouni Välijärvi is a professor of education at the University of Jyväskylä, and he has been the director of the Finnish Institute for Educational Research since 1996. He has been working also at the National Board of Education (NBE) during his work career.
Professor Välijärvi has been involved in several national and international research projects on evaluation of learning outcomes, curriculum and teacher education, and published widely in his field. He has been the National Project Manager of the OECD PISA since 1998 and represented Finland in the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) since 1996. He has been a member of expert and evaluation groups e.g. in OECD, EU, Ministry of Education, NBE, and Council of Finnish Municipalities. He is a member of the Board of Finnish Education Evaluation Centre and the chair of Higher Education Evaluation Committee. He has been invited to give keynote lectures and other presentations in several scientific conferences, seminars and workshops in more than 20 countries around the world.