How could research better inform policy and practice? Research brokering in the French education system

Main Content

Author(s):

Catherine Reverdy(presenting / submitting)Olivier Rey(presenting)Marie Gaussel

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

11. Educational Improvement and Quality Assurance

Format:

Paper

Session Information

11 SES 01 B, Exploitation of Research and Evaluation Data to Improve Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

13:15-14:45

Room:

B232A/B Sala de Aulas

Chair:

Lynne Grant

Contribution

Even though evidence-based education is a less prominent trend in France than in other OECD countries, there is a growing call to better link practices, policies and researches in education. As in many countries, the studies show that practitioners and policy-makers in education are weakly aware of research knowledge in the field of education and hardly use it.

In spite of a high level of receptivity to “science” in the discourses, educators and leaders in education spend little time reading or speaking from results of education research. A lot of litterature stated that the perceived quality of research was one barrier to a greater use of research.

In this paper, however, we would want to focus on the processes and structures into the education system which could facilitate the circulation of research knowledge. This means identifying people and institutions that could act as brokers between actors and research in education at different levels of school system (from school to ministry).

Our starting point is that it’s not the individual skill of a teacher, for example, that is at stake, but rather the organizational factor, a point that is often neglected under the influence of the reflexive practitionner theory.

Consequently, we’ll consider the strategic importance of processes like school leadership or continuous professional development networking, to understand how research knowledge is able to circulate and to go from “ideas” into “practices”. In the mean time, we’ll highlight the role of several actors to improve research brokering : school leaders, trainers of trainers, inspectors, institutions best fitted to build bridges between research, practice and policy.

Method

This paper is based, on one part, on several litterature reviews concerning evidence-based in education and knowledge mobilization, and on the other part, on ten years of experience within a French unit devoted to research brokering in education. This paper presents the findings of a joint research (see papers n°906, n°692, n°1139 and n°1167) regarding the relationships between policy, research and practices.

Expected Outcomes

The challenge for linking research, practice and policy in education is to put out places and processes of shared pratices and interests between teachers, leaders and researchers. In the French education system, CPD and training of trainers is a strategic level to meet this challenge, because it’s the main network to connect schools together. Thus, the last years of declining of teacher education, both initial and in-service training, have enlarged the gap between research and education system. This challenge also involves that, almost in a first step, research issues have to be designed or translated in answers to real practical questions, for involving stakeholders and educational practitioners.

References

Cooper Amanda (2012). Knowledge mobilization in education: A cross-case analysis of 44 research brokering organizations across Canada. Unpublished doctoral thesis, Toronto : University of Toronto (Canada). Develay Michel (2004). Propos sur les sciences de l’éducation : réflexions épistémologiques. Issy-les-Moulineaux : ESF. Furlong John & Oancea Alis (dir.) (2008). Assessing quality in applied and practice-based research in education. Londres : Taylor and Francis. Hammersley Martyn (dir.) (2007). Educational research and evidence-based practice. Londres : SAGE publications. Levin Ben (2013). « To know is not enough: Research knowledge and its use ». Review of education, vol. 1, n° 1, p. 2-31. Pollard Andrew et Oancea Alis (2010). Unlocking learning? Towards evidence-informed policy and practice in education. Report of the UK Strategic Forum for Research in Education, 2008-2010. Londres : SFRE. Pons Xavier & van Zanten Agnès (dir.) (2008). The social and cognitive mapping of policy: Mapping the knowledge producers on the French education sector. Rapport final du workpackage 6, projet « Knowledge and Policy ». En ligne : http://knowandpol.eu/IMG/pdf/o1.franceeducation.pdf. Rey Olivier (2006). Qu’est-ce qu’une « bonne » recherche en éducation ? Dossier d’actualité VST-INRP, n° 18. Saunders Lesley (dir.) (2007). Educational research and policy-making: Exploring the border country between research and policy. Oxon : Routledge. van Zanten Agnès (2008). « Régulation et rôle de la connaissance dans le champ éducatif en France : du monopole à l’externalisation de l’expertise ? » Sociologie et sociétés, vol. 40, n°1, p.69-92. van Zanten Agnès (2013). « Connaissances et politiques d’éducation : quelles interactions ? ». Revue française de pédagogie, n°182, p. 5-8.

Author Information

Catherine Reverdy (presenting / submitting)

Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon, France

Olivier Rey (presenting)

Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon

Institut français de l'Éducation

Lyon

Marie Gaussel

Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon, France

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