Sub-theme 1: Research on Education and Formation: political issues

The first sub-theme raises the question of the political issues of the research on education and training. We can identify several levels, which relate to the meaning of the term “political”.

- What are the links between the educational and training policies and the research? What control of one by the other?

- How do the research in education and formation reflect upon training and educational policies?

- How does the research in education and training fit within the process of planning and management of the political institutions? At a national level as well as international?

- What impact do international researches and their results have on the elaboration of national policies? In what way is the research on education and training serving the politics? As a tool? As a guideline for designing the most effective actions and orientations to achieve the proper aims?

- How do expecting results, the efficiency requirement, the identification (for distribution) of “good practices and the national and international political agenda play on the research on education and training. A way of domesticating or controlling research? “A preferred mode of soft governance” of education (Van Zanter, 2010)? A reinforced space for critical freedoms? And to quote Samuel Roller (1977): “research on education: serfdom or instituting?”