Network Activities

Joana Lucio has been leading a considerable preparatory work on the Net 14 Web pages in a net discussion within the group of convenors. The preliminary results of this process were presented and discussed at the NET14 network meeting in Berlin. You can follow the resulting development of the web pages by linking to the address: www.eera.de/networks/network14/

The special Issue of International Review of Educational Research, Volume 48, 2009 - reviewing research on rural schools in five Northern European countries - with DR Linda Hargreaves and Professor Rune Kvalsund as guest editors. This research review started as an ECER symposium and was developed further the following years. We have a discussion on how this research review can be the basis for joint research activity across national borders. The problem is that most of the educational research in the European countries is program research. We experience as researchers both thematic and timing conflicts. It is therefore difficult to do and support joint research across nations in this research field. Next to nothing of the research funding is non-program research open for the researchers themes. Many research contacts and interests identified during ECER have serious difficulties in being put in to real research activity – especially empirical research.

Members of the network have presented articles in sessions of the network during earlier years ECERs. Some of these articles are further developed as a result of critical discussion in Net 14 session and published in internationally top ranked journals of educational research. One of these articles within the thematic strand of Schooling and life course transitions is this year selected to Routledge Edcation Class 2011, as one of the most read research articles in European educational research journals.  See www.educationarena.com/journalPromotions/mostDownloaded/classof2011/ and www.educationarena.com/pdf/classof2011/EducationalPsychologySpecialNeedsEducation.pdf

A group within our network with a special interest in comparative analysis of rural communities and schooling have developed and published the special issue of International Review of Educational Research on reviews of research on rural schools and their communities in Nordic and British countries, published in 2009. Our intention was to have this as a joint basis for developing a research proposal across countries.

However a major hindrance of further joint research is the national differences of timing and thematic focus within the dominating form of research funding – program research. In some countries research on rural schooling is ‘out’ – profound changes are taking place, accompanied by a dominating silence about what is happening.

The network meeting in Berlin 2011 suggested rather strongly that we in addition should formulate a substantial theme on rural educational and invite to a symposium/workshop in Cadiz next year - to contribute to breaking the ‘rural silence’ and promote further research in this field. The idea is to develop presented papers further and publish the resulting articles in a special issue of a relevant international journal. This part of Net 14 profile – rural schooling – would be strengthened. Last years workshop on leadership in rural schools was referred to as a successful example. Network 14 invited the participants at the network meeting to suggest relevant themes persons that would participate. support the initiative cooperating with the suggesting person. We also welcome initiatives from persons associated with the other thematic strands of the network. Network 14 is planning a joint session on research methodology. Whether this will be a paper session, a symposium or a workshop will be decided by the project group. Dr Aitor Gomez, Universidad Rovira i Virgili, Spain, is Network 14 representative in the project group. Other clusters of Net 14 researchers are sorting out the possibilities for cross national symposia on rural education with publishing the articles as a special issue of international journal as goal.

Network 14 is currently working directly with EERA in order to develop its mailing list, a tool that will help researchers to stay in touch between conferences, share information about projects/ funding/ conferences, as well as other potentially valuable content. We are also working on a online-based reference list, which will allow for educational researchers who have interest in the field of communities, familes and schooling to have access to the most relevant and/or most recent writings.

1.    At several occasions the convenor group of Net 14 has met (at University of Joensuu, Finland and University of Cambridge, England) to plan and work on what has been our joint project resulting in the special issue of International Review of Educational Research in 2009, Kvalsund, R. & Hargreaves, L. (2009) (editors): Reviews of Research in Rural Schools and Their Communities in British and Nordic countries. Within the network we have discussed how to proceed and develop a joint research project on rural schools and their communities. As part of this process Dr Linda Hargreaves, Faculty of education, University of Cambridge, England came in May this year to Volda University College, Faculty of social science and history, Norway as a visiting scholar within the EU Erasmus program. Prof. R. Kvalsund organised the visit. She gave a guest lecture for teacher students on the significant and research based Cambridge Primary Report on English primary education edited by R. Alexander, a report to which Dr Hargreaves is one of the contributors. She also met doctoral students and colleagues active in research on teachers as professionals, vulnerable youths transitions from school to early adult life and comparative research on rural schools and discussed possibilities of research cooperation. She also had field visits to smaller and larger rural schools and discussed the frame conditions of schooling and learning processes and possibilities for further research in this field.

2.    As part of the same process of following up the research review in order to develop cross national research in this field Rune was invited as keynote speaker at a workshop on Place-based Pedagogies and Learning Landscapes at Telemark University College, Notodden, Norway in September 2010 (shortly after the ECER in Helsinki) together with professor Margaret Sommerville, from Monash University, Australia. The other participants represented different school subjects as well as from the research fields of social or human geography – Dr Inger Birkeland. A main aim was to discuss and judge research cooperation and the possibilities of future symposium within Net 14. Following the same line of reasoning we are working to establish a research project in this field.

3.    Together with the German national contact point for social sciences a German institute of education were organizing an European Educational Conference, entitled “Educating Europe – Educational Sciences go FP7 and beyond”, in Brussels, on June, 30th to July, 1st, 2010. This conference brought together members of the European Commission who are responsible for the calls for proposal within the 7Th EU-Framework Program and European educational researchers. For the last years of the 7th Framework Program the Commission envisages several themes or challenges that are concentrated on educational issues. In the conference three parallel sessions the different topics could be discussed between researchers and members of the European Commission. The Network 14 has experts in this field. One of them - Raquel-Amaya Martinez Gonzales - was asked to chair and report on Session III: Families, behaviour and intolerance - Long term behaviour
- Supporting families and intergenerational solidarity
- Children and intolerance.

4.    Dr Marta Soler, Director of CREA (Centre of Research in Theories and Practices that Overcome Inequalities) and the University of Barcelona, and Co-director of the EU 7th Framework’s INCLUD-ED project, with Professor Ramon Flecha, became a convenor of Net 14 in at Vienna in 2009. One result of this has been that CREA researcher Ms Rocio Garcia Carrion is currently a Visiting Scholar of the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education and Homerton College, writing her doctoral thesis on Interactive (intergenerational) Groups as a successful educational action for social inclusion, and on rural school children’s epistemic beliefs, with Linda Hargreaves and Ruth Kershner.  

5.    Dr. Raquel-Amaya Martínez González, who is an active member of the European Research Network about Parents in Education (ERNAPE) (www.ernape.net), is stimulating connections between this European network and ECER Network 14. The same applies regarding the International Network of Scholars (INET)(US) and the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships (Directed by Joyce Epstein, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, US) (http://www.csos.jhu.edu/p2000/center.htm), which every two years organizes an International Roundtable on School,  Family,  and  Community  Partnerships.