International and Comparative Education Research Seminar
Lilla Hörsalen, National History Museum
Hosted by the
International Studies Research Group
Please register your attendance by November 24th (click link)
International and Comparative Education has an extensive tradition in Sweden and the Nordic countries. The field has developed from early research focused on educational achievement, to comprehensive studies comparing systems including empirical investigation of cross-national, -local and institutional dimensions of educational development, planning, reform, delivery, and assessment.
This half-day seminar offers an opportunity for collegial research encounters upon recollecting on the local and regional history within the research field, to the contemporary climate of knowledge exchange and inter-disciplinary re-generation. The program offers both depth and breadth in approaches to comparative and international method, theory, and its application in practice. We invite our near and extended research communities to join us in contributing to the evolving dialogue on furthering the field of International and Comparative Education research from today into the future. The seminar is free of charge.
Keynote Speaker I
Dr. Lennart Wikander, Uppsala University
Former President of NOCIES (Nordic Comparative and International Education Society)
Unity in Diversity: The Swedish perspective on Comparative Education
This presentation will cover the modern history within the area of Comparative Education in Sweden. Different research perspectives within the area and the research field is the starting point. It will also draw on connections to comparative education research in the Nordic countries in relation to the development of the field. There will also be an example of cooperation with research from European countries working within the field and the influence this has had on the development of the field in Sweden.
Lennart Wikander is Senior Lecturer at Department of Education, Uppsala University, Sweden. He has been the head of Pedagogikum/Blåsenhus, the campus and centre for Learning and Educational Sciences at Uppsala University. He also has been the head of Department of Education within this centre.
Educational policies in a comparative perspective have been a major part of his lecturing and research. The major field of his research is in Higher Education and the relation Higher Education and the Labour Market and Management of Higher education, both nationally and internationally. He has been a member of the CESE Executive committee (Comparative Education Society in Europe). He is a previous President of NOCIES (Nordic Comparative and International Education Society).
Keynote Speaker II
Professor Halla B. Holmarsdottir, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.
Vice-dean of Research, Professor in Multicultural and International Education
An overview of the field of Comparative and International Education research: some personal reflections
Within the Nordic countries, the field of Comparative and International Education (CIE) includes research and education at various universities, but not necessarily under the CIE heading. This paper presentation will reflect on the field in general and more specifically the work being done within the Nordic countries. Under the impact of intensified globalization, the study of education inevitably draws us towards comparison. Comparative and International Education as a field of knowledge brings to light different views among researchers on comparability and in turn appropriate units of analysis. Comparability is a matter of debate in comparative and international education. Global forces are dramatically changing the role of the nation state in education, which demands increased attention to be paid to factors operating beyond the national level. Units of analysis that pay attention to the local effects of globalization are also prioritized.
Halla B. Holmarsdottir is a vice-dean of research and professor in Multicultural and International Education at Oslo and Akershus University College. Her career in educational development addresses particularly Africa and Asia. Her research focuses on comparative educational policies and practices, particularly with regards to marginalization and social justice. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the newly launched Nordic Journal of Comparative and International Education (NJCIE) and the Series Editor for New Research: New Voices by Sense Publishers.
Program highlights
13:00 Welcome Address
13.15 Keynote I
14:00 Short paper presentations
15:00 Keynote II
15:45-17 Paper presentations
17:00 Closing Address
Seminar Chair