European Networking in Education. Report on Roundtable 2, Held at ECER 2001, Lille, 7 September 2001

This article seeks to reveal patterns of the discursive and interpretative culture of the European Educational Research Association (EERA) in an attempt to contribute directly to the discussion about the social and cultural integrity of the association. It looks beyond the network and community approaches of transnational research associations and suggests instead that the communicative aspects of the organisation should be considered. Within this framework the article aims to address the questions to what extent can EERA be considered as an intellectual home, and what motivates researchers to be engaged with EERA activities? In 2013 four group interviews and 26 semi-structured interviews were carried out in an effort to delineate what lends stability and intimacy to a broad European umbrella organisation. Respondents were asked to share their experiences with EERA and their reflection on their contribution to it. The data reveal that there is a delicate balance between activity and representation within the association and that there is a constant reflection on, as well as a desire towards, inclusiveness in terms of both ideas and colleagues. The data show that researchers enter EERA seeking their research identity and slowly realise that the only way to establish their belonging to the association is their constant contribution. It is possible to discern that a dynamic element -constant contribution in communication -gives EERA its integrity and intimacy.

Section: Engaging People and Ideas: A Summarymentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Engaging People and Ideas’: Memories, Meaning Making and the European Educational Research Association

Pataki

2014

“…Regarding mode II knowledge, the definition of rigour would be related to societal expectations and political needs. Rigour would become the product of ‘roundtables’ of many, many diverse participants (Keiner, 2002b; Sirota et al, 2002). Inter-, even trans-disciplinary and reflexive knowledge would significantly gain in importance, at the cost of discipline- and subject-oriented ‘container knowledge’.…”

Section: Different Research Cultures and Different Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Rigour’, ‘discipline’ and the ‘systematic’: The cultural construction of educational research identities?

Keiner

2019

Self Cite

In the present scientific era which prefers evidence-based educational research and methodological gold standards, ‘rigour’, ‘discipline’ and the ‘systematic’ serve as standardising and homogenising concepts and as powerful identifiers of ‘normal science’ in the context of historical and cultural contingencies. These concepts serve to construct disciplinary identities and, furthermore, have the power to define what counts as rigour, discipline and the systematic – and what not. The article starts with the problems of terminology and shows that rigour, discipline and the systematic are rather vague and ambivalent concepts, especially when considering their meaning in different languages and cultures. The second part uses different foci of several theoretical approaches in order to show the meaning and functions of rigour, discipline and the systematic for constructing educational research identities and to explain different notions of these concepts in different research cultures. The final part considers the future and argues for the strengthening of a transversal, (meta-)reflexive and communicative dimension which both opens and limits the forms and formats of educational research employing diversity and intercultural communication as a valuable and powerful resource of sound scholarly research, mutual understanding and intellectual delight.

“…Several studies devoted considerable effort to exploring the development and the role of these associations in the fast changing European Educational Research Space (Hannerz, 1996;Sirota et al, 2002). The analysis of European associations with regard to their communicative culture and integrity indicated that there is a delicate balance between evolving organizational standards and entrenched cultural codes and norms.…”

Section: Novel Forms Of Research Governance and European Associationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, as evidence shows, these associations have evolved in a somewhat different direction and the loosely connected professional relationships achieved a higher stage of maturity with communities of associations, professionally manageable relationships and an infrastructure of supporting flows of contextual variety (Lawn, 2007: 23; Pataki, 2014). Several studies devoted considerable effort to exploring the development and the role of these associations in the fast changing European Educational Research Space (Hannerz, 1996; Keiner, 2002; Sirota et al, 2002). The analysis of European associations with regard to their communicative culture and integrity indicated that there is a delicate balance between evolving organizational standards and entrenched cultural codes and norms.…”

Section: What Is the Nature Of Governance In Terms Of Educational Research?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel forms of research governance and their possible impact on the future of educational research

Pataki

2015

This article sets out to contribute to the current debate on the transformation of educational research with regard to global transitions and challenges. Nation-centred hierarchical organizations in Europe have increasingly failed to address emergent processes. And in contrast novel forms of governance have gained prevalence in controlling uncertainty and contingency in the transforming European Educational Research Space. The paper addresses one particular dimension of current educational research -that of the mechanisms by which transnational research operates within the European Educational Research space. Within this framework special attention is given to the issue of the governance, as a specific process shaping research cultures in the past, present and future, and to the role of European research associations as a system of evolving networks of 'knowledge spaces'. The article problematizes assumptions about the potential of European research associations to construct vocabularies, perspectives and applications in an attempt to open up dialogues, discipline narrativity and create a new sovereign actor. The paper concludes with proposals for possible future visions based on the outcomes of the analysis of the nature of the current educational research governance.