Description

In federal countries like Switzerland, policy-making is not top-down. This also applies to the governance of so-called “digital education”. For both research-informed and research-based policies, it is therefore crucial to consider national or regional contexts, governance structures, institutional settings, historical and cultural patterns. These include different language regions, the decentralised structure of public education, and the role of private associations in coordinating public interests.

This study is intended to inform the translational activities of the DEEP research consortium. Based on an assessment of the state of research on evidence-based policies in the digital education field, the experiences and perspectives of different Swiss stakeholders in translating research on digital learning environments will be studied. In the Swiss education system, responsibility for compulsory public schools lies with the cantons. In many cantons, however, it is the municipality that is responsible for decisions relevant to the introduction of digital learning environments in primary or lower secondary schools. School principals and individual teachers also make many relevant decisions that have an impact here. Practices in individual schools therefore sometimes differ from classroom to classroom. Teacher training is a cantonal responsibility.

A particular opportunity for translational activities is to focus on stakeholders who have received too little attention to date, but who could play a special role in research-informed and research-based policies in the digital education field. These can be derived from existing conceptual frameworks, an assessment of the state of research and a sound contextual knowledge of Swiss structures and governance patterns. Which actors are relevant in Switzerland when it comes to promoting systemic change in the digital education field? What is their understanding of the role of scientific research? Can their expectations be met at all? If not, what are the implications for translational research activities?

Looking back and sideways, there have been repeated attempts to link research and education policy more closely. Paradoxically, however, the debate on evidence-based policies in Switzerland and abroad is still often based more on idealised models than on empirical evidence of how successful translation might be organised. It often seems to thrive on expectations rather than on a solid empirical base that takes specific contexts into account. If the claim of research-informed and research-based policy is to be taken seriously, it must be based on a solid understanding of how research can have a systemic impact in a highly decentralised country like Switzerland.

Contact

Prof. Dr. Michael Geiss:

Head of Centre

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Prof. Dr. Michael Geiss

Head of Centre

+41 43 305 54 73

michael.geiss@phzh.ch