Projects / Programmes
January 1, 2020
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.01.00 |
Social sciences |
Educational studies |
|
| 6.10.00 |
Humanities |
Philosophy |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S270 |
Social sciences |
Pedagogy and didactics |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.03 |
Social Sciences |
Educational sciences |
| 6.03 |
Humanities |
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion |
pedagogy, learning, cognition, education, evaluation, didactics, society, structure, national identity, educational philosophy, epistemology, ethics, ideology, gender equality, language and communication, argumentation, international large-scale student assessments.
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 28, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
111 |
385 |
338 |
3.05 |
| Scopus |
136 |
599 |
530 |
3.9 |
Researchers (18)
Organisations (1)
| no. |
Code |
Research organisation |
City |
Registration number |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
0553 |
Educational Research Institute |
Ljubljana |
5051614000 |
7,056 |
Abstract
The Educational Research Programme continues the work from the four previous research periods (from 1999 onwards). Because the field of education is becoming more diversified and heterogeneous, its research should take into account different disciplines and conceptual baselines. The programme therefore maintains the heterogeneity of disciplines as the fundamental characteristic of conceptualization and research on education. The programme encompasses the interdisciplinary research on education ranging from fundamental to applied and empirical research. It involves social sciences and humanities, such as "educational theory" (pedagogika), philosophy, sociology, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, political sciences and others with their sub-disciplines (sociology of education, philosophy of education, psychology of learning, etc.) The primary objective of the programme is to develop educational sciences and those fundamental sciences that are part of the programme focusing on education. The second objective, which is essential for achieving the first, is increasingly important in an ever-changing world, that is, continuous and coherent production of new scientific findings about relevant issues (such as globalisation, neoliberalism, justice and meritocracy, pluralism of values, crises of universities, efficiency of education systems, civic and moral education, violence in schools, learning achievements, gender inequality, social and emotional competencies, the discourse structure of learning materials). Because these findings are particularly relevant for the theory and regulation of education and the education practice from nursery to university in a systematic way, the key issues of modern education within the research programme will be the subject of interdisciplinary research and reflection in a cross-section of different theories (e.g. educational, philosophical, political, sociological, anthropological, linguistic, epistemological, psychological and others). The work in the programme, which forms the core of the research at the Educational Research Institute, is critically linked to a number of applied and empirical studies and evaluations that the organisation conducts as part of Slovenian and international projects, specifically in the studies carried out by the IEA and OECD.
Significance for science
Epistemologically supported synthesis has established the pluralism of partial theories as the dominant “model” of the development of social sciences and, consequently, educational sciences. However, none of them pursue the goal to cover the whole, even less to determine it by any monistic principle. This theoretical background, together with the increasingly complex problems of society (which passed from industrial to post-industrial through the information society, and into the phase of “ubiquitous computing”) and with the exponential development of education, especially in the 60’s, has created a fertile ground for the rapid development of educational research. Research on the processes of learning, discovery, and social distribution of knowledge is still one of the fastest growing fields of social science (and humanistic) research. It is divided into several disciplines: cognitive disciplines, linguistics, anthropology, education disciplines, epistemology, and sociology. Due to the rapid diffusion of sciences exploring the role of neurological understanding of the brain and information technologies in the creation of knowledge, the key importance of this research is deepening the awareness of the role that human intellect, institutions, culture, and society play in the creation of knowledge. In the future development of science, interdisciplinary research on the human intellect and social transmission of knowledge will have a special position, as the need for a critical reflection of information systems will increase.
That is why we believe that the scientific contribution of the Education Research Programme lies primarily in its interdisciplinarity, which transcends several theoretical fields and is inspired by scientific flows and approaches that allow for different interpretations and delineations within the research of relevant issues, thus developing the appropriate methodology.
In the light of the autonomous development of individual disciplines, the research programme influences the development of relevant fields of science or professions. Firstly, by helping to design a conceptual apparatus that adequately reflects educational problems through innovative combinations of the theoretical and empirical approaches. Secondly, by helping to implement the results into practice, either as a scientific dissemination or as a guide to changing educational programs. The scientific influence is evident in the development and upgrading of the current research topics, which are studied in a continuous format and set in this fashion only within the Educational Research Programme in Slovenia, such as moral education and didactics of ethics, civic education, international large-scale student assessments; rhetoric, argumentation, gender in education, innovative models for promoting integrated development. As such, they represent a key contribution to filling the research gap in these areas in Slovenia. The programme thus makes a significant contribution to the development of Slovenian scientific terminology.
Our programme contributes to the expansion of (Slovenian) scientific excellence by publishing influential contributions in highly indexed publications and with internationally renowned publishing houses, and by actively participating in established and new international scientific links (such as international research projects, invited lectures, visiting research and international scientific associations), and regularly attending relevant international scientific conferences. In addition, we will critically analyse the social conditions for scientific work (the manner and scope of financing) and the evaluation of the research work (assessment criteria, etc.), as they significantly influence the research and dissemination of scientific knowledge in the international and domestic sphere.
Significance for the country
The results of interdisciplinary research in the Educational Research Programme are expected to have the greatest influence on the development of the Slovenian education system and, indirectly through its transformation, on certain other social subsystems and on the wider social development. In particular, the results contribute to critical reflection and, in part, to the realisation of two objectives: firstly, that Member States should become knowledge-based societies, a goal that is adopted but by no means implemented in the EU; and secondly, a faster increase in social equity and prosperity. Equality of opportunity in education is of crucial importance for the equality of opportunity in society, and the equality of opportunity in society is, in turn, of crucial importance for social justice. We believe that the research in this programme can contribute to it (“can” because the implementation of research results is always a matter of political decisions). For example, analysis of data from international large-scale student assessments – which shows that academic performance of children in some regions is significantly lower than in others – can serve school policies to introduce measures that will increase the equity in the Slovenian education system and, hence, the society as a whole. The policy of positive discrimination or affirmative action certainly falls into such measures, and has already been (within the framework of the theories of justice) and remains the subject of study in this programme. Research in this programme gives convincing arguments to school policy to renounce blind imitation of foreign school systems, i.e. to refuse damaging advice to improve the effectiveness of the Slovenian school system (e.g. advice from OECD experts to abolish branch schools, increase the funding for higher education at the expense of primary school education and others).
The future development of the Slovenian state and society will largely depend on the efficiency and justice of its education system, which can represent the part of the social, economic and cultural development that helps preserve tradition and cultural values while providing an adequate level of integrity of the society in order to achieve its own goals. To this end, the role of the programme has always been closely related to ensuring solid theoretical and empirical grounds for expert and public political decisions pertaining to education. The programme implements them primarily through independent (i.e. independent from respective governing structures) and diverse (a) synthetic analytical interpretations of a large data set from international research on knowledge and evaluation studies, and (b) theoretically and empirically grounded analyses of the consequences of globalisation and mindless acceptance of neoliberal aspects of education (also by pointing to the undervalued formative function of knowledge and the importance of justice in education). Such in depth secondary data analyses that go hand in hand with thorough knowledge of the national education system help raise awareness among public political decision-makers about the impact of uncritical acceptance of international (neoliberal) views in shaping national educational policies. In addition, this also opens up a wide-ranging discussion with the relevant stakeholders about the future development of the national education system and preserving national sovereignty and identity. All the findings and results of studying civic education, philosophy for children, rhetoric, argumentation and gender roles within the platform for developing non-discriminatory education parameters are crucial in exercising human rights and overcoming cultural stereotypes and discriminatory practices.
Citizens are constantly required to adapt to the changing conditions in the economy, which is why the programme aims at raising awareness on the importance of school as a constantly (co)learning community. Innovative knowledge, te
