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Editors' note
Participants' reports and their use for research
106 What can you know from the people who go? Using Erasmus+ participant reports in research Charis Hughes
120 What do the participant reports in the Erasmus+ programme tell us about the benefits of VET mobility? Siru Korkala
128 Results of the evaluation of the improvement on the quality of education by supporting professional development of staff of school and adult education Gamze Ceylan Topaç
138 Picture This! Communicating Impact through the UK Erasmus+ Logic Model Steven Murray, Jennifer Millman, Rebecca Marrow
152 Effective dissemination of research results. Group work session outcomes and recommendations Magdalena Górowska-Fells, Beata Płatos, Anna Maria Volpe
158 Seminar programme
Paweł Poszytek PhD, General Director of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System
The research and analysis that have become part of the actions carried out by the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FDES) in recent years have two central aims: they are a practical contribution to the realisation of evidence-based policymaking recommended by the European Commission, and they nourish the promotion of the Erasmus+ programme at both national and international levels.
In 2018, within the framework of its research and analytical activity, the FDES continued to carry out a number of national surveys related to the assessment of the impact of the programme on individual participants and institutions, participated in international research networks, and developed its cooperation with experts. Analyses and research results were made available on the Foundation's website. In order to share experience in research and analysis in Erasmus+, we organised an international research and methodology seminar for a second time, which gathered together researchers, representatives of National Agencies and other institutions involved in education, and was a good opportunity for informed discussion and networking.
The present publication reports on the results of the joint work of the speakers and participants of the seminar. I thank every author who contributed to its creation, and I hope you will find it a source of both interesting insight into the role of education research as well as practical tips related to the processes of the implementation of research and the dissemination of its results.
Paweł Poszytek General Director Foundation for the Development of the Education System
Theory is when you know everything but nothing works. Practice is when everything works but no one knows why. In our lab, theory and practice are combined: nothing works and no one knows why.
The above-mentioned quote is quite popular in circles involved in research. It was exactly the same quote that Prof. Jarosław Górniak, from Jagiellonian University, Kraków, used in his opening keynote speech in the seminar on research for and the methodology of evidence-based policy in Erasmus+. This book is a collection of original work based on research and best practices focusing on the issue of research and methodology in Erasmus+. All this effort aims to overcome the obstacle of the quote; we need to know what we are doing in Erasmus+, and we have to make sure it works.
Evidence-based policy making is indeed a major buzz word in European youth and education fields. In fact, the Council of the European Union adopted a Resolution on the new EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 and held a debate on its implementation in November 2018. The EU Youth Strategy is expected to develop a cross-sectoral approach by addressing the needs of young people in other EU policy areas. In the officially adopted EU Youth Strategy document, evidence-based youth policy making and knowledge building is presented as a central instrument. In the EU Youth Strategy document, it is stated that:
The following measures will be used to achieve the objectives of the EU Youth Strategy where appropriate on a local, regional, national, European and global level:
Evidence-based youth policy-making and knowledge building: EU Youth Policy should be evidence-based and anchored in the real needs and situations of young people. That requires continuous research, knowledge development and outreach to young people and youth organisations. The collection of disaggregated data on young people is of particular importance to foster understanding of the needs of different groups of young people, particularly those with fewer opportunities. Evidence based policy-making should be carried out with the support of the Youth Wiki, youth research networks, [and] cooperation with international organisations such as the Council of Europe, the OECD and other bodies, including youth organisations.
agnieszka Rybińska is the Research and Analysis Department Director of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System. She is experienced in the coordination and monitoring of state aid programmes. Her research mostly addresses the evaluation of public interventions, including EU funds earmarked for SMEs and education sectors. Recently she has been engaged in the evaluation of various aspects of education policy, including the assessment of education sector performance and the transition from school to work.
Özgehan Şenyuva is an Associate Professor in the International Relations Department at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, where he works on youth, public opinion, Turkish-European relations and the politics of European football. He has extensive experience in international research projects. He has worked for more than two decades as a youth worker/trainer. He is a steering group member of European Platform on Learning Mobility and member of the Pool of European Youth Researchers of the European Commission and the Council of Europe. He is the author of numerous research publications and articles.
The central role given to evidence-based youth policy making, and the call for such a practice at local, regional and national levels, as well as at the European and global levels, indicates that people from both practice and research circles are expected to invest in evidence production.
Although the emphasis is on evidence-based policy making, we would like to underline the importance of evidence in practice as well. As Ranjit Kumar (2014: 25) states, evidence-based practice is crucial to improving the overall quality of what is being done and delivered:1
Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the delivery of services based upon research evidence about their effectiveness; the service provider's clinical judgement as to the suitability and appropriateness of the service for a client; and the client’s own preference as to the acceptance of the service. Research is one of the ways of collecting accurate, sound and reliable information about the effectiveness of your interventions, thereby providing you with evidence of its effectiveness. As service providers and professionals, we use techniques and procedures developed by research methodologists to consolidate, improve, develop, refine and advance clinical aspects of our practice to serve our clients better.
To strengthen the cooperations of research-policy and research-practice is therefore an uttermost issue, and it is the main motivation for why we have been working as a team to contribute to this cooperation by providing a common ground for people engaged in research in Erasmus+.
In 2018, for the second time, external researchers and representatives of Erasmus+ National Agencies (NAs) gathered in Warsaw to exchange their experiences on the implementation of research activities in Erasmus+ during the annual seminar on research and methodology.
Following the evaluation of the first seminar, bearing in mind the expected usefulness of the event for its participants, the Polish National Agency developed a programme that addressed the issues that had been raised most frequently in evaluation sheets. This time, we had an opportunity to get acquainted with the research activities of other NAs, as well as the methodologies and techniques applied. The role of participants' reports was raised, together with their use for the benefit of research activity. A special session was dedicated to the dissemination and exploitation of research results, which was opened by the representative of the OECD with a speech on OECD perspectives on making use of research results in policy, followed by a workshop aimed at developing a list of recommendations for the dissemination of research results.
1 Kumar, R. (2014), Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners (4th ed.), London: SAGE Publications
Ltd.
In addition, the seminar's participants have also contributed to the present book, which we are proud to present to a wider audience. Let it be an inspiration for those who deal with research on Erasmus+ across Europe and beyond. It is a book that is beyond a collection of seminar presentations. The authors have put genuine effort to make their work useful for a wider audience: practitioners, policy makers and researchers alike.
We would like to thank the seminar participants for their contribution to the event – for their presentations, discussions and professional networking in particular.
We also express our gratitude to the authors of the articles for their personal engagement, timely contributions and professionalism.
Agnieszka Rybińska Research and Analysis Department Director Foundation for the Development of the Education System Polish National Agency of the Erasmus+ Programme
Özgehan Şenyuva, PhD Pool of European Youth Researchers Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
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