Clearing houses and brokerage units

different problems, and to understand the role and opportunities of the educational sector to contribute to change. Here many different types of research are required, both broad and deep studies, longitudinal case and cohort studies, experimental and quasiexperimental studies, several different theoretical and subject-based perspectives, critical approaches as well as syntheses and metaanalyses, research reviews and interdisciplinary studies’ (p. 8). In their proposal to the Swedish government,23 the Committee for Educational Sciences in the VR also suggested that additional resources are needed for strategic initiatives within the following research themes: Development of democracy in Sweden and the world; Increasing variations in school performance; Teachers’ working situation and future recruitment; and Learning in a digitised world: handling everyday life and competences for the future.

One challenge is to close the gap in the knowledge available and the application of knowledge within the school system. A recent initiative in Sweden is of interest in this context. Organisations with similar missions exist in all Nordic countries.

The Swedish Institute for Educational Research (Skolforskningsinstitut; SKOLFORSK) was established in January 2015 with the task to compile practice-oriented school research. The institute is responsible for systematically assessing and disseminating research findings that can contribute to increased knowledge about scientifically well-founded and effective methods and procedures in the school system.24 The specific tasks recommended for this institute include to:

• ‘ensure the quality of the systematic research reviews and of the research initiated,

• monitor the authenticity of translations, original interpretations, and findings,

• develop new forms of systematic knowledge analyses –forms that better meet the needs of Swedish teachers and

24 Forskning och skola i samverkan – kartläggningar av forskningsresultat med relevans för praktiskt arbete i skolväsendet (2015) [Research and schools in collaboration – surveys of research results of relevance for practical work in schools]. Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet. https://www.vr.se/download/18.2412c5311624176023d25ad2/1555424743747/Forskning-och-skola-isamverkan_VR_2015.pdf

principals for relevant, reliable, and practically sustainable knowledge,

• involve teachers in the review processes to ensure the practical relevance of the results and involve researchers to ensure scientific relevance and quality,

• ensure that the research presented is of a non-normative nature, which means that it is conducive to open and critical dialogue and is geared toward strengthening the professional development of teachers,

• build up long-term structures in order to provide quality assurance for the use of the research with networks concerning specific issues as a way to develop skills surrounding qualified interpretations of research findings,

• establish relations and an infrastructure for interaction between different entities,

• call attention to the wealth of studies conducted by or in cooperation with teachers on various academic levels and within various parts of the school organisation, on the national, regional, and local level,

• examine forms for how teachers who conduct studies on the doctoral level can be given incentives to further disseminate their knowledge,

• develop different methods of systematising the research of teachers and making the added knowledge this type of research generates available, and

• collaborate with other entities on the national, regional, and local level to disseminate compilations of knowledge and with entities in the research system with respect to research issues.’25

In a background document to SKOLFORSK26 , four different models and strategies for using research in the school setting were identified in the literature: (i) Dissemination of research results (information);

25 Forskning och skola i samverkan – kartläggningar av forskningsresultat med relevans för praktiskt arbete i skolväsendet (2015) [Research and schools in collaboration – a survey of research results of relevance for practical work in schools]. Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet, p. 6. 26 Sundberg, D., Adolfsson, C-H. (2015). Att forskningsbasera skolan – En analys av utbildningspolitiska frågeställningar och initiativ över en 20 års period. Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet. https://www.vr.se/analys/rapporter/vara-rapporter/2015-07-03-att-forskningsbasera-skolan.delrapport.html

(ii) Development of research-related competence (education); (iii) Use and link practical questions to research results (brokerage); and (iv) Development of core competences through research (interactive research). During the last 20 years, there have been many efforts to bridge the gap between research and school practice. The development has been towards more directly linking the practice and practitioners’ access and involvement in research. However, an important task is to initiate school- or practice-based research where such knowledge is missing. In order to achieve evidence-based practice we need practice-based evidence.27

There are several organisations like SKOLFORSK that work as brokering organisations.28 These are based within the health, social work, and medical sectors, and include the following:

The Norwegian Research Centre for Health Services (Kunnskapssenter for helsetjenesten)29 was established in 2003 as an independent agency under the Ministry of Health and Care Services but has since 2016 been a department within the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

The Knowledge Centre for Education (Kunnskapssenter for utdanning)30 was established in 2019 at the University of Stavanger in Norway, with the main aim to improve the quality in the educational sector from preschool to higher education. In 2013–2019, the centre was a unit of The Research Council of Norway.

The Danish Center for Social Science Research (VIVE) is an independent research and analysis centre that carries out work on all the major welfare areas.31 It has a vision: (1) that production and dissemination of knowledge is up-to-date and relevant for the benefit of the development of the Danish welfare state; (2) to be the preferred and indispensable supplier of knowledge who can qualify and support decision processes for public decision-makers, private stakeholders, and the general public; and (3) to be Denmark’s strongest environment for applied research and analysis in the area

27 Green, L. W., Glasgow, R. E., Atkins, D., & Stange, K. (2009). Making evidence from research more relevant, useful, and actionable in policy, program planning, and practice. American Journal of

Preventive Medicine, 37(6), S 187–190. 28 Levinsson, M. (2015). Kartläggning och sammanställning av forskning i Norden. Delrapport från skolforsk-projektet. [Mapping and compilation of research in the Nordic countries]. Stockholm:

Vetenskapsrådet. https://www.vr.se/download/18.2412c5311624176023d25b2e/1555424797953/Kartlaeggning-osammanstaellning-av-forskning-i-Norden_VR_2015.pdf 29 https://www.oslo2013.no/nasjonalt-kunnskapssenter-for-helsetjenesten/ 30 https://utdanningsforskning.no/kilderpersoner/forskningsressurser/kunnskapssenter-for-utdanning/ 31 https://www.vive.dk/en/