Knowledge gaps and concerns

classroom videos be effective tools in teacher training? Does the use of video technology and other digital systems generate potential for new forms of collaborative research between researchers and practitioners? Studies indicate that there are significant differences between schools when researchers observe the practices of teachers and interactions in classrooms. There is hence a need for systematic and comparative research efforts to go deeper and broader into these patterns that also consider the changing landscape of Nordic schools, such as the digitalisation of learning processes and a stronger multicultural profile. An overarching theme for the QUINT Centre is the use of video in new forms of collaborative research that enable productive and concrete discussions about improvements in teaching practices. Instrumental for this endeavour is the QUINT partnership of working together with highly reputed international scholars.

• The dynamic development of the school systems in the

Nordic countries offers opportunities for comparative research and quasi-experimental studies related to most policy issues discussed in Introduction 2. • Development of a strategy for education policy renewal should include pilot studies where implementation, effects, and sustainability are evaluated by advanced research methods such as appropriate mixed-methods approaches. If possible, these studies could include participatory approaches and involvement of school professionals at the school level.

• The Nordic countries have a unique infrastructure and competence for doing registry studies. This should be put to further use in educational research and policymaking. By merging different types of registries – in education, health, welfare, and sociodemographic registries – it is possible to address more research and policy issues.

• Although the NordForsk investment in education is an important effort, additional funding is needed for Nordic comparative studies and Nordic research collaboration for generating knowledge related to socioeconomic, gender, and health inequalities and how these interact in generating inequalities in school achievement and school attainment.

• A comparative longitudinal study could be initiated where a small sample of schools at preschool, primary, and secondary levels from the Nordic countries are developed as a ‘policy laboratory’ . This initiative could systematically investigate relevant changes in educational policy and practices.