Practice-near school research in Sweden: tendencies and teachers’ roles

ABSTRACT The Education Act from 2010 states that education in Sweden ought to be based on scientific knowledge and proven experience. The aim of this study is to explore practice-near school research published by Swedish researchers in the wake of the Education Act with the focus on the participation of teachers in research. As a background, the international and national roots of practice-near school research in Sweden are described. The study is focused on research projects in compulsory and upper secondary school, school years 1–12. 92 articles in 19 journals were detected through a literature search and purposive sampling. Based on the articles, a framework of aspects with categories was developed and the reported studies were analysed accordingly. The findings indicate a multifaceted research field; studies based on a variety of theories and methods and with different roles for teachers. The different categories for teacher’s participation in research and how teacher roles were described in the articles did not give a clear picture on what teachers’ roles could imply for the teachers involved. The article concludes with a discussion of the recent policy initiatives of practice-near school research in Sweden.