The steering of educational policy research in neoliberal times: The case of Argentina

JORGE GOROSTIAGA; MÓNICA PINI; ANA DONINI; MARK GINSBURG

Education Research and Policy: Steering the Knowledge-Based Economy. World Yearbook of Education 2006

RoutledgeFalmer

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2006; p. 119 - 134

This chapter analyzes the changes that educational policy research has experienced during the last decade in Argentina. A central tenet of the argument is that research institutions and researchers are increasingly influenced in their work by global research agendas and standards, which are often revealed in state policies and programs as well as in the preferences and conditions set by major funding institutions (e.g., international foundations, multilateral agencies). Educational policy research in Argentina seems to be steered by a complex combination of forces that respond to globalization trends, and that appear to be part of the neoliberal restructuring of the state and society. These forces, or influences, include: adapting the educational system to the global economy; promoting the evaluation of academic institutions and scholars based on Anglo-American standards; increasing participation of local researchers and research institutions in global policy and research networks; and increasing influence of international agencies in the selection of research topics and methodologies. One of the main effects of these forces seems to be the adoption of a problem-solving approach to educational research that is expected to result in effective policy making.