Educational methods as commodities within European Education: A Norwegian-Danish case

Abstract

A number of studies in the past few decades address how the governing of educational systems are changing as a result of intensified measurement and use of statistics. This article suggests that another consequence may be the construction of solutions, tools, and methods which target the problems constructed through comparable indicators and benchmarks. An increased proliferation and accessibility of models, methods, and outcomes has inspired both governments and practitioners to look beyond their national borders for solutions to specific problems or challenges. As a consequence, ideas, methods, and approaches increasingly resemble commodities in the global marketplace. The article investigates the diffusion of a method for school development, namely the model for learning environment and pedagogical analysis (the LP-model). The model was developed in Norway in 2005 and later spread to a number of schools and municipalities across the country, and subsequently to Denmark. We analyse the cross-national borrowing process by applying the framework of policy borrowing. The framework serves as a heuristic in our analysis of information from the LP-model's websites, evaluation reports and booklets. The analysis shows that similar descriptions of problems and high policy expectations for addressing the problems constitute central preconditions for the borrowing process. We also find that claims that the model works play an important part in marketing the model. Moreover, the model was warranted by high-profile researchers in Norway and Denmark constituting powerful personal and professional networks.