Education is a complex human endeavour and it is viewed as a cornerstone for developing creative and innovative individuals and for advancing democratic societies. Integrated Education Studies, a research group affiliated with the pedagogy section in the NTNU’s Department of Teacher Education, provides a venue for internally cross-sectional and externally national and international research and collaboration. It strives for a more holistic and comparative view of education phenomena for a more complex and multifaceted understanding that is relevant for the 21st century and contributes to further development of schooling and societies.

The work of the research group primarily focuses on Continental and Nordic Didaktik and Anglo-American curriculum theories and how they apply to teacher education, curriculum studies, and other contemporary issues and domains in education. Education phenomena and topics are framed from various innovative theoretical perspectives and addressed through varied qualitative and quantitative methodologies and systematic reviews.

The research group is well-connected nationally and internationally with collaborative research efforts underway in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, the UK, and the US, and it is open for collaboration with researchers, Master students and PhD candidates in Norway and abroad.

Ongoing Projects and Activities

Systematic Review of Research on Bildung in Education

Since 2021, InEdS research group members are undertaking a comprehensive systematic review of research on Bildung in education. The purpose of this project on Bildung (danning in Norwegian) is to identify and discuss conceptual understanding of Bildung and its relevance and implications for education theory, policy and practice in the Nordic context and internationally, relying on research on Bildung published in peer-reviewed journals in English covering a timespan of 30 years (1990-2020).

Systematic Review of Research on Competence in Education

InEdS is undertaking a systematic review of research on competence in education in collaboration with researchers at Linnaeus University in Sweden. The review covers a timespan of 25 years (1997-2022) focusing on the concept of competence in curriculum policy and curriculum implementation as addressed in educational research published in English related to K-12 education levels. Competence has been introduced as a guiding concept in curriculum policy in the European/Nordic contexts as well as globally since late 1990s and the project aims to take stock of how the discourse around this concept has evolved in curriculum policy and implementation over time.

PhD Projects

Elisabeth Rønningen: Exploring homework position in compulsory schooling: research, policy, and practice

The focus of this PhD project is to explore homework’s position in compulsory schooling in a Norwegian context and internationally. The project will contribute to the knowledge base on homework policy and practice through research on homework through literature review, practice-oriented document analysis of historic and contemporary curriculum and educational policies, and homework as a school practice through field research. Critical policy perspectives and curriculum and didaktik traditions frame the study theoretically. Elisabeth is an active member of the InEdS research group at ILU, NTNU. In addition, she will be a visiting scholar at the School of Education and the research center REDI at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, over 2025. Here, she will contribute with and advance her networking and scholarship on conducting education policy analysis and research.

Recent - Selected Publications and Conference Presentations

Rønningen, E., Engen, D., Honerød Hoveid, M., Hoveid, H., Veelo, N. & Tahirsylaj, A.: Bildung and Curriculum – An Educational Research Perspective
ECER 2023, Glasgow.

Tahirsylaj, A. (2023). Bildung and Twenty-First Century Competences: In Need of Mutual Recognition? In M. Uljens (Ed.). Non-affirmative Theory of Education and Bildung (pp. 319-337). Educational Governance Research, vol 20. Springer.

Veelo, N., Engen, D. A. A., Rønningen, E., Tahirsylaj, A., Jensen, M. R. & Solhaug, S.: Mapping Educational Research on Bildung - a Systematic Review. NERA Conference 2023; Oslo.

Tahirsylaj, A., Rønningen, E., Hoveid, M. Honerød; Engen, D. A. A., Hoveid, H., Veelo, N., Corral-Granados, A., Jensen, M. R. & Solhaug, S.:
Educational research on Bildung - Bildung in and Curriculum. 9th Nordic Curriculum Theory Conference; 2022-10-20; Växjö.

Werler, T.C., & Tahirsylaj, A. (2022). Differences in teacher education programmes and their outcomes across Didaktik and curriculum traditions. European Journal of Teacher Education, 45(2), 154-172

Hoveid, M. H. (2021). Sensing Feeling Alive: Attentiveness to Movements in/with Embodied Teaching. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 40(3), 303-315.

Tahirsylaj, A. & Werler, T. C. (2021). In Search of Dimensions of Bildung: A Quantitative Approach. Nordic Studies in Education, 41(1), 1–23.

Tahirsylaj, A., & Sundberg, D. (2020). The unfinished business of defining competences for 21st century curricula—a systematic research review. Curriculum Perspectives, 40(2), 131-145.

Hoveid, H. & Hoveid, M. H. (2019). Making Education Educational. A Reflexive Approach to Teaching. Springer Nature.