The weakening publicness and democracy of public education and growing intervention of non-state actors in education governance: the case of Denmark, France, and Portugal

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24452/sjer.47.2.7

Keywords:

publicness in education; public education; non-state actors; international large-scale assessments; accountability

Abstract

This article discusses how the increasing interventions of non-state actors in education governance are shaping democratic decision-making in public schools. We focus on the effects of these interventions in public schools in Denmark, France, and Portugal regarding the interconnected dimensions typically advocated by non-state actors: the use of international large-scale assessments, accountability, datafication and digitalization of education. Despite the different cultural traditions and historical trajectories in these three countries, the paper shows that the intervention of non-state actors is being reinforced and tends paradoxically to weaken publicness in schools.

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Author Biographies

  • Sofia Viseu, Universidade de Lisboa

    Sofia Viseu is Assistant Professor at the Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa. Her current research interests include education governance, policy networks, network ethnography, and new non-state actors in education. She is a co-convenor of Network 23 Policy Studies and Politics of Education at the European Educational Research Association.

    Research areas: education governance, policy networks, non-state actors in education.

    UIDEF, Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, P-1649-013 Lisboa

    E-mail: sviseu@ie.ulisboa.pt

  • Luís Miguel Carvalho, Universidade de Lisboa

    Luís Miguel Carvalho is Full Professor at the Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa. His recent research focuses on international comparative assessments and educational governance, and transnational circulation of education reforms. He is currently the head of IE-ULisboa, and coordinates the R&D Centre on Education and Training (UIDEF).

    Research areas: international comparative assessments, educational governance, transnational circulation of education models and reforms.

    UIDEF, Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, P-1649-013 Lisboa

    E-mail: lmcarvalho@ie.ulisboa.pt

  • John Benedicto Krejsler, Aarhus University

    John Benedicto Krejsler is Associate Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark. His research on (pre)school and teacher education in transnational perspective combines education policy, conditions for producing ‘truths’, and social technologies. He was President of the Nordic Educational Research Association; council member of EERA; Visiting Professor at Kristianstad University, Sweden, UCLA, USA and University of Strathclyde, UK. Current research focus: Building crisis in a multipolar world.

    Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Tuborgvej 164, DK-2400 Copenhagen

    E-mail: jok@edu.au.dk

  • Romuald Normand, Université de Strasbourg

    Romuald Normand is Professor of Sociology at the University of Strasbourg, France and Associate Visiting Professor at Beijing Normal University and Aarhus University Copenhagen. He works on comparative education policies and politics. Romuald Normand is convenor of the network 28 “Sociologies of European Education” at the European Educational Research Association.

    Research areas: education policy and management.

    Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Strasbourg, 22 rue René Descartes, F-67084 Strasbourg CEDEX

    E-mail: rnormand@unistra.fr

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Published

2025-10-06

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 2 (2025): Non-state actors in state schools

Section

Thematic contribution

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Sofia Viseu, Luís Miguel Carvalho, John Benedicto Krejsler, Romuald Normand

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Viseu, S. (2025) “The weakening publicness and democracy of public education and growing intervention of non-state actors in education governance: the case of Denmark, France, and Portugal”, Swiss Journal of Educational Research, 47(2), pp. 164–174. doi:10.24452/sjer.47.2.7.