This open access book addresses the complex interrelations between education policy and education practice developed under new ways of governance. It illuminates the nexuses of the interrelated fields of education policy and education practice including the characteristics of these relationships.   The book offers a selection of cases with varied approaches to the question of how different actors and stakeholders are situated in contemporary policy and practice nexuses. The cases presented  includes theoretical and conceptual studies; historical studies; ethnographic studies; and studies combining empirical interview data and quantitative data.   The book shows what constitutes the contemporary nexuses in education and discusses the need to re-consider how we in education research approach policy and practice in the interface between structure and agency for the future developments in the education policy-practice nexus.

This open access volume explores peer review in the scientific community and academia. While peer review is as old as modern science itself, recent changes in the evaluation culture of higher education systems have increased the use of peer review, and its purposes, forms and functions have become more diversified. This book put together a comprehensive set of conceptual and empirical contributions on various peer review practices with relevance for the scientific community and higher education institutions worldwide. Consisting of three parts, the editors and contributors examine the history, problems and developments of peer review, as well as the specificities of various peer review practices. In doing so, this book gives an overview on and examine peer review , and asks how it can move forward. This is an open access book.

What do we mean when we speak about teacher autonomy? How free are teachers to go about their work? To answer these complex questions the authors asked thousands of teachers in four national contexts: in Finland, Ireland, Germany and Sweden, what they think autonomy looks like. The resulting book examines teacher autonomy theoretically and empirically, comparing teachers' perceptions of their professional autonomy. Utilizing a mixed method approach the authors combine data from a large-scale questionnaire study, teacher interviews, lesson and meeting observations, and workshops that brought together teachers from the four participating countries. All this engagement with teachers revealed that simply increasing their professional autonomy might not lead to desired outcomes. This is because, from a teachers' point of view, increased decision-making capacity brings further complexity and risk to their work, and it may instead lead to anxiety, self-restriction, and the eventual rejection of autonomy. These surprising conclusions challenge the increasingly orthodox view that increased autonomy is a desirable end in itself. This is what the authors call the autonomy paradox.

This open access book addresses the complex interrelations between education policy and education practice developed under new ways of governance. It illuminates the nexuses of the interrelated fields of education policy and education practice including the characteristics of these relationships.   The book offers a selection of cases with varied approaches to the question of how different actors and stakeholders are situated in contemporary policy and practice nexuses. The cases presented  includes theoretical and conceptual studies; historical studies; ethnographic studies; and studies combining empirical interview data and quantitative data.   The book shows what constitutes the contemporary nexuses in education and discusses the need to re-consider how we in education research approach policy and practice in the interface between structure and agency for the future developments in the education policy-practice nexus.

What do we mean when we speak about teacher autonomy? How free are teachers to go about their work? To answer these complex questions the authors asked thousands of teachers in four national contexts: in Finland, Ireland, Germany and Sweden, what they think autonomy looks like. The resulting book examines teacher autonomy theoretically and empirically, comparing teachers' perceptions of their professional autonomy. Utilizing a mixed method approach the authors combine data from a large-scale questionnaire study, teacher interviews, lesson and meeting observations, and workshops that brought together teachers from the four participating countries. All this engagement with teachers revealed that simply increasing their professional autonomy might not lead to desired outcomes. This is because, from a teachers' point of view, increased decision-making capacity brings further complexity and risk to their work, and it may instead lead to anxiety, self-restriction, and the eventual rejection of autonomy. These surprising conclusions challenge the increasingly orthodox view that increased autonomy is a desirable end in itself. This is what the authors call the autonomy paradox.