Transforming the Interface between Educational Research, Policy, and Practice in Chile (2000-2020)

There has historically been an expectation that the social sciences would aid in societal improvement and support rational decision-making during Western modernization. In recent decades, a renewed emphasis has emerged in research funding policies aimed at encouraging academic research to drive social change through specific policy instruments guided by an impact agenda.

This shift in science and technology funding policies has given rise to a novel type of science-policy interface. Interfaces can be understood as spaces of interaction and exchange between scientists and participants in the policy process, aimed at enriching decision-making. They can be described as mechanisms that produce specific patterns of relationships, arising from the regular interaction of actors situated in institutional contexts (such as the scientific or political field).

This presentation reflects on a case study of the Chilean educational research system, which has undergone a paradigmatic transformation since the mid-2000s. This change has been driven by the strategic role that Chilean science and technology policies have increasingly assigned to scientific research, technological innovation, and their potential to impact the social system and inform public policies. Over the past 15 years, educational research has experienced significant growth; not only has there been a quantitative increase in the number of publications and researchers, but also an expansion in the range of research problems, frameworks, and methodologies. This has been accompanied by the greater use of scientific knowledge in public policy to address priority issues in Chile’s educational system.

Science and technology funding instruments have sought to foster an interface between educational research (and the evidence it produces) and policy and practice. This interface is characterized by new dynamics of collaboration between scientists and decision-makers, who share policy goals, and where research outcomes are expected to be transferred and used instrumentally to address priority issues on the educational agenda.