Positions, Dispositions and Practices in Education Policy in Central and South East Europe - research in progress

Oct 15, 2026

The text presents ongoing research conceptualizing and analyzing education policy decision-making in Central and South East Europe. A Bourdieu-inspired objectification framework guides the study of top education decision makers, focusing on ministers. Researchers conduct structured interviews with former ministers (mostly after 1989 and not recently in office) and plan to cover 5–8 countries. Insights aim to snapshot socio-analyses of policymaking over the last 20 years, including conceptualizations of education policy, rationalities, political and social backgrounds, and how reforms were understood and implemented.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Background and research focus

Research design and participant selection

Interview purpose and invitation aims

Methodology approach

Current progress and planned comparison

Positions, Dispositions and Practices in Education Policy in Central and South East Europe (research in progress) Živa Kos Kecojević*1 and Slavko Gaber2 • In the article, we present the conceptualisation and selected results of ongoing research dealing with the particular area of top decision making in education in Central and South East Europe. Aiming at a Bourdieuian type of objectification of key agents of decision making in education – ministers – a group of researchers from the region is in the process of interviewing former ministers of education. The interviews should serve as a (frequently omitted) part of the material for a structured analysis of education policy in the region in the times of transition, transformation and metamorphoses in education. Keywords: Central and South East Europe Decision making, Dispositions, Education policy, Ministers, Positions 1 *Corresponding author. Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana [ziva.kos-kecojevic@guest.arnes.si](ziva.kos-kecojevic@guest.arnes.si) 2 Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana Položaji, dispozicije in prakse edukacijskih politik vosrednji in jugovzhodni Evropi (raziskava v teku) Živa Kos Kecojević* in Slavko Gaber • V prispevku sopredstavljenikonceptualizacija inizbrani izsledkiraziskave, ki še poteka. Osrednja problematika je specifično področje vrhovnega odločanja na področju izobraževanja v osrednji in jugovzhodni Evropi. Z bourdiejevskim tipom argumentiranja bodo analizirani intervjuji sključnimi akterji, ki sprejemajo odločitve na področju izobraževanja – ministri. Skupina raziskovalcev je v fazi intervjuvanja nekdanjih ministrov za izobraževanje. Intervjuje bodo uporabili kot (pogosto izpuščen) del gradiva za strukturirano analizo edukacijskih politik v regiji med tranzicijo, transformacijo in preobrazbo v izobraževanju. Ključne besede: dispozicije, edukacijske politike, ministri, odločanje, osrednja in jugovzhodna Evropa, položaji One of the main focuses of the CEPS Journal, as well as of the CEPS,3 is to conceptualise education policy in Central and South East Europe (CSEE) . In line with our orientation, and in cooperation with experts4 from the region, we have launched specific and focused research on top decision making in education in the region, and we present here the first insights provided by this work in progress. For the research, we plan to cover 5-8 countries in CSEE with structured interviews with former ministers of education. The interviewees should be ministers from the period after 1989 who have not held office in the last four years. The interviews should, if possible, be carried out by national experts from the field of education policy studies. An invitation letter was drafted in autumn 2011 and sent to identified potential collaborators in the region. In this letter to the experts, we wrote that with the interviews “we aim at: • Snapshots (representative – important ministers, mainly longstanding in office, from different countries, the same region…) of socio-analyses in policymaking and politics in education during last 20 years in the region(s) of Central and South East Europe • Insights into: – The conceptualisation of education policy in last 20 years in the particular nation at the systemic level thorough the eyes of the top policymakers – Such insights should be complementary to expert insights from the same country (...) – Their social and political background – Their professional educational background – Their type(s) of rationality (how they perceive society and education in society, which mechanism they conceptualise and use in policymaking); – how they perceive politics and its role in it…” (cf. Invitation, 2011) For the methodology, we decided to primarily follow the “Bourdieu approach inLa misere du mond. We would like to acquire the personal opinions of the participating ministers and combine their insights and those of experts into 3 Cf. CEPS homepage for research

FAQs

What is the main focus of the ongoing research described in the text?

It focuses on conceptualizing and analyzing education policy decision-making in Central and South East Europe, especially at the level of top decision makers such as ministers.

How are former ministers selected for the interviews?

The interviewees should be ministers from the period after 1989 who have not held office in the last four years.

What countries and interview structure does the project plan to use?

The research plans to cover 5–8 countries in the region using structured interviews, with national experts ideally conducting the interviews.

Oct 15, 2026

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