Formulating an education research agenda in the context of compounded crises: the role of knowledge production to inform policies in Lebanon

• In Event: Towards a Coherent, Rigorous and Comprehensive Body of Education Research Evidence for Uptake in Conflict and Crisis Settings

Proposal

With the call for increased – and more comprehensive and solid – evidence needed to change education policies and practice, there is also a need to discuss what ‘evidence’ means and what kind of ‘evidence’ is needed to contribute to change. In this paper we address the question of knowledge production for change in the education sector in Lebanon. The paper is based in long-term research in education in crisis-ridden Lebanon, and a ‘country scan’ conducted to establish existing knowledge and practices as well as relevant actors’ priorities and need for new knowledge.

At the beginning of the Syrian war, Syrian refugees arrived to a country whose financial situation was already on a downward spiral and an education system on its knees (Brun et al 2021, Shuayb et al. 2016). The Centre for Lebanese Studies have followed the development in education for Syrian refugees since the beginning of the Syrian crisis and the general education system in Lebanon. The work with the ERICC-project, Education Research in Conflict and Crises, will contribute to continue and consolidate some of this work.

In this paper, we explore the role of knowledge production in policy development. In particular, we discuss: How should we define knowledge in the context of call for improved evidence in the education sector; How do different actors we work with – children, parents, teachers, school leaders, activists, policy makers and donors –utilise academic knowledge produced to advocate for change in the education sector; How do we as a Research Centre navigate the interests of those stakeholders?; What do these insights mean for a research agenda intended to lead to knowledge that can help to improve education in Lebanon?

After a brief introduction which sets out the aim of the paper and its methodology, the paper introduces the education sector in Lebanon. The second section of the paper discusses, based in a literature review, notions of knowledge and evidence with the aim to produce an understanding of what is meant by knowledge and evidence, and particularly how to translate academic knowledge to actionable knowledge that can be used by different stakeholders. The third section, based on empirical research and our long term engagement with the education sector in Lebanon, introduce how different stakeholders in education currently use knowledge in their attempts to change education and show how the CLS has navigated research agendas and interests of donors, local policy actors, teachers and school leaders among others. The fourth section then reports from a country scan including mapping of existing knowledge, actors, needs and participatory process of formulating priorities for new research. In conclusion, we present key questions towards a research agenda that can produce knowledge that can be used for improving education in Lebanon.

Authors

• Cathrine Brun, Centre for Lebanese Studies

• Maha shuayb, Centre for Lebanese Studies

• Rachel Saliba, Centre for Lebanese Studies, LAU