The conversation between myself and Professor Lederman took place in Malmö, Sweden on August 25, 2007. The purpose of the conversation was to elaborate on the past, present and future of nature of science research and also to provide insights for beginning researchers. In this text I am providing the questions about which we talked and my…

Teacher education should be based on theoretical knowledge about practice, of which there are at least three kinds: self-reflection, dialog, and scientific research. Theory can be integrated into practice if practitioners recognize themselves in theoretical knowledge and if the theoretical knowledge is practiced. (SK)

Higher education policies must be based on considerations of the conditions of knowledge in society: knowledge as distinct from science, traditions, knowledge and power, and schools as institutions of knowledge. Science represents only some of the traditions forming Western culture, as has been learned from Sweden's experience with higher…

Ways to further the development of higher education and research as a field of study are addressed, with a focus on the role and importance of various disciplinary perspectives. It is argued that, in simplified terms, the field of higher education and research is dominated by two major traditions: "science studies" and "higher…

This essay examines the importance of university organization to its creative capacity, in particular how the research policies and organizational structure affect the creative capability of scientists. The argument opens by exploring possible measures of institutional success and creativity. There follows a discussion of creativity and insight in…

Issues pertaining to knowledge traditions that are important to the reform of higher education in Sweden are considered. While nonacademic parts of higher education (e.g., vocational/technical, nursing) account for more than half of its admissions, it is suggested that thinking regarding higher education in recent years has used the ideals of the…

The contributions of various disciplines to the field of higher education and research studies are discussed in 10 seminar papers, which also review Burton R. Clark's work, "The Higher Education System: Academic Organization in Cross-National Perspective." Titles and authors are as follows: "Internal and External Regulatives in…