For politics proper this is deeply troublesome and points to a kind of‘scien-
tification’of politics, meaning that political problems are transformed into scientific
problems, that is, into seemingly neutral problems. This can work in two‘direc-
tions’, that is, when the research conducted within such an understanding goes
along with the politics of the day, it confirms and neutralizes through truth claims,
what is political ideology (Bengtsson 2010 ). Second, if research does not confirm
the politics of the day, then it is pointed out as biased (Säfström 2010 ).
For example, since thefirst White Paper in Norway 30 years ago,Datateknologi
i skolen(St.meld. nr. 39, 1983–84) [Computer technology in school (White Paper
no. 39, 1983–1984)], nearly 20 national policy documents for the use of ICT in
education have been published. As a consequence of policy guidelines, there have
been a shift towards more use of digital learning materials. The Norwegian gov-
ernment has pumped billions of kroner into hardware and software, with the result
that Norway is one of the countries in the world with the highest technology density
at schools (European Survey of Schools: ICT in Education2013).
This shows that political constraints do affect the research. In many cases,
Norwegian research has emphasized a socio-cultural approach when it comes to
research on digital learning materials. An important theoretician within the
socio-cultural milieu is the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), who
focused on learning occurring in a social interaction between the environment and
the individual. One should take into account, however, that Vygotsky had never
seen nor touched a computer. Today’s technology has completely different struc-
tures and educational possibilities than Vygotsky could ever imagine, far beyond
the intentions of his overall learning models. One must also keep in mind that
Vygotsky’s research is connected to the Soviet social situation, in the years just
after the Russian revolution and World War 1.
Even though today’s technology and education are significantly different and
complex, substantial governmental research millions have in recent years been
given to such socio-cultural based educational research. Both researchers and
politicians have‘believed’that such outdated psychological principles can be used
more directly on new digital learning materials.
Furthermore, the‘results’of this research has been used in the teacher education
departments, among teachers and within other educational institutions. This may be
one explanation as to why the Norwegian schools have had such a poor progress
when it comes to educational use of digital tools. The problem is that a number of
politicians and researchers have had such a strong and certain belief on the idea that
ICT in itself will automatically improve the learning outcomes for all students. But
the focus has in many ways been unsuccessful, because it is not based on peda-
gogical research. Instead, the plans have focused on the technology itself sur-
rounded by sets of normative assumptions within the political sphere, rather than
pedagogikk knowledge. Thus, Norwegian schools have a lot of technological
equipment, along with ideological approaches to knowledge, yet very little edu-
cational insight and awareness.
Both of those‘directions’mentioned above, i.e. that research either replaces
political will or are considered obsolete if it does not, are highly problematic from a
12 Doing Harm to Educational Knowledge: The Struggle over Teacher... 181