When Complexity Meets Evidence in Governance…

The author reflects on some contradictions or paradoxes that are inherent in discourses, based on his experience of efforts to decentralise the very complex centralised and federalist education structure in Austria. In this structure, the political attempts to strengthen ‘evidence’ are strongly contested.
The explanation may lie in the governance structure. On the one hand, there are challenges of complexity in the education system. On the other, policy makers and researchers do not address these challenges in an appropriate manner, as the part of unpredictability is negated.
One conclusion is that a professional approach to governance that is oriented towards the integration of practice and knowledge production at the teaching level can cope better with the insecurities involved in complex structures than an ‘evidence-based approach’.