BAICE Awards 2020: Our statement on researching international and comparative education during a global pandemic

With the outbreak and spread of Covid-19, many things in our lives have changed. In academia things we took for granted – events and deadlines that gave our professional lives structure and focus – have been swept away or put on hold. Others have taken on new shapes and new meanings, and there are new opportunities too.

At BAICE we are aware of the proliferation of new research funding targeted around the crisis. We recognise the need to be proactive and responsive, but we also believe that the best educational research is not rushed. We are interested in and engaged with research that is dealing with urgent matters related to the outbreak, but we also want to create spaces for stepping back and thinking about the bigger picture of international and comparative education research in, and for, our changed and changing world.

BAICE’s main grants and awards programme include the Seedcorn Grant, the Research Capacity and Networking Grant and the Thematic Forum Grant. We welcome applications that were conceptualised before the pandemic. We recognise that a majority of the issues at the heart of these applications will still be relevant once the pandemic is over, although the revised deadline will give applicants an opportunity to amend their proposals (e.g. logistically and methodologically) where necessary.

However, this year, we also encourage applicants to consider pertinent issues related to the current global crisis, and how international and comparative educational research can be conducted creatively, critically, and ethically at this time.

• How can research balance global and local priorities for education?
• How can we connect and collaborate without travelling?
• How can we generate data without putting researchers and participants at risk?
• What educational innovations and methodological approaches can be developed and tested to mitigate the challenges created by health emergencies?
• What issues around ethics come into new, or sharper focus, as we engage in educational research amidst a global health emergency?

Applications may include (but are not limited to) reviews, retrospectives, empirical or exploratory work.

BAICE is keen to support a wide range of ideas, therefore we will be doubling the number of grants awarded in 2020.

The revised deadline for all of the above awards is Monday 15th June 2020.

Our Student Fieldwork Grant will be operating as usual, but with a revised deadline of Monday 15th June 2020 to account for recent disruptions and revisions to students’ plans.

Our Student Essay Prize is going to remain open, despite the cancellation of BAICE 2020. All student members of BAICE are eligible to submit an essay aligned with the theme of partnerships in international education. The deadline for this award is January 31^st 2021.