António Nóvoa is Professor at the Institute of Education and Honorary Rector of the University of Lisbon, Portugal.
He was Rector of the University of Lisbon between 2006 and 2013.
He earned a PhD in Education from the University of Geneva (1986) and a PhD in History from the University of Paris IV - Sorbonne (2006).
He earned four Doctorates Honoris Causa from the Universities of Algarve (Portugal), Brasília (Brasil), Lusófona (Portugal) and Rio de Janeiro (Brasil).
President of ISCHE - International Association for the History of Education (2000-2003), his work is related with historical and comparative issues in education.
His publications include:
-- Nóvoa, A. (2015). Looking for freedom in contemporary universities: What is educational research for?, European Educational Research Journal, 14(1), pp. 3-10.
-- Nóvoa, A. (2013). The blindness of Europe: new fabrications in the European Educational Space, Sisyphus – Journal of Education, 1(1), pp. 104-123.
-- Nóvoa, A. (2011). Travelling, not arriving: an intellectual journey. In R. Sultana (Ed.), Educators of the Mediterranean: Up Close and Personal (pp. 197-207). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
-- Nóvoa, A. (2010). Governing without governing – The formation of a European educational space. In M. Apple, S. Ball & L.A. Gandin (Eds), The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociology of Education (pp. 264-273). Oxon: Routledge.
-- Nóvoa, A., Carvalho, L.M. & Yanes, C. (2014). La comparaison comme politique: le tournant du début du 21e siècle, Revue Suisse des Sciences de l’Éducation, 36(2), pp. 265-282.
-- Nóvoa, A. & Yariv-Mashal, T. (2014). Comparative research in education: A mode of governance or a historical journey?. In T. Fenwick, E. Mangez & J. Ozga (Eds.), Governing knowledge. World Yearbook of Education 2014 (pp. 13-30). Oxon: Routledge.
-- Nóvoa, A. & Lawn, M. (Eds.) (2002). Fabricating Europe - The formation of an education space. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
-- Lawn, M. & Nóvoa, A. (2005). L’Europe Réinventée - Regards critiques sur l’espace européen de l’éducation. Paris: L’Harmattan.
Comparative Education: The difference, the public, and the common
The long history of Comparative Education is marked by an identity defined through the search for an example, a law or a solution to educational problems. Often this demand is based on a false consensus about the purposes of education and how to achieve them.
In the time we live, we need, more than ever, a Comparative Education capable of decentering, knowing and recognizing the plurality of goal and approaches to education.
For this, it is necessary to cultivate three gestures that are decisive for rethinking and problematizing Comparative Education: estrangement, intercession, and communication.
From these three gestures, I will try to defend a Comparative Education that is capable of building a science of difference, of strengthening public space and of revitalizing the common.