In September, Cedos held a meeting with representatives of the Observatory on Education System Resilience initiative, within which we are working on the project ‘Enhancing Education Resilience in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia through knowledge and evidence dissemination’.

The meeting focused on the challenges that researchers face during expert interviews. Cedos analysts shared their experiences and advice with experts who study the sustainability of education in other regions: Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

The participants discussed how, when working with expert interviews, it is possible to:

  • balance the diverse circumstances in different countries;
  • take into account sensitive topics and possible biases of local experts;
  • overcome language barriers;
  • build long-term cooperation with experts to involve them in future projects.

Among the problems at the preparation stage, the researchers highlighted difficulties in finding respondents and scheduling interview times. These issues were partially resolved with the help of intermediaries who established communication in different countries.

Given the limited time available for conversation, the researchers sought to use it as effectively as possible: they prioritised questions and divided interviews into smaller parts. The experts could respond in text or video format.

Questions focused directly on the experts’ knowledge and experience helped explore the topic better, as did suggestions to compare the proposed idea of educational sustainability with the local context and hypothetical scenarios at the end of the conversation.

To verify the accuracy of the information obtained, the researchers asked respondents to share their sources and also interviewed other stakeholders in the relevant field.

After the interviews, the researchers plan to continue communicating with the respondents by sharing updates on the study’s progress, holding meetings, and discussing possible topics for further research.

The project ‘Enhancing Education Resilience in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia through knowledge and evidence dissemination’ is part of the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX) Observatory on Education System Resilience initiative, which is implemented with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).