Historical Reconfigurations of Internal/External Actors in Danish Educational Testing Practices

Using the history of Danish educational testing practices in the 20th century as a prism, this chapter investigates how different actors have emerged, interacted and struggled to shape education. The chapter draws on the archival material and analysis presented in my dissertation but for a fresh inquiry, the empirical data were reread and analysed anew, focusing specifically on the actors promoting testing and the shifting historical configurations in the historical compositions of actors. By examining the growth of the testing sector in Denmark, in a historical perspective, this chapter allows for a deeper examination of how bottom-up and top-down actors, internal and external actors work in alliances and change locations over time, offering new insights into understandings of the role of ‘external’ actors in education.