Biography
My area of focus for research and teaching lies in the intersection of social ontology (which includes exploring the ontology of critical realism and its implications in the social sciences) and international political economy. I delve into education policy, governance analysis, and applied realist evaluation. Additionally, I have published reflections on qualitative research methodologies.
I hold a PhD in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies at EUR and a Master's in Economics from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia.
More information
Work
- Gabriela de la Rosa, Mariana Arboleda, Camilo Vieira & Juan David Parra (2026) - Unveiling mechanisms of educational change: analyzing outcomes of a computational thinking professional development program - Computer Science Education - doi: 10.1080/08993408.2026.2665183 - [link]
- Juan David Parra (2025) - Trans-immanence, morphogenesis and régulation: new methodological avenues for applied political economy (of education) research - Journal of Critical Realism, 24 (5), 541-563 - doi: 10.1080/14767430.2025.2590280 - [link]
- Juan David Parra Heredia, María José Ruiz-Rivera, Fausto Alejandro Tingo Proaño & María Ángeles Cevallos Castells (2025) - Los Retos de la Descentralización en la Gobernanza Escolar: Algunos Aprendizajes de la Experiencia del Modelo Integral Unidades Educativas del Milenio de Ecuador - Education Policy Analysis Archives, 33 - doi: 10.14507/epaa.33.8300 - [link]
- Juan David Parra, Gabriela de la Rosa, Mariana Arboleda & Camilo Vieira (2025) - WIP: Mechanisms of Change - A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Outcomes of a Computational Thinking Professional Development Program - doi: 10.1109/fie61694.2024.10893070 - [link]
- Juan David Parra & Bent Edwards (2024) - Challenging the gold standard consensus: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and their pitfalls in evidence-based education - Critical Studies in Education, 65 (5), 513-530 - doi: 10.1080/17508487.2024.2314118 - [link]
- Juan David Parra (2024) - Book Review: Translating global ideas: how policy legacies and domestic politics shape education governance in latin america by Claudia Díaz-Ríos, New York, State University of New York Press, 2024 - Journal of Education Policy, 39 (6), 1049-1050 - doi: 10.1080/02680939.2024.2395676
- Juan David Parra (2024) - Book review: Leadership from the Middle: The Beating Heart of Educational Transformation by Andy Hargreaves - Comparative Education Review, 68 (3), 513-515 - doi: 10.1086/730980
- Juan David Parra (2023) - Qualitative economics and the opportunity to push for heterodoxy in the classroom - doi: 10.4324/9781003451990-11 - [link]
- Juan David Parra (2023) - Realist evaluation and its role in the stages of explanatory research based on critical realism - Journal of Critical Realism, 22 (5), 859-881 - doi: 10.1080/14767430.2023.2251816 - [link]
- Juan David Parra & Camilo Vieira (2023) - El pensamiento de diseño la evaluación de políticas e intervenciones sociales: hacia un diálogo "realista" - Desafíos
- Juan David Parra Heredia (2024) - The school improvement maze. A multi-level analysis of educational reform in Catalonia (Examiner)
Activity: Examination › Academic - Benjamin Radley, Juan David Parra Heredia, C Embido Bejeno, Wendy Harcourt, Christina Sathyamala, E Smidt, T Soukotta & Yazid Zahda (2015) - Development (Journal) (Editor)
Activity: Publication Peer-review › Academic
General Information
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISSGENERAL-26-27
Mundus MAPP
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISS-MMAPP-26-28
T01 Thesis
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISS-T01
4180 Governance and Institutions
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISS-4180-26-27
4182 Comparative Public Policy
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISS-4182-26-27
4212 Contemporary Capitalism, Governance
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISS-4212-26-27
4381 Study Visit
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISS-4381-26-27
4382 Thesis Report
- Year
- 2026
- Course Code
- ISS-4382-26-27
