September 2005 - Association Comenius

The network members, representing five
European countries were requested to
examine a concrete case of education policy
makers or practitioners attempting to achieve
a more equitable educational policy or
practice. These cases were then to be used to
form the focus of a comparative discussion
about the ways in which practical dilemmas
relating to the enactment of equity are
experienced and negotiated in different local
contexts and with what consequences. T h e
outcome of the symposium was expected to
be a more detailed analysis of the diff e r e n t
understandings of equity, the diff e r e n t
constraints on equity and the diff e r e n t
possibilities of enacting equitable practices in
education in different European contexts. T h i s
understanding could then be used to inform
more sophisticated comparative theories and
evaluations of equity in education. T h e
symposium was expected be a substantial
contribution to the further joint research
exchange that has been carried out so far.
The symposium was underpinned by an
interest in how equity can be achieved in real
world situations and by a conceptual
framework which: views equity as multifaceted,
appreciates that different facets of
equity may be in tension with each other, is
concerned with the mediated nature of equity
practices and their level and context
dependence. The symposium was followed by
a research workshop. Whereas in the
symposium the papers and cases from the
d i fferent countries were presented, the
research workshop session was aimed to
investigate the ways in which we could
actually compare the different equitable
practices across regional, national and cultural
boundaries, in particular considering
methodological issues.
Acentral tenet in the workshop was the
acceptance that there are different notions of
social justice, and within those notions likely
to be different facets, and between those facets
likely to be different tensions, then it is
important to taking these into account when
considering methodological issues and the
research design. The expectations was then to
find, or create, methodological ways and tools
to adequately ‘measure’those different facets
of social justice and the tensions betweens
them. How can this be realised in a study of
equitable practices in classrooms in diff e r e n t
countries, was a central question of discussion.
In the first part of the research workshop the
convenor outlined the potential strengths and
weaknesses of comparative work in
methodological terms, and related the issues
raised to the study of comparing ‘enacted
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e q u i t y ’ in different European contexts. In the
second part the authors (network members)
were to raise and discuss particular issues
connected to their individual contribution, and
how these could be dealt with. In the third part
the audience was encouraged to contribute
and work interactively with the research team,
in order to develop a deeper understanding of
the comparative and theoretical issues. T h e
following questions were discussed:
In which ways is it possible to explore
equitable practices in different countries?, Is
the classroom a suitable setting?, To what
extent are the identified ways
methodologically (and practically) ‘sound’?;
What are the different conceptions of equity in
play and how can we understand these
d i f f e re n c e s ? ;
What are the features of the different contexts
and levels that appear to make some things
possible and others not?
The Research Workshop was of interactive
nature and included contributions from five
d i fferent European countries. A main intention
was to highlight and discuss methodological
issues involved in comparing equitable
practices across European settings and
cultures.
The outcomes from this symposium and
research workshop indeed proved the
‘ m a t u r i t y ’ of the network. It was a concrete
example that different positions could not
simply coexist but also complement each
other in the research process regardless of
how intricate the subject could be. T h e
symposium and research workshop became at
the same time forum were the ground of a
new research project were discussed.
N ew targets and ambitions –
E xcellence in the netwo r k ’ s
a c t i v i ty
The above mentioned symposium and
research workshop strongly suggested that
what has so far been a network built on the
bases of a research agenda designed within
research project which has primarily a
national focus could be broadened and
become in itself a cross national project. A
review of the experiences and the process
gone through by the experts cooperating
showed that the conditions to work with such
a research design were already created. T h e
network has reached a level of excellence in
its overall functioning and was ready for new
and more demanding challenges.
With this background on March 2005 the
research project “Fighting educational
inequalities: national and international
analyses” was submitted with an application
for funds to the Socrates Program of the
European Commission. After a period
consultations within the network Professors
Marc Demeuse, University of Mons-Hainaut,
and Vincent Dupriez, Université catholique de
Louvain, Belgium, assumed main
responsibility with coordinating the planning
process.
In terms of the contents and the development
of the research focus there was an agreement
within the network with the assumption that
fighting inequalities in education requires a
thorough understanding of the causes of the
important differences among students, schools
and countries shown by international
databases. Some characteristics of the school
o rganisation have a high relation with indices
of school equality. Especially it appears that
three forms of differentiation of pupils’
trajectories have a strong influence: the use of
grade retention, the length of a common-core
curriculum (opposite to a tracking system) and
the intensity of differences between individual
schools in terms of social and academic
composition. In other words, the more a
school system is implementing a logic of
d i fferentiation between pupils, the more one
finds inequality of opportunities (measured
trough a high dependence of school
achievement to familiar resources) and high
level of underachievement. But quantitative
analysis constructed trough secondary analysis
of international databases are only a step for
the comprehension of this issue (Application
2005).
The main aim of the research project which
the network is expected to carry out is to
deepen the analysis of the contribution of
school systems to equality of opportunities
and to high achievements for most pupils.
More specifically, this study will be
conducted:
To identify the policies and programmes set
up at age 14/15 for pupils with low
achievement (the 10 % of pupils with lowest
achievement, excepting children with
diagnosed disability moved to special
education programs): In which grade do we
find them? In which schools and classrooms?
In a specific track? In a context of special
programmes? With specific resources?
To identify who are the 10 % students with
lowest achievements, in terms of sex, social
class, nationality, parents’qualifications and
professional occupation (when data are
a v a i l a b l e ) .
To select in every school system three groups
of pupils (within three classrooms) at age
14/15 with low achievements and to describe