Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

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Equality or Excellence. On the Simultaneity of Counter-Directional Rationalities in the German Education System

Project Director

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Bröckling, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Institut für Soziologie (i)   

Research Associate

Dr. Tobias Peter (i)   

Abstract 2nd funding phase (2014-18)

Looking at the social construction of equality and excellence, the project examines the discursive formation and practical effects of two rationalities in the contemporary system of education in Germany, both of which are political and counter-directional. Taking up the position of Governmentality Studies and system theory, the project analyses the rules of justification to which these counter-directional rationalities refer. The study also reveals the construction mechanisms of distinction and coherence and of inclusion and exclusion in the education system, as well as how they are organized.

The second phase will firstly analyse the institutional practices and forms of subjectivation associated with excellence and equality tendencies, and, secondly, critiques of these tendencies and potential crisis points. The study examines the practices schools and colleges employ to make organizational distinctions in terms of excellence and equality, allowing us to describe the struggles in the education system that accompany opposing tendencies of excellence, on the one hand, and equality, on the other. At the level of subjectivation, the project illustrates how claims of equality and excellence translate into individual demands on teachers and students.

Abstract 1st funding phase (2011-14)

Looking at the social construction of equality and excellence, the project examines the discursive formation and practical effects of two rationalities in the contemporary system of education in Germany that are both political and counter-directional. Due to the dominance of a terminology of equity in early childhood and primary education discourses (inclusive and aimed at a minimum of competences on a broad base), the area of tertiary education such as universities is described with a terminology of excellence that has become a reference point for political interventions and institutional reform processes (exclusive and aimed at top efficiency). Taking up the theoretical position of Governmentality Studies and the system theory, the project analyses the rules of justification these counter-directional rationalities refer to, their intended and unintended effects, and their mutual interferences. The study also reveals the mechanisms of constructing distinction and coherence, inclusion and exclusion in the education system, and how they are organized. The first step will therefore be a discourse analysis of the rationalities of the two discursive threads at the level of strategy and conception, institutional transposition, open debate, and scientific reflection. In the second phase, grounded institutional practices and related forms of subjectivization will be analysed.

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