Session Information
23 SES 12 A, Interpreting and Enacting Reform: Local Actor Participation
Paper Session
Contribution
Recent years have seen (more or less profound) changes in the governance of many European school systems. It has been proposed to conceptualize phenomena of “regulation” in social systems not as top down process from politics and administration to executive actors, but rather to consider contributions from different actors and the modes of coordination of their actions (cf. Altrichter 2010a). Under this perspective students may be important “governance actors” who considerably contribute to the shape and attainment of schooling and individual schools. Nevertheless, there is only little research into the ways and results of students’ contribution to the governance of schooling. If students are researched in empirical studies, they are either used as data sources or they are treated as relative stable “objects” or social facts teachers have to handle (e.g. Böttcher & Brohm 2004, Schönig 2003, Krainz-Dürr et al. 2002).
But students do not necessarily perceive education in the same way as teachers or parents do. In order to arrive at a more holistic account of the networks of action coordination which make up schools, it is necessary to learn more about the views and contributions of actors treated as “peripheral” by prior research. A research grant enables a research group from Johannes Kepler University Linz to collaboratively (with students and teachers from two urban and one rural school) research the roles and contributions from students and student representatives (on school boards, councils etc.) with respect to school governance (cf. Altrichter 2010b). The project aspires to cover new grounds in three respects: It allows testing the potential of the new “governance perspective” on system coordination in a new field. It analyses the role of a group of actors which until now has been rarely studied in governance analyses. And it does not just treat students as objects of research, but includes them as active co-researchers (cf. Kellett 2005, Lodge 2005, Kirby et al. 2003).
The research has three main goals:
- Clarification of roles, action contributions and modes of coordination of students and their representatives with respect to the governance of schools based on the conceptual framework of governance research (Altrichter 2010a; Altrichter & Maag Merki 2010)
- Supporting student representatives in their role by providing them with (i) feedback from their fellow students and by (ii) making available different models of fulfilling the role of a student representative.
- Developing feedback instruments for student representatives (i) which may be used – after having been tested within the project ‑ also by student representatives beyond this project. (ii) In the course of developing and testing these instruments it will be possible to build up a data base on activities of student representatives and their perception by students which may be used by other student representatives for reference.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Altrichter, H.: Theory and Evidence on Governance: conceptual and empirical strategies of research on governance in education. In: European Educational Research Journal 9(2010a)2, pp. 147-158. Altrichter, H.: SchülerInnen entwickeln Schule?! SchülerInnen und SchülervertreterInnen als Ko-Akteure der Schulentwicklung, Schulgestaltung und Schulsystemreform. Projektantrag an das BMWF. Linz 2010b. Altrichter, H./Maag Merki, K.: Handbuch Neue Steuerung im Schulsystem. VS: Wiesbaden 2010. BMUKK [Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur]: Schul-Monitoring. Bevölkerungsbefragung zum Schul- und Bildungswesen. IFES-Studienbericht. Wien 2007 (http://www.bmukk.gv.at/medienpool/15366/sm_2007.pdf; 14.1.2008) Böttcher, W./ Brohm M.: Die Methodik des Change Managements und die aktuelle Schulreform. In: Die Deutsche Schule 96(2004)3, S. 268-278 Fend, H.: Systemsteuerung im Bildungswesen – Anschlussfähigkeiten an die Schulwirklichkeit. In: Maag-Merki, K./Sandmeier, A./Schuler, P./Fend, H. (Hrsg.): Schule wohin? Schulentwicklung und Qualitätsmanagement im 21. Jahrhundert. FS+S: Universität Zürich 2005, 15-27. Kellett, M.: Children as active researchers: a new research paradigm for the 21st century? NCRM Methods Review Papers NCRM/003. Kirby, P. et al.: Building a Culture of Participation. Involving children and young people in policy, service planning, delivery and evaluation – Handbook. Department for Education and Skills. National Children’s Bureau: London 2003. Krainz-Dürr, M.: Schulprogramme entwickeln: Erfahrungen aus einem Pilotprojekt an berufsbildenden Schulen. Studien-Verlag: Innsbruck; Wien 2002. Langer, R. (Hrsg.): Warum tun die das? Governanceanalysen zum Steuerungshandeln in der Schulentwicklung. VS: Wiesbaden 2008. Lodge, C.: From Hearing Voices to Engaging in Dialogue: Problematising Student Participation in School Improvement. Journal of Educational Change (2005) 6, pp.125–146. Schönig, W.: Lehrer und Lehrerinnen im Prozess der Schulentwicklung. Von der Formung des Verhältnisses zwischen Subjekt und Schule. In: Die Deutsche Schule 95 (2003)4, 452-465.
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