The politics of educational success

The objective of the article is to examine what is 'taken for granted' in the policies designed to combat Early School Leaving (ESL) in Catalonia, identifying their implicit ontologies, causal assumptions and logics of action. In order to do so, the realist evaluation is applied. Specifica...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Tarabini-Castellani, Aina|||0000-0002-6096-2450, Parcerisa, Lluís|||0000-0002-6755-1988, Curran, Marta|||0000-0003-1956-7616, Montes Ruiz, Alejandro|||0000-0002-4137-3968
Format: article
Publication Date:2018
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:288657
Online Access:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/288657
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1080/17508487.2016.1197842
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Comparative and international education
Educational policy
Inequality/social exclusion in education
Qualitative research methods
Social class
SDG 4 - Quality Education
SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
Description
Summary:The objective of the article is to examine what is 'taken for granted' in the policies designed to combat Early School Leaving (ESL) in Catalonia, identifying their implicit ontologies, causal assumptions and logics of action. In order to do so, the realist evaluation is applied. Specifically, this methodology has been applied to compare the discourses, priorities and policies of two key agents in defining and implementing policies to combat ESL in Catalonia: the Catalan Department for Education (Regional Government body) and the Barcelona Education Consortium (Local Government body). In each case, systematic documentary analysis has been conducted as well as in-depth interviews with educational experts and policymakers. The results of the analysis allows opening up the black box of the political priorities defined by this two political agents, identifying two highly controversial logics to understand educational success and to consequently address ESL.