par Clycq, Noël;Ward Nouwen, M. A.;Vandenbroucke, Anneloes 
Référence British educational research journal, 40, 5, page (796-819)
Publication Publié, 2014-10
Référence British educational research journal, 40, 5, page (796-819)
Publication Publié, 2014-10
Article révisé par les pairs
| Résumé : | Socio-ethnic stratification and segregation processes present in Flemish society are reflected in theeveryday school environment. Pupils with a different socio-ethnic background than the dominantmajority and middle class seem to be confronted with a lot of difficulties in this school system. Thedominant meritocratic discourse frequently applies a deficit thinking perspective to frame educa-tional success and failure, focusing on deficiencies originating outside of the school. In this paperwe analyse newly collected survey data (N=11,015 pupils) and a large amount of qualitative data(from pupils, parents, teachers, principals) to answer our two main research questions: (i) how iseducational success/failure defined, and (ii) how is educational success/failure explained? The factoranalyses as well as the qualitative analyses illustrate how the idea of meritocracy relates to individu-alistic features such as effort, merit and competence. However, the findings also reveal that this indi-vidualistic approach goes hand-in-hand with a focus on the family environment and ‘culture’ whichseems to limit individual agency to a large extent. In these discourses, pupils, parents and eventeachers are presented as being largely determined by their direct social environment with almost noregard for social inequalities within the educational system. The paper ends with a discussion onhow processes of victimization and the denial of systemic bias, influence educational trajectoriesand proposes a different approach to multiculturalism and the appreciation of cultural backgroundand specific family resources as positive elements in these trajectories |
