Between heterogeneity and equality: representations and practices of primary‐level teachers

Abstract

In 1995 the political authorities of French‐speaking Belgium introduced a major reform in the structure of the kindergarten and primary curriculum. It prescribed cycles of study and forbade grade repetition within the stages, which last for 5 years and 4 years, respectively. In addition, the reform aimed to increase equality of results at school‐leaving and to promote equal opportunity. The paper presents an overview of the reform and offers an analysis of the modes of implementation of this reform by primary‐level teachers. This analysis, constructed on the basis of action research, highlights the inadequacy of educational prescriptions which conflict with teachers' representations of pupils in difficulties and with competition between schools in a quasi‐market environment.

Keywords:

• Belgium
• equality
• heterogeneous grouping
• school reform

Notes

1. According to the available statistics for the beginning of the 1990s (Crahay 1996), it appears that 29.5% of pupils had repeated at least 1 year by the end of their primary schooling.

2. On the concept of quasi‐market, see Le Grand and Bartlett (1993), and Vandenberghe (1999).

3. On the basis of data collected between May 2002 and May 2003 this work enabled five monographs to be written on the schools (cf. Dupriez and Cornet 2005) in which the processes of each school were described and situated within a specific environment.

4. The schools came from the three educational sectors in Belgium: organized by the Ministry of Education; state‐subsidized education; and private subsidized education.

5. At the close of each session we drew up a detailed report, which was submitted to all group members for approval. The diversity of sources and the fact that the work was spread out over the course of a year (spanning two academic years) enabled us to ‘triangulate’ and cross‐check the information collected.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vincent Dupriez

Vincent Dupriez is professor of education attached to the Interfaculty Research Group for Education and Training Systems (GIRSEF) at the Catholic University of Louvain, Place Montesquieu, 1, boite 14, 1348 Louvain‐la‐Neuve, Belgium; e‐mail: [email protected]. His research interests cover educational policies, curriculum, and schools as educational organizations.