Unpacking recognition and esteem in school pedagogies

Abstract

The article focuses on pedagogical practices of recognition and esteem (Wertschätzung) and on the question of how those practices can be appropriately studied and epistemologically grasped. The investigation involves an inner-city elementary school in a socio-economically problematic district. With regard to the communication forms in this specific school, we identify specific practices which constitute a culture of recognition and esteem that provides a reference framework and performative space to those involved. But what does a culture of recognition and esteem designate? Three heuristic categories have been developed as a result of our study in order to better describe and define the phenomenon: (1) the act of recognition and esteem, (2) the creation of an atmosphere of recognition and esteem and (3) the practices of shaping a culture of recognition and esteem. We analyse the verbal, non-verbal and performative aspects of communication within the context of schooling. The data were produced as part of an ethnographic research collaboration that has lasted over 12 years and which was initiated in the context of the Berlin Ritual Study at Freie Universität Berlin. The ethnography is based on participant observation and videography of pupils aged 8–12 years. Our systematisation of recognition and esteem shows a potentiality to describe a phenomenon without reducing complexity and highlights the everyday work of pedagogical practice.

Keywords:

• recognition
• esteem
• communication culture
• school ethnography
• performativity

Acknowledgements

We thank the reviewers for their constructive comments.

Notes

1. The current project ‘Recognition and Esteem – Learning Atmosphere – Appraisal of Achievement’ is being carried out within the framework of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Languages of Emotion’ at the Freie Universität Berlin. It is an educational science project that fosters exchange with other disciplines represented in the cluster.

2. Federal State Programme in Germany ‘Socially Integrative City’. ‘In 1999 the federal and state governments extended urban development support by adopting the "Districts With Special Development Needs – the Socially Integrative City" programme (or Socially Integrative City for short). Its goal was to counteract the widening socio-spatial rifts in the cities. The programme fosters participation and cooperation and represents a new integrative political approach to urban district development’. Source: http://www.sozialestadt.de/en/programm/ (accessed 9 February 2011).

3. The text given in quotation marks presents parts of the transcript of the spoken word of the video-recorded data. Here, an acoustic representation is dispensed with in order to guarantee readability. The overall framing of spoken word, the description of the plot, is taken out of the video data and supplemented by the field notes of the researchers.

4. The reflective interpretation at hand provides deeper insights into the mode of practices of recognition and esteem (see above).