ABSTRACT

Although previous research has contributed to the body of literature in education for democracy by addressing deficits in policies in equalizing students’ life chances, less attention has been paid to how accomplishing a democratic mandate in education is constructed and legitimized by educational authorities in national policy documents. In this article, we report findings from a project that examined this issue. The aim is to provide insight into how professionalism is constructed and legitimized within and across key education policy documents in the wake of a major national educational reform in Norway. We identify possible discursive shifts and examine what tensions are at play via textual analysis of selected policy documents, with a methodology inspired by a critical approach to discourse analysis. Theories on professionalism and democratic leadership serve as an overarching framework. The findings suggest (1) there are tensions between the use of performance data and education for democracy; (2) little attention is given to professionalism as a deliberative activity; and (3) there is increased emphasis on fulfilling students’ individual rights. We argue that introducing a language of performance expectations has permitted the reinterpretation of what it means to be a professional educator in a social democratic welfare state.

摘要

尽管先前的研究通过解决学生生活机会均等化政策中的缺陷，为民主教育的文献做出了贡献，但很少有人关注教育当局如何在国家政策文件中构建和合法化教育中的民主使命. 在本文中，我们报告了一个研究该问题的项目的发现。目的是深入了解在挪威重大的国家教育改革之后，如何在关键教育政策文件中和跨关键教育政策文件构建和合法化专业精神。我们通过对选定的政策文件的文本分析来识别可能的话语转变，并检查在起作用的紧张局势，方法论灵感来自话语分析的批判性方法。关于专业精神和民主领导的理论是一个总体框架。调查结果表明（1）绩效数据的使用与民主教育之间存在紧张关系；(2) 很少关注作为一种审议活动的专业精神；(3) 更加重视学生个人权利的实现。我们认为，引入绩效期望语言允许重新解释在社会民主福利国家中成为专业教育者的意义。