ABSTRACT Margaret Archer’s concepts of educational centralization and decentralization, developed in her classical study Social Origins of Educational Systems ([1979] 2013), differ from current conceptions in mainstream research where centralization and decentralization are defined as strategies of governance aiming to redistribute decision-making authority and/or is measured by indicators of ‘school autonomy’. Archer’s definitions of centralized and decentralized systems and the currently dominant conceptions are rooted in divergent ontological assumptions. Current research implicitly assumes a flat ontology, an ontology of practice, while Archers concepts of centralized and decentralized systems are based in an ontology of emergence. Her real definition of an educational system, whether centralized or decentralized, which identifies its emergent structures and mechanisms, is superior to current conceptualizations in the sense of having explanatory power. Analyses of recent educational development in Norway employing current mainstream conceptions and an alternative analysis using Archer’s concepts illustrate the greater explanatory power of the latter.

中文翻译：

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为批判现实主义理论的典范辩护阿切尔的教育系统概念（集中式和分散式）

摘要玛格丽特·阿切尔（Margaret Archer）在其经典研究《教育系统的社会起源》（[1979] 2013）中提出的教育集中化和分权化概念与主流研究中当前的概念不同，在主流研究中，集中化和分权化被定义为旨在重新分配决策的治理策略。权威和/或通过“学校自治”指标进​​行衡量。阿彻对集中式和分散式系统的定义以及当前占主导地位的概念都源于不同的本体论假设。当前的研究隐含地假设一个扁平的本体，一个实践的本体，而Archers集中式和分散式系统的概念则基于出现本体。她对教育系统的真正定义，无论是集中式还是分散式，在具有解释力的意义上，它标识了其新兴的结构和机制，优于当前的概念化。使用当前主流概念对挪威最近的教育发展进行分析，并使用阿切尔的概念进行替代分析，这说明了阿切尔的更大解释力。