ABSTRACT

Post-transformational neoliberal reforms in the Czech Republic have established a competitive quasi-market, in which – at the lower-secondary level – academic-track schools (grammar schools or gymnasia) compete for students in the regular-track schools. These reforms have also brought a rise of shadow education (private supplementary tutoring) provided by individuals and private companies. Even public schools are sometimes providers of shadow education. The study explores gymnasia principals’ motivations to provide paid courses to prepare students for entrance examinations to their study programmes and the challenges they experience in doing so. The findings are drawn mainly from semi-structured interviews with principals and other school management members in eleven gymnasia. The study conceptualises such courses as a ‘double-edged sword’. First, because it serves as a ‘weapon’ that academic schools use in the quasi-market competition to attract more (high-achieving) students from regular track schools, and second, because it may have both positive and negative consequences (e.g., for equity in education), depending on the conditions of its provision. The paper contributes to a wider scholarly literature by expanding the understanding of ways schools behave in the competitive educational quasi-markets and by opening a new branch of shadow education research.

摘要

捷克共和国转型后的新自由主义改革建立了一个竞争性的准市场，在这个准市场中——在初中阶段——学术轨道学校（文法学校或体育馆）竞争正规轨道学校的学生。这些改革也带来了由个人和私营公司提供的影子教育（私人补习）的兴起。甚至公立学校有时也是影子教育的提供者。该研究探讨了体育馆校长提供付费课程以帮助学生准备学习课程的入学考试的动机以及他们在这样做时遇到的挑战。调查结果主要来自对 11 个体育馆的校长和其他学校管理人员的半结构化访谈。该研究将此类课程概念化为“双刃剑”。第一的，因为它是学术学校在准市场竞争中用来吸引更多（高成就）学生从正规轨道学校获得的“武器”，其次，因为它可能会产生积极和消极的后果（例如，教育），取决于其提供的条件。该论文通过扩大对学校在竞争性教育准市场中的行为方式的理解以及开辟影子教育研究的新分支，为更广泛的学术文献做出了贡献。