State Work in England and Germany: A Bourdieusian Field Analysis

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 3:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: A Bourdieusian Approach to Education Systems Across the World (Table 1)

Abstract

Observations and interviews conducted in eight secondary schools in contrasting countries are analysed to consider how states shape schooling. A Bourdieuian lens is used to consider the logics of educational administration practice in each country. This is characterised as bureaucratic in Germany and post bureaucratic in England. Cross-field effects between administration and schooling are then identified to consider the formation of institutional doxa. In so doing, this analysis demonstrates that the rule of law helps maintain stability in Germany and is augmented by science in the context of unsettling market reforms in England.

Author

• Peter Kelly, University of Plymouth