Policy narratives to promote accountability in French-speaking Belgium

• In Event: Global Education Reforms Across Time and Space: Tendencies, Drivers, and Explanations In Comparative and Historical Perspective (Part 2)

Proposal

Although controversial and contested (Amoako, Quainoo & Adams, 2019), accountability has become a centerpiece of educational reforms globally (Verger, Fontdevila & Parcerisa, 2019) and seems to be here to stay. Arguably a “late adopter” (Steiner-Khamsi, 2006), French-speaking Belgium has recently undertaken a shift toward school accountability, introducing steering plans that schools should develop, which must incorporate national (performance) targets and the means used by schools to achieve them, and on the basis of which schools are subject to external evaluation by and accountability to the education authorities every three years.
Analyzing the trajectory (Ball, 1993) of the school autonomy with accountability reform (SAWA - Verger et al., 2019) in French-speaking Belgium, we situate this reform within the broader evolutions of educational policies in French-speaking Belgium since the 1990s. We then draw on scholarship addressing the role of ideas in public policy (Stones, 2012; Roe, 1994) to highlight the policy narratives that have underpinned its promotion and the policy instruments utilized to steer the system. As methodology we reviewed recent (2000-2023) scientific literature (n»25) and conducted a policy document analysis, using as data sources government speeches, parliamentary proceedings and reports produced by expert groups, as well as normative and legislative documents produced by the government during the policy process (n ≈ 60).
Our preliminary results indicate that low levels of performance and striking inequalities have been used to promote this reform – notably pushed by key actors and experts’ networks (Mc Kinsey, OECD, academics networks). In official documentation related to this reform "Effectiveness" and "Equity" have been presented as major policy problems, while "autonomy", “responsibility”, and "accountability" are promoted as key levers to tackle these issues. Here “Autonomy and responsibility refer to collective and participatory modes of operation that must involve teachers in the management of the school” (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, 2016, p. 113). Within schools, this involves fostering “a collective dynamic of ‘learning organization’ and a substantial evolution of the teaching profession linked to the current challenges faced by schools” (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, 2016).
The main aim of this reform, as outlined in official documents, is to improve the education system (in terms of efficiency, equity) by defining educational objectives at the central level, ensuring a greater coherence between these objectives, resource allocation and school actions, and holding schools accountable. Key policy tools, such as steering plans, are intended to achieve a better alignment between different levels of the system, positioning accountability as a pivotal lever for bringing about the desired changes at the school and system level. Although the official discourse carries the classic rhetoric underpinning the development of accountability policies in various contexts (Tröhler, Meyer, Labaree, & Hutt, 2014), we show that despite an apparent consensus on the reform’s central goals competing narratives emerged during the policy process, brought by various key players in the policy process. Our analysis seeks to reconstruct these narratives and examine how they produce specific representations of the issues to be tackled (problem to be solved) and on the best way to act upon it (solutions).

Authors

• Annelise Voisin, University of Liege

• Vincent Dupriez, UCLouvain

• Virginie März, UC Louvain