This study ties in with the debate that exists between the representatives of critical theory in education (Apple, Lubienski, Brewer) and sociologists of education (Aurini, Davies) about the place and significance of homeschooling within the framework of the neoliberal governance of education. While the first group sees homeschooling as a direct tool of neoliberal governance, the second group finds the position of homeschooling within the framework of neoliberal governance unconvincing. Both types of arguments are examined in relation to the situation, forms and reasons for homeschooling in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, where interviews were conducted with groups of homeschooling parents. The arguments about the development of homeschooling as a privatised but not necessarily neoliberalised form of education are particularly valid in the context of the Czech Republic. They are also valid in the case of a significant segment of homeschoolers in the Slovak Republic, where, however, the arguments of critical theorists of education are also valid, but for a different segment of parents - parents who adopt a religious privatist stance demonstrate a degree of affinity with the neoliberal educational ethos.
The aim of our study is to present how models of social integration and disintegration relate to the stratification models of a society and its inequalities. We argue that although the traditional approaches of research to social stratification have proved to be suitable for describing certain trends in post-transition transformations in Central and Eastern Europe, as a result of the social changes of the last quarter-century and the related new intellectual tasks, it is now necessary to establish new models focusing on social integration rather than just update stratification models based on occupation, consumption or the different types of capital. In our study, we present this new line of thinking through the example of Hungarian society. To prove the benefits of a model based on the logic of social integration, we examine the differences between social integration and social inequalities/stratification models. The results show that in terms of criterion validity, the integration model performs better in most respects than we have experienced with other models.
This article focuses on experiences of private preschool operators (with varying sizes and profiles) of the governance and organisation of ECEC delivery in Sweden. The aim is to analyse how these private providers relate to, interact with and perceive their relationships with municipal authorities. These private-public governing relationships are analysed by paying particular attention to their affective dimensions through the notion of ‘market care’. The empirical data consists of interviews with 20 private preschool providers, which are analysed through a two-dimensional grid where predictability and conflict serve as analytical focal points. The findings highlight how experiences and perceptions are enabled, provoked and felt differently depending on their embeddedness in diverse local ‘affective atmospheres’. Moreover, they show that interpersonal exchanges and relationships play important roles in the performance and experience of market care. The study contributes empirical insights into the role of local affective atmospheres and market care (or lack thereof) in local Swedish ECEC governance and delivery. It thereby illuminates central aspects of the governance of privatised ECEC that complements the predominantly national and state-focused literature on quasi-market organisation.
This article explores how increasingly privatised primary education is experienced by Roma parents in a Hungarian small town, Akácos. Through the investigation of the town’s primary schooling system, this piece opens up space for an inquiry into the ways the boundaries of public and private are being redrawn by local and national education policy. As these rearrangements occur, the meanings of ‘deficits’ and racialisation shift, cementing education segregation into the social fabric of the town. Applying the lens of critical race theory and its focus on counter-storytelling in relation to deficit positionings, a fourfold local interpretation of the effects of privatisation arises in the context of education. Roma parents experience declining educational resources and the privatisation of schools into church-run institutions as additional material burdens, ‘loving’ segregation, the privatisation of pedagogic added value and the privatisation of blame, materialising in racial othering. Through this, the article sheds light on the complex interplay between the social production of deficits and processes of educational privatisation through the voices of Roma parents in a specific locality.
Our contribution aims to discuss the latest insights of the constitutional case law on the rights of students in private education. For this purpose, the Pridwin judgment of the Constitutional Court of South Africa was chosen, since this decision entailed considerable global resound and invigorated the discussion on the constitutional framework of private schools. Moreover, the Pridwin judgment provided a proper distinction between the rights and interests of the four main actors: students; private school management; parents of students and state authorities. Based on this analysis, we recommend prioritizing the educational rights of students. However, these should be carefully balanced with the legitimate rights and interests of other relevant stakeholders including private school management, parents of students, and state authorities. Although the fact that this topic has rarely been discussed in Central Europe, it will be demonstrated that the rise of private schooling might result in seeking similar constitutional remedies against private school managements in this region. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to integrate Central-Europe into this strand of academic scholarship.
