Making the grade: The definition, use and measurement of 'merit' in Germany and Sweden

Author(s):

Florian Waldow

Conference:

ECER 2008

Network:

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

23 SES 03B, The Audit Society (Part 1)

Paper Session to be continued in 23 SES 04B

Time:

2008-09-10

14:00-15:30

Room:

B1 114

Chair:

Linda Rönnberg

Contribution

In modern, democratic states, the allocation of different life chances to individuals on the basis of birth or wealth is no longer acceptable, even if in practice social background and financial resources still play a very important role. Rather, the sole criterion according to which it is legitimate to allocate life chances in democracies is personal merit in some form or other (Luhmann, 2004 [1996], S. 218-222). What constitutes individual merit, how it should be measured and how it should be handled institutionally are highly contested issues, however. The school is an arena where many of these contestations are played out, not least because in practice, educational credentials are often used as the equivalent of merit (Yair, 2007 p. 2955). In different national and cultural contexts, the institutional structure of “meritocracy” differs radically (Broadfoot, 1996). The paper will take a comparative look at how ‘merit’ is defined, used and measured in Germany and Sweden. More specifically, the paper will focus on grading. In respect to their respective “assessment cultures” – meaning a specific set of practices and meanings around assessment –, Germany and Sweden might be said to represent opposite poles (Ingenkamp, 1989; Lundahl, 2003, 2006; Terhart, 1999). The paper will look at a time period from about 1945 to the present, concentrating on the following aspects: - grading and equity: mechanisms - grading and equity: who grades? - grading and school differentiation

Method

The paper tries to capture “assessment cultures” as they are constructed by educational policy-makers on the one hand and by educational researchers and professionals on the other hand. Thus, the paper is based on the one hand on content analyses of official sources such as committee reports and policy-making documents. On the other hand, it is based on an analysis of the reasoning around grading in professional and academic journals and other publications.

Expected Outcomes

The paper will offer some explanations for the different patterns observed in Germany and Sweden. Explanations centre on three areas: - the different relationship between policy-makers, administrators and researchers (Dahllöf, 2003; Leschinsky, 2005) - differences in what are perceived to be the main aims of education - differing conceptions of social justice, especially in relation to different ‘welfare regimes’’ respective ‘moral economies’ (Mau, 2003).

References

Broadfoot, P. M. (1996). Education, assessment and society: A sociological analysis. Buckingham: Open University Press. Dahllöf, U. (2003). Uppbyggnadstid, omgiviningsfaktorer och pedagogikämnets forskningsutveckling: Några notiser från nära grannar i väst. In Kasvatustiede Suomessa 150 Vuotta. Pedagogiken i Finland 150 år. Helsinki: Helsingin Yliopiston Kasvatustietieteellinen Tiedekunta. Ingenkamp, K. (1989). Diagnostik in der Schule: Beiträge zu Schlüsselfragen der Schülerbeurteilung. Weinheim: Beltz. Leschinsky, A. (2005). Vom Bildungsrat (nach) zu PISA: Eine zeitgeschichtliche Studie zur deutschen Bildungspolitik. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik, 51(6), 818-839. Luhmann, N. (2004 [1996]). Das Erziehungssystem und die Systeme seiner Umwelt. In Schriften zur Pädagogik (pp. 209-244). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. Lundahl, C. (2003). The formation of an assessment culture [Electronic Version]. Studies in Educational Policy and Educational Philosophy: E-tidskrift, 2003:3. Retrieved 1.2.2005 from www.upi.artisan.se. Lundahl, C. (2006). Viljan att veta vad andra vet: Kunskapsbedömning i tidigmodern, modern och senmodern skola. Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet. Mau, S. (2003). The moral economy of welfare states: Britain and Germany compared. London: Routledge. Terhart, E. (1999). Zensurengebung und innerschulisches Selektionsklima - die Rolle der Schulleitung. Zeitschrift für Soziologie der Erziehung und Sozialisation, 19(3), 277-292. Yair, G. (2007). Meritocracy. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), The Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. Oxford: Blackwell.

Author Information

Florian Waldow

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Abteilung Vergleichende Erziehungswissenschaft

Berlin

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