Vindicating Archer’s concepts of educational systems – centralized and decentralized – as exemplars of critical realist theorizing

Bibliographic Data

ID21159664
AuthorsTone Skinningsrud (0000-0002-2671-6416, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume18
Issue4
Pages453-473
Publication date2019-08-08
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Critical Realism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1476-7430 • E-ISSN: 1572-5138
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14767430.2019.1656924
OpenAlexW2971908641
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited21

Margaret Archer’s concepts of educational centralization and decentralization, developed in her classical study Social Origins of Educational Systems ([1979] 2013), differ from current conceptions in mainstream research where centralization and decentralization are defined as strategies of governance aiming to redistribute decision-making authority and/or is measured by indicators of ‘school autonomy’. Archer’s definitions of centralized and decentralized systems and the currently dominant conceptions are rooted in divergent ontological assumptions. Current research implicitly assumes a flat ontology, an ontology of practice, while Archers concepts of centralized and decentralized systems are based in an ontology of emergence. Her real definition of an educational system, whether centralized or decentralized, which identifies its emergent structures and mechanisms, is superior to current conceptualizations in the sense of having explanatory power. Analyses of recent educational development in Norway employing current mainstream conceptions and an alternative analysis using Archer’s concepts illustrate the greater explanatory power of the latter

Critical theory · Economics · Epistemology · Positive economics · Realism · Sociology · Critical Realism in Sociology · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Philosophy · Political theory and Gramsci

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