Envisaging Transnational Solidarities: A Comparative Study of Europe-rich Schools

• Applicant: Dr. Simona Szakács-Behling
• Subject Area: General Education and History of Education
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 396205389

Solidarity is a core issue of contention in Europe today, and a concept that is witnessing a revival across the social sciences. While scholarly attention has turned to solidarity in a crisis-torn Europe, in particular to its normative conceptualizations, practices, and institutions, the question of which meanings of solidarity are projected within particular institutional contexts and how different participants engage with these meanings is still open. There is a surprising lack of attention to how young people of different walks of life (the future European citizens who will shape Europe) engage with the concept of solidarity. This study aims to address this lacuna by comparatively examining which different meanings of solidarity take precedence over others in several Europe-rich school contexts, and how. Specifically, by undertaking qualitative comparative empirical work in three schools considered as exemplars of transnational educational spaces (i.e. a Schola Europaea, an Accredited Schola Europaea, and a Haupt- and/or Realschule Europaschule) it aims to answer three research questions: (1) What understandings of solidarity are being promoted by the explicit policies and curriculum of different schools with a distinct European ethos?; (2) How do teachers and pupils engage with these officially-endorsed concepts of solidarity in their everyday school practices?; (3) How do different Europe-rich schools compare in their official promotion and everyday use of notions of solidarity across modes of organization and positions in the educational opportunity structure? These questions are empirically grounded in policy analysis, textbook and curriculum analysis, classroom observations, interviews with teachers, and focus groups with pupils. Three schools have been selected for comparison based on two criteria: first, their mode of organisation (transnational vs. national); second, their privileged or less-privileged status in terms of access policies and aspirational horizon offered to pupils (academic vs. vocational path). Overall, the project responds not only to the pressing need across Europe to understand how contemporary young people in both privileged and less privileged positions engage with solidarity in their daily practices but also to calls to take transnational dynamics in education more seriously. By drawing on a conceptual framework that combines neo-institutional approaches to policy with ethnographic perspectives on everyday practices, the project promises to generate novel insights into how, why and when different meanings of solidarity are mobilized by young people in Europe in particular schooling contexts. It also seeks to make a significant contribution to ongoing debates about Europeanisation and globalisation in and of education. Expected outcomes include five articles in peer-reviewed journals, four presentations at international conferences, and a published postdoctoral monograph (Habilitation).

• DFG Programme: Research Grants