The Politics of Comprehensive School Reforms: Cleavages and Coalitions (Cambridge Studies in the Comparative Politics of Education)

Why are school systems structured differently across countries? The Politics of Comprehensive School Reform examines this question through an in-depth analysis of school politics in Germany and Norway during the post-war period of educational expansion. Using a Rokkanian theoretical framework, the book argues that school politics can only be understood in light of the cleavages, or political divides, that shape actors' interests, ideologies, and inclinations for who they want to cooperate with - or not. The book analyzes cross-cutting cleavages connected to religion, geography, language, anticommunism, and gender, and demonstrates how Norwegian social democrats and German Christian democrats built successful coalitions by mobilizing support from different social groups. Extensively researched and expansively applicable, this book contributes to the interdisciplinary literature on the politics of education, and to the field of comparative welfare and education regime research. This book is also available Open Access on Cambridge Core. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Tables Acknowledgments 1 Introduction The Literature Theoretical Framework Power Resources Theory Rokkanian Cleavage Theory The Politics of Comprehensive School Reforms: Reflections and Expectations The Argument and Structure of This Book A Note on the Book’s History, Methodology, and Case Selection 2 Back to the Roots Schooling in Norway up to the 1950s The Formation of the Norwegian State and Education System The School As a Nation-Building Institution Educational Expansion and the First Comprehensive School Reforms The Introduction of the Seven-Year Comprehensive School The Reform Movement of the 1920s and 1930s Warming Up for New Reforms: The 1940s and Early 1950s Schooling in Prussia/North Rhine–Westphalia up to the 1950s Prussian State-Building and the Education System State-Church Conflicts in Prussian Education Politics Educational Expansion: Liberal and Social-Democratic Demands Reform Struggles during the Weimar Republic Nazi Politics of Educational Restriction Restoration or Reform? The Late 1940s and 1950s Comparison: Setting the Scene for the Postwar Reform Period 3 Political Playing Fields: Actors’ Power Resources and Social Base The Norwegian Playing Field Political Parties Teachers’ Organizations Other Actors The German Playing Field Political Parties Teachers’ Organizations Other Actors Comparison: Playing Fields in Postwar Education Politics 4 The Class Cleavage: Struggles over Comprehensive Schooling The Norwegian Youth School Reform Experiments with the First Youth Schools and Nine-Year Obligatory Schooling Experiments with Reduced Organizational Differentiation The Regularization of the Youth School The Grading Debate The Final Debate on Differentiation Comprehensive School Reforms in North Rhine–Westphalia Early Debates on Comprehensive and Nine-Year Obligatory Schooling The Introduction of the Integrated Comprehensive School Reforms Suggested by the Christian Democratic Union Continued Struggles over the Integrated Comprehensive School The Failed Introduction of the Cooperative School Comparison: The Class Cleavage in Postwar Education Politics 5 The Crosscutting Cleavages: Struggles over Religion, Centralization, Language, Anti-communism, and Gender Struggles over Religion The Norwegian Debate about Christian Education and Christian Private Schools The Debate on Denominational Schooling and Private Schools in North Rhine–Westphalia Struggles over Centralization The Centralization Debate in Norway Debates about Rural Schooling and Centralization in North Rhine–Westphalia The Norwegian Language Struggle in Education Politics German Anti-communism in Education Politics Struggles over Gender Norwegian Debates on Gender Roles, Girls’ Education, and Homemaking Education Debates on Gender Roles, Girls’ Education, and Coeducation in North Rhine–Westphalia Comparison: The Significance of Crosscutting Cleavages 6 Conclusion Cleavage Structures and Education Politics in Norway and Germany Implications for Comparative Welfare State and Education Regime Research Open Questions The Politics of Schooling Today: Is the Rokkanian Perspective Still Relevant? Annex Documents Published by the Norwegian Parliament and Its Committees Documents Published by the North Rhine–Westphalian Parliament and Its Committees Manifestos of Norwegian Parties Manifestos of German Parties Expert Interviews: Biographical Introductions References Index Why are school systems structured differently across countries? This book examines this question through an in-depth analysis of school politics in Germany and Norway during the post-war period of educational expansion. It uses a Rokkanian theoretical framework to make sense of the cross-interest coalitions behind important school reforms.