Understanding · Diagnosing · Influence · Conditions · Development · Literature
From Structure to Concrete Practice
Building on the diagnostic framework, it is now possible to examine more closely how participation manifests itself in everyday school life.
Participation is not experienced in the abstract, but within concrete situations of decision making. Only when these situations are systematically examined does it become visible where participation actually takes place and in what form it occurs.
Decision Making in Everyday School Life
In everyday school life, decisions are constantly made that differ in their significance for those involved. These decisions concern not only teaching, but the entire organisational context of schools.
They include, for example, decisions concerning:
- which learning content and objectives are pursued and how learning is organised
- how performance is assessed and feedback is provided
- how collaboration among staff is organised and how institutional processes are coordinated
- which issues are addressed and further developed within school development processes
- how time structures are organised and how resources are allocated
These examples illustrate that participation relates to different areas of school practice, each of which follows its own logic. Participation may be strongly developed in one area while playing only a minor role in another. It is precisely these differences that often remain invisible in everyday school life.
Different Forms of Influence
Alongside the question of what decisions are made, it is equally important to consider how influence can be exercised. In everyday school life, different forms of influence can be distinguished:
- Self determination: Decisions can be made independently
- Shared decision making: Perspectives are contributed and decisions are negotiated collectively
- External determination: Decisions are made without one’s own influence
These forms should not be understood as rigid categories, but rather as typical patterns that may vary depending on the situation.
Participation Emerges Through Their Interplay
Participation arises through the combination of decision areas and forms of influence.
For example, shared decision making may be possible in relation to the organisation of teaching, while decisions concerning assessment practices remain predominantly externally determined. In other areas, such as organisational procedures or questions of resource allocation, opportunities for influence may remain limited.
Only through this combination does it become visible how participation is actually structured in everyday school life. Differences emerge that remain hidden within more general perspectives.
Different Perspectives on the Same Situation
Another important aspect is that participation is not experienced in the same way by all groups involved.
Students, teachers, and school leaders may perceive the same decision making situation differently. While teachers, for example, may perceive a high degree of participation, students may assess their own opportunities for influence as considerably more limited.
Such differences are not unusual in everyday school life. They illustrate that participation is always also a matter of perspective and cannot be derived solely from formal responsibilities or structures.
What This Makes Visible
When decision areas and forms of influence are examined systematically, a differentiated picture emerges:
- it becomes visible in which areas participation is already practised
- it becomes apparent where opportunities for influence are absent or unclear
- differences between groups of actors come into view
- typical patterns and blind spots become recognisable
Participation is therefore no longer described merely in general terms, but becomes understandable in its concrete manifestations.
Making influence visible is a first step. It reveals where participation takes place and where it does not.
This gives rise to a further question:
Why is participation possible in some areas while remaining restricted in others?
This question leads to the conditions under which participation emerges or is constrained.
The following page illustrates how these conditions can be analysed systematically.