Regulation in school systems: a theoretical analysis of the structural framework of the school system in French-speaking Belgium

In the context of a weakening social consensus about the purpose of schooling, what kind of social forms and procedures enable educative action to be co-ordinated and stabilized, at least to some extent? In order to answer this question, the authors develop a two-fold approach to regulation within school systems, defining regulation as ‘the process through which rules are produced and social action is oriented’. From a methodological point of view, grasping this process encompasses both an analysis of the structural framework and a comprehension of the social interactions which produce rules. On the one hand, regulation is understood as the articulation of several forms of co-ordination resulting from a particular historical process. The analysis of the structural (institutional) framework in French-speaking Belgium illustrates this first moment of the approach. On the other hand, attention is given to interactions and games between actors, particularly at a local level, in order to understand how rules are constructed and how organized action can emerge.