Managing legitimacy in the educational quasi-market: a study of ethnically diverse, inclusive schools in Flanders

Abstract

In this paper, we examine how ethnically diverse, inclusive schools manage their legitimacy in an educational quasi-market. These schools are often threatened with a loss of legitimacy as ethnic majority parents perceive an ethnically diverse student population and radical pedagogical practices as signs of lower quality education. However, precisely legitimacy in the eyes of ethnic majority parents is crucial to acquire resources, motivate staff members and maintain their ability to offer quality education, necessary to minimize the majority–minority educational attainment gap in the long run. Drawing on a theoretical approach combining neo-institutional and impression management theories, we empirically investigate how four ethnically diverse, inclusive secondary schools embedded in the highly exclusive Flemish educational quasi-market manage their legitimacy. Comparing their legitimacy management strategies, we find that maintaining legitimacy is related to (1) formally conforming to dominant norms, decoupling their radical practices by relegating them to the informal sphere; and (2) proactively manipulating perceptions of the school’s ethnic diversity and radical pedagogical practices. However, our findings suggest that an ambiguous version of these strategies might be sufficient to achieve this aim.