Sociale ongelijkheid van onderwijskansen; vijf interpretaties van sociale werkelijkheid

Inequality of educational opportunity is a problem in history. In the last twenty-five years, views of this problem have been changing in connection with a growing awareness that social inequality is a fundamental characteristic of contemporary society. The definition of the problem varies with one's interpretation & definition of social reality. There are at least five different definitions of the problem in the recent literature on education. They differ from each other in the number of social structural features that are considered problematic in the emancipation of socially deprived groups from institutional coercion. Hence, different historical patterns in the organization of the educational process related to the DofL & of power are taken for granted or considered problematic. Important documents, such as the English Education Act of 1944 & The Coleman Report, as well as the 'deschooling movement' are classified & interpreted in this way. In Commentaar en discussie [Comment and Discussion], L. Huyse criticizes Matthijssen for using ill-defined terminology & for the fact that five definitions of 'educational inequality' are not on the same level: the first three deal with educational opportunities, the last two with "education & social life." The successive goals of the Belgian workers' movement relative to education (which correspond to the first three definitions) reflect a consistent vision of society. This refutes the thesis that different conceptions of educational problems correspond to different conceptions of social problems. In Repliek: sociale ongelykheid, vacuum verpakt (Reply: Vacuum Packed Social Inequality), Matthijssen answers that his five definitions lie on a continuum & that the last two differ from the others in that the ideal they embody has not yet been realized. They are therefore somewhat vague. L. Huyse inadvertently proves the usefulness of these definitions since he finds them applicable to Belgian phenomena. 1 Table. Modified HA.