Meritocracy in teacher’s minds: an analysis of teacher’s discourses related to educational success, failure and drop out

Abstract

The objective of the paper is to analyse the implicit conceptions of social class hidden in teachers’ discourses and practices when referring to their students’ processes of educational success, failure or drop out. The analysis is developed trough a qualitative methodology based on interviews to principals, pedagogic coordinators and teachers from different compulsory secondary schools in Catalonia. The results illustrate three main explanations regarding the students’ risk of educational failure and drop out: the student’s lack of commitment, the family deficit, and the patologisation of diversity. Summing up, they exemplify how the hegemonic meritocratic logic is embedded in teacher’s daily discourses and practices, thus, generating key effects in terms of educational equity and quality.