The knowledge-policy relationship in (French-speaking) Belgium : lessons from the past, keys for the future

Background The literature on education policy in Europe suggests a trend towards new post-bureaucratic modes of governance (Maroy 2006) that put evaluation and steering at the centre of their operative principles. Knowledge then becomes a key for governing and the new figure of the State becomes that of the “Evaluation State”. This paper examines whether and how this trend actually penetrates the (French-speaking) Belgian context by focusing on its interrelation with institutional features inherited from the past. Analytical framework The paper first describes Belgium as a consociational democracy, that is, a society largely organized around distinct integrated pillars (catholic / laic), each providing a wide range of services (education, training, health services, health insurance, social care, family planning, leisure) to “its” people. We argue that this specific politico-institutional arrangement – though it has evolved - has deep implications for knowledge use and understanding in the policy sphere (Mangez 2008, 2009). More precisely, it has deep implications for the way knowledge circulates (or not), and is used (or not) both within pillars and networks and across the policy community. We argue that consociational democracies are not likely to generate a knowledge-driven policy community. In fact, discretion and trust have historically been central for the Belgian consociative arrangement as they formed an implicit peace-keeping agreement between communities ensuring their autonomy. In such a context, new (transnational) emphasizes on quality, evaluation, performance, steering and benchmarking appear rather disruptive. This interrelation between the past (discretion, trust) and a possible future (evaluation, accountability) helps us understand the rather hybrid form and shape of the Belgian “Evaluation State” and explains why its emerging evaluation strategies remain under-developed (Varone and De Visscher, 2001). Research interest and method However the process of globalization and Europeanization did lead to recent changes within this old arrangement: more knowledge about the system is now wanted and common regulation develops. Several education policy issues - among which that of the curriculum - have recently been subject to new common regulation. In the last part of the paper curriculum reform is taken as a case study to investigate such changes. Results and discussion Although each school network is now obliged to follow common guidelines, they remain responsible for translating them into their own curriculum programs. Lexicometrical analysis shows that, when transposing common guidelines into their own curriculums, each network re-introduces its own values and cultural references (including its own understanding of the role of knowledge) in the picture. References Mangez E. (2008) Knowledge use and circulation in a consociative democracy, in Delvaux B, Mangez C, Mangez E, Maroy C. "The social and cognitive mapping: the sector of education in Belgium", research report, pp 31 – 43. Mangez E. (2009), De la nécessité de discrétion à l’Etat évaluateur, La Revue Nouvelle, Juillet-aout 2009, 32-37 Maroy C. (2006), École, régulation et marché : une comparaison de six espaces scolaires locaux en Europe, Presses universitaires de France. Varone Fr, de Visscher Chr. (2001), Introduction, dans Chr. de Visscher et Fr. Varone, (eds), Évaluer les politiques publiques. Regards croisés sur la Belgique, Academia-Bruylant, p. 7-17.