Het intern beroep in het gewoon voltijds secundair onderwijs

Subtitle:iedereen gelijk voor de wet? Onderzoek naar de rechtsbescherming in de onderwijspraktijk na het Rechtspositiedecreet voor leerlingen

The Decree on the Legal Status of Pupils, which came into force on 1 September 2014, introduced several crucial innovations aimed at strengthening the legal position of pupils in compulsory education; also the internal appeal procedure was reformed. This doctoral research addresses the question of educational practice in Flanders regarding internal appeals against final exclusion and evaluation decisions in secondary education. The study is based on two research questions: (1) "What is the use and success rate of the internal appeal process against evaluation decisions and decisions to exclude pupils in regular full-time secondary education?" and (2) "Which policy do schools pursue concerning legal protection against disputes over evaluation decisions and decisions to exclude pupils in regular full-time secondary education?". In view of these two questions, two empirical studies were conducted. Regarding the first research question, a quantitative study was set up by means of a large-scale online survey of schools. For the second research question, a mix of quantitative and qualitative data was used. The qualitative data were collected by means of in-depth interviews with various stakeholders. The research concluded that the strengthening of the legal position of the pupil did not lead to a significant increase in the number of procedures, when the Decree was introduced. This applies both to the frequency of internal appeal procedures in general and to the procedures against evaluation decisions or against final exclusion in particular. For both internal appeals, however, the trend in success rates is inverse. Several school characteristics appear to be related to the application and success rate of internal appeals in general or internal appeals against evaluation decisions or final exclusion decisions in particular: the educational network, the educational track, the student population profile and the school climate. Schools can reduce the number of procedures through communication and professionalism. However, because of the motives for lodging an appeal, they cannot and should not aspire to avoid all appeal procedures. There are many differences in the behaviour and policies of schools concerning legal protection, which have an impact on, among other things, access to, perception of and credibility of internal appeal. The research project leads to several recommendations to optimise the legal protection through internal appeal, for the government, the applicant, the school, the appeals committee and finally teacher professionalisation institutions.

Publication year:2021

Keywords:Doctoral thesis

Accessibility:Closed