Slavko Gaber | University of Ljubljana (original) (raw)
Papers by Slavko Gaber
This volume offers a new view on gender structuring in contemporary Slovenia and the persistence ... more This volume offers a new view on gender structuring in contemporary Slovenia and the persistence of the gender order – produced and reproduced through gender regimes in education, work, family life and politics. With a focus on the low presence of women in politics, the study analyses empirical data, mapping structural changes, delays of changes and the persistence of existing social structures over several decades. It appears that the choices individuals make in their lives are made in a specific social context of structural opportunities and obstacles. As such, gender difference is first socially produced and later universally used for justification of that stratification.
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Aug 19, 2013
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 2015
Simola, Hannu (2014). The Finnish Education Mystery. London and New York: Routledge, 308 pp. ISBN... more Simola, Hannu (2014). The Finnish Education Mystery. London and New York: Routledge, 308 pp. ISBN 978041-581-258-0.Reviewed by Slavko Gaber1Hannu Simola, author of The Finnish Education Mystery (with the subtitle Historical and Sociological Essays on Schooling) is the best-known Finnish sociologist of education of the middle generation2 and an influential sociologist of education beyond the borders of Europe as well.His new book3 brings an inspiring and different approach to the topic of the already extensively thematised (and recently also troubled) success of education in Finland.In the eyes of educational thinkers and policymakers in Finland, Simola is an "agent provocateur", a kind of "enfant terrible" reflecting on their work. Anyone following the mainstream articles and books discussing Finnish success in education will soon realise where these qualifications lead.The anthology, parts of which we present here, is about Finnish basic education, "about the pursuits and coincidences, contradictions and paradoxes that have constructed it as it appears nowadays: a celebrated case in the global education policy space, created by international rankings, primarily the PISA studies" (Simola, 2014, p. xii).Although numerous delegations of policymakers and experts4 have visited Finnish authorities, schools and communities to learn about the drivers of excellence in education, and despite the many books discussing the topic, Simola argues that it is still worth studying the "Finnish case". His claim highlights the fact that its explanatory potential is not only related to the study of a curiosity from the north, but rather to considering it as an example of a possible approach to education as an agency adding to the opportunities for decent life trajectories in contemporary societies. Although Finland is, in terms of population, a small country, Simola suggests five reasons why it is still worth studying: 1) its size; 2) its cultural mix; 3) the fact that it goes against the flow; 4) it is part of the broader Nordic WS project; and 5) it is possible to study it "as an accelerated, compressed example of the global process of mass schooling (...). Finland is among the European nations that have very recently left behind their agrarian society and lifestyle" (ibid.). In addition, it is very likely that a number of other countries have either travelled or will travel through similar trajectories.The structure and titles of the four sections of the book and its twelve chapters are telling in themselves, and provide the reader with an enticing invitation to read: I. Education policy-making and governance: struggling between egalitarianism and market liberalism; II. Teachers and their education: paradoxes in a successful professionalization project; III. Schooling practices: a peculiar marriage of the traditional and the progressive; IV. Understanding the Finnish PISA miracle: decent work ethics, reasonable leadership and lucky constellations; followed by the Aftermath.Indeed, I believe that readers will not be disappointed. They are likely to remain with the author for some time, and to return to him often during their own research in education, particularly if their area of research is comparative education and conceptualisations of contemporary shifts in rationalities of education and its agents.If we continue our selective snapshots of The Finnish Education Mystery with the first chapter - Firmly bolted into the air (wishful rationalism as a discursive basis for educational reforms?) - we are immediately in the realm of one of the author's thought-provoking theses. Simola is convinced that reforms do not usually bring improvements in education; as he puts it in another chapter of the book: "We do know (...) that we should ask how schools change the reforms rather than the reverse. The reforms change the school, indeed, but rarely in the intended direction" (p. 157). So-called contextualisation (cf. …
Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen ... more Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen sowie Abwandlungen und Bearbeitungen des Werkes bzw. Inhaltes anfertigen, solange Sie den Namen des Autors/Rechteinhabers in der von ihm festgelegten Weise nennen.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Oct 1, 2015
Baranovic Branka (Ed.) (2015). Koji srednjoskolci namjeravaju studirati? - Pristup visokom obrazo... more Baranovic Branka (Ed.) (2015). Koji srednjoskolci namjeravaju studirati? - Pristup visokom obrazovanju i odabir studija [What Do High School Students Plan to Study? - Access to Higher Education and Choice of Study]. Zagreb: Institut za drustvena istrazivanja. 302 p. ISBN 978-953-6218-68-4Reviewed by Slavko GaberThe book Koji srednjoskolci namjeravaju studirati? - Pristup visokom obrazovanju i odabir studija was written as a result of the project Socijalni identiteti, pristup visokom obrazovanju i odabir studija (Social Identities, Access to Higher Education and Study Selection). The work is published by Institut za drustvena istrazivanja u Zagrebu and contains 302 pages.In the introduction to this publication, Baranovic Branka, the editor of this well-structured work by various authors, writes: "the purpose of this book is to present the results of empirical research of the social, institutional and individual aspects of the decision of Croatian secondary school pupils regarding the continuation of their education on the level of higher education and their selection of study area" (ibid. p. 4).The research that forms the basis for the preparation of the work in question was undertaken in 2014 in 98 secondary schools (grammar schools, threeyear vocational schools and four-year vocational schools), involving a sample of 2,106 secondary school pupils. The project was executed by the Centre for the Study and Development of Education, Institute for Social Issues in Zagreb. The research group comprised: Dr Branislava Baranovic (project leader), Dr Karin Doolan, Dr Ivana Jugovic, Olgica Klepac, Dr Iva Kosutic and Dr Sasa Puzic. (cf ibid., 5). This research team wrote the individual chapters of the presented work, with the addition of two texts by foreign authors (Zgaga, Farnell).The work has three parts.1. In the first part, the texts address the social and theoretical frameworks of the analysis of access from the selection of study on the part of students from various social profiles, genders, etc. In this part, particular mention should be made of:a) Bourdieu's conceptual framework and theoretical practice as a point of departure for the study as a whole;b) the authors' emphasis on the social and gender dimensions of higher education in Croatia. This emphasis makes an important contribution to the relevance, focus and breadth of the treatment of the problem of equality both in socialist and capitalist society, as well as contributing to an analysis of the reproduction of inequality in the field of education. …
Change in education is a structured development. In Slovenia as a newly established country, it w... more Change in education is a structured development. In Slovenia as a newly established country, it was a challenging, enriching, conflicting and demanding endeavour. Looking back, sound changes as well as misconceptions and illusions can be viewed in a different light. With the benefit of hindsight, many of the misconceptions now appear as damaging-some even dangerousin the long term. Yet some of them were needed and had their purpose. Slovenia declared independence in 1991 and struggled to be recognised. But when, in May 1992, I became a member of the cabinet responsible for education, recognition was only one of many topics on the agenda. We somehow knew that in due course we would be recognised. Many other and often more pressing problems were mixed and intertwined: growing unemployment, striking workers, the loss of traditional markets in the former Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of refugees pouring in from the former Yugoslavia and future-oriented projects.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2001
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2012
In January 2008 Slovenia assumed the Presidency of the European Union, and, in its mandate it coo... more In January 2008 Slovenia assumed the Presidency of the European Union, and, in its mandate it coordinated the ratification process of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union, which is interpreted by some as a European constitution.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Jun 30, 2012
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Mar 31, 2015
Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen ... more Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen sowie Abwandlungen und Bearbeitungen des Werkes bzw. Inhaltes anfertigen, solange Sie den Namen des Autors/Rechteinhabers in der von ihm festgelegten Weise nennen.
Representation, Mar 1, 1992
Even more so than other Republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Sloveni... more Even more so than other Republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slovenia does not fit in the usual pattern of transition from Communism to democracy in the sense that the country did not experience an East European kind of totalitarian rule with closed borders and dissidents, that a special kind of federal arrangement has been in force and that for the last five or so years there existed a successful opposition to Communist rule. These features are reflected, among others, in the electoral law and above all in the ...
Journal of Area Studies, 1993
The following paper attempts to point out the inadequacies of understanding democracy as the best... more The following paper attempts to point out the inadequacies of understanding democracy as the best among bad systems through an analysis of Slovenia's transition from one form of government to another and its establishment of new identities for its citizens. The paper's object is to introduce a hint of discomfort into the comprehension of representative democracy as a kind of panacea.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Dec 31, 2015
Laveres, F. (ur.) (2003). Well-being and involvement in care. A process-oriented self-evaluation ... more Laveres, F. (ur.) (2003). Well-being and involvement in care. A process-oriented self-evaluation instrument for care settings. (Manual). Leuven: Research Centre for Experiential Education, K&G.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Jun 23, 2021
Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf N... more Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. Die Nutzung stellt keine Übertragung des Eigentumsrechts an diesem Dokument dar und gilt vorbehaltlich der folgenden Einschränkungen: Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. We grant a non-exclusive, non-transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. This document is solely intended for your personal, non-commercial use. Use of this document does not include any transfer of property rights and it is conditional to the following limitations: All of the copies of this documents must retain all copyright information and other information regarding legal protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the document in public. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated conditions of use.
This volume offers a new view on gender structuring in contemporary Slovenia and the persistence ... more This volume offers a new view on gender structuring in contemporary Slovenia and the persistence of the gender order – produced and reproduced through gender regimes in education, work, family life and politics. With a focus on the low presence of women in politics, the study analyses empirical data, mapping structural changes, delays of changes and the persistence of existing social structures over several decades. It appears that the choices individuals make in their lives are made in a specific social context of structural opportunities and obstacles. As such, gender difference is first socially produced and later universally used for justification of that stratification.
Palgrave Macmillan eBooks, Aug 19, 2013
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 2015
Simola, Hannu (2014). The Finnish Education Mystery. London and New York: Routledge, 308 pp. ISBN... more Simola, Hannu (2014). The Finnish Education Mystery. London and New York: Routledge, 308 pp. ISBN 978041-581-258-0.Reviewed by Slavko Gaber1Hannu Simola, author of The Finnish Education Mystery (with the subtitle Historical and Sociological Essays on Schooling) is the best-known Finnish sociologist of education of the middle generation2 and an influential sociologist of education beyond the borders of Europe as well.His new book3 brings an inspiring and different approach to the topic of the already extensively thematised (and recently also troubled) success of education in Finland.In the eyes of educational thinkers and policymakers in Finland, Simola is an "agent provocateur", a kind of "enfant terrible" reflecting on their work. Anyone following the mainstream articles and books discussing Finnish success in education will soon realise where these qualifications lead.The anthology, parts of which we present here, is about Finnish basic education, "about the pursuits and coincidences, contradictions and paradoxes that have constructed it as it appears nowadays: a celebrated case in the global education policy space, created by international rankings, primarily the PISA studies" (Simola, 2014, p. xii).Although numerous delegations of policymakers and experts4 have visited Finnish authorities, schools and communities to learn about the drivers of excellence in education, and despite the many books discussing the topic, Simola argues that it is still worth studying the "Finnish case". His claim highlights the fact that its explanatory potential is not only related to the study of a curiosity from the north, but rather to considering it as an example of a possible approach to education as an agency adding to the opportunities for decent life trajectories in contemporary societies. Although Finland is, in terms of population, a small country, Simola suggests five reasons why it is still worth studying: 1) its size; 2) its cultural mix; 3) the fact that it goes against the flow; 4) it is part of the broader Nordic WS project; and 5) it is possible to study it "as an accelerated, compressed example of the global process of mass schooling (...). Finland is among the European nations that have very recently left behind their agrarian society and lifestyle" (ibid.). In addition, it is very likely that a number of other countries have either travelled or will travel through similar trajectories.The structure and titles of the four sections of the book and its twelve chapters are telling in themselves, and provide the reader with an enticing invitation to read: I. Education policy-making and governance: struggling between egalitarianism and market liberalism; II. Teachers and their education: paradoxes in a successful professionalization project; III. Schooling practices: a peculiar marriage of the traditional and the progressive; IV. Understanding the Finnish PISA miracle: decent work ethics, reasonable leadership and lucky constellations; followed by the Aftermath.Indeed, I believe that readers will not be disappointed. They are likely to remain with the author for some time, and to return to him often during their own research in education, particularly if their area of research is comparative education and conceptualisations of contemporary shifts in rationalities of education and its agents.If we continue our selective snapshots of The Finnish Education Mystery with the first chapter - Firmly bolted into the air (wishful rationalism as a discursive basis for educational reforms?) - we are immediately in the realm of one of the author's thought-provoking theses. Simola is convinced that reforms do not usually bring improvements in education; as he puts it in another chapter of the book: "We do know (...) that we should ask how schools change the reforms rather than the reverse. The reforms change the school, indeed, but rarely in the intended direction" (p. 157). So-called contextualisation (cf. …
Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen ... more Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen sowie Abwandlungen und Bearbeitungen des Werkes bzw. Inhaltes anfertigen, solange Sie den Namen des Autors/Rechteinhabers in der von ihm festgelegten Weise nennen.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Oct 1, 2015
Baranovic Branka (Ed.) (2015). Koji srednjoskolci namjeravaju studirati? - Pristup visokom obrazo... more Baranovic Branka (Ed.) (2015). Koji srednjoskolci namjeravaju studirati? - Pristup visokom obrazovanju i odabir studija [What Do High School Students Plan to Study? - Access to Higher Education and Choice of Study]. Zagreb: Institut za drustvena istrazivanja. 302 p. ISBN 978-953-6218-68-4Reviewed by Slavko GaberThe book Koji srednjoskolci namjeravaju studirati? - Pristup visokom obrazovanju i odabir studija was written as a result of the project Socijalni identiteti, pristup visokom obrazovanju i odabir studija (Social Identities, Access to Higher Education and Study Selection). The work is published by Institut za drustvena istrazivanja u Zagrebu and contains 302 pages.In the introduction to this publication, Baranovic Branka, the editor of this well-structured work by various authors, writes: "the purpose of this book is to present the results of empirical research of the social, institutional and individual aspects of the decision of Croatian secondary school pupils regarding the continuation of their education on the level of higher education and their selection of study area" (ibid. p. 4).The research that forms the basis for the preparation of the work in question was undertaken in 2014 in 98 secondary schools (grammar schools, threeyear vocational schools and four-year vocational schools), involving a sample of 2,106 secondary school pupils. The project was executed by the Centre for the Study and Development of Education, Institute for Social Issues in Zagreb. The research group comprised: Dr Branislava Baranovic (project leader), Dr Karin Doolan, Dr Ivana Jugovic, Olgica Klepac, Dr Iva Kosutic and Dr Sasa Puzic. (cf ibid., 5). This research team wrote the individual chapters of the presented work, with the addition of two texts by foreign authors (Zgaga, Farnell).The work has three parts.1. In the first part, the texts address the social and theoretical frameworks of the analysis of access from the selection of study on the part of students from various social profiles, genders, etc. In this part, particular mention should be made of:a) Bourdieu's conceptual framework and theoretical practice as a point of departure for the study as a whole;b) the authors' emphasis on the social and gender dimensions of higher education in Croatia. This emphasis makes an important contribution to the relevance, focus and breadth of the treatment of the problem of equality both in socialist and capitalist society, as well as contributing to an analysis of the reproduction of inequality in the field of education. …
Change in education is a structured development. In Slovenia as a newly established country, it w... more Change in education is a structured development. In Slovenia as a newly established country, it was a challenging, enriching, conflicting and demanding endeavour. Looking back, sound changes as well as misconceptions and illusions can be viewed in a different light. With the benefit of hindsight, many of the misconceptions now appear as damaging-some even dangerousin the long term. Yet some of them were needed and had their purpose. Slovenia declared independence in 1991 and struggled to be recognised. But when, in May 1992, I became a member of the cabinet responsible for education, recognition was only one of many topics on the agenda. We somehow knew that in due course we would be recognised. Many other and often more pressing problems were mixed and intertwined: growing unemployment, striking workers, the loss of traditional markets in the former Yugoslavia, tens of thousands of refugees pouring in from the former Yugoslavia and future-oriented projects.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2001
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2012
In January 2008 Slovenia assumed the Presidency of the European Union, and, in its mandate it coo... more In January 2008 Slovenia assumed the Presidency of the European Union, and, in its mandate it coordinated the ratification process of the Treaty on the Functioning of the Union, which is interpreted by some as a European constitution.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Jun 30, 2012
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Mar 31, 2015
Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen ... more Sie dürfen das Werk bzw. den Inhalt vervielfältigen, verbreiten und öffentlich zugänglich machen sowie Abwandlungen und Bearbeitungen des Werkes bzw. Inhaltes anfertigen, solange Sie den Namen des Autors/Rechteinhabers in der von ihm festgelegten Weise nennen.
Representation, Mar 1, 1992
Even more so than other Republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Sloveni... more Even more so than other Republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slovenia does not fit in the usual pattern of transition from Communism to democracy in the sense that the country did not experience an East European kind of totalitarian rule with closed borders and dissidents, that a special kind of federal arrangement has been in force and that for the last five or so years there existed a successful opposition to Communist rule. These features are reflected, among others, in the electoral law and above all in the ...
Journal of Area Studies, 1993
The following paper attempts to point out the inadequacies of understanding democracy as the best... more The following paper attempts to point out the inadequacies of understanding democracy as the best among bad systems through an analysis of Slovenia's transition from one form of government to another and its establishment of new identities for its citizens. The paper's object is to introduce a hint of discomfort into the comprehension of representative democracy as a kind of panacea.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Dec 31, 2015
Laveres, F. (ur.) (2003). Well-being and involvement in care. A process-oriented self-evaluation ... more Laveres, F. (ur.) (2003). Well-being and involvement in care. A process-oriented self-evaluation instrument for care settings. (Manual). Leuven: Research Centre for Experiential Education, K&G.
CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, Jun 23, 2021
Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf N... more Gewährt wird ein nicht exklusives, nicht übertragbares, persönliches und beschränktes Recht auf Nutzung dieses Dokuments. Dieses Dokument ist ausschließlich für den persönlichen, nicht-kommerziellen Gebrauch bestimmt. Die Nutzung stellt keine Übertragung des Eigentumsrechts an diesem Dokument dar und gilt vorbehaltlich der folgenden Einschränkungen: Auf sämtlichen Kopien dieses Dokuments müssen alle Urheberrechtshinweise und sonstigen Hinweise auf gesetzlichen Schutz beibehalten werden. Sie dürfen dieses Dokument nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. We grant a non-exclusive, non-transferable, individual and limited right to using this document. This document is solely intended for your personal, non-commercial use. Use of this document does not include any transfer of property rights and it is conditional to the following limitations: All of the copies of this documents must retain all copyright information and other information regarding legal protection. You are not allowed to alter this document in any way, to copy it for public or commercial purposes, to exhibit the document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the document in public. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated conditions of use.