Conference Agenda

The role of organizations in societal development has been a significant topic area since Max Weber's (1922) work regarding the connection between bureaucratization and societal rationalization. At the same time, the question of the role of societal developments for organizations (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983), such as the increasing importance of diversity (Gardenswartz & Rowe, 1998; Dietz, 2007) in modern societies, plays an equally relevant role for organizational education research, which is interested in organizational learning, learning processes in, of, and between organizations (Göhlich et al., 2018). The presentations within the symposium are about questions like how diversity is understood in various organizations, how it can be encountered, and to what extent educational processes can be connected to or evoked by experiences of diversity. The symposium will focus on comparative, didactic, and methodological discussions regarding educational organizations such as schools, universities, and the temporary organization of Innovation Labs.

The first contribution presents a study focusing on a type of alternative education in China, i.e., Innovative Schools, that parents have chosen for their children as a substitute for the mainstream education the state provides. Diversity is addressed here in the sense that these schools provide an individualized education for children from middle-class families, thus offering an alternative to mainstream schools and their overwhelming emphasis on mechanical learning, discipline, and competition. However, the pursuit of diversity does not indicate a total separation from the mainstream script but rather connotes multiple (dis)connections between the alternative education space and mainstream schools. In that sense, the diversity of organizations (Tacke & Drepper, 2018) — here, the diversity of schools — is carefully negotiated in the Chinese context.

The second contribution also addresses the organizational space of schools (Rosenbusch & Huber, 2017). It focuses on learning processes within and between organizations. Diversity becomes relevant in the sense that the learning diversity of students, which has been affected by Corona, becomes the starting point, or at least the desiderata, for organizational educational learning processes. The presentation addresses learning processes within multi-professional teams and the importance of organizational-educational knowledge to address questions like staff diversity and how to prevent diversity approaches from turning into discrimination.

After the symposium addressed the diversity of and within schools, the third contribution addresses the need for creating a space for students within teacher education to explore their existential questions, which can facilitate inner transformation and ultimately lead to system transformation. This requires a different, more indirect pedagogy (Ristiniemi et al., 2018; Saeverot, 2013) and teachers' willingness to be vulnerable and disclose themselves. The study, which will be presented, used a reflective, interactive design research framework to co-create design principles and teacher manuals for facilitating this exploration in a way that considers the diversity of teachers. It was essential to focus on giving teachers room for their interpretation in creating this space. In that sense, this contribution addresses organizational space for diversity.

The fourth contribution deals with innovation labs as a space for diversity and education through diversity. A program is presented in which innovation labs have been conducted with regional stakeholders to promote sustainable development. The diversity of participants is recognized as a crucial aspect of an ‘innovative learning’ (Heidelmann et al., 2023/forthcoming) and innovation process and as an initial impulse for transformative educational processes (Koller, 2012). The article presents findings of a longitudinal study, which shows that regional stakeholders deal with the difference between contradictory positions and discourses in a dialogical way, thereby creating a unique experience. Here, innovation labs offer the potential to be a ‘third space’ (Bhabha, 2003) in which contradictionary discourses (Lyotard, 1994) can be articulated and brought together.

According to Sliwka (2008), alternative education refers to approaches of teaching and learning that are different from state-provided mainstream education. Recently, some discontent Chinese parents have opted for alternative types of education for their children, which include homeschooling, Classics Reading schools, and underground Christian schools (Xu & Spruyt, 2022). As a niche choice outside of mainstream education, providers of alternative education constantly face the challenge of attracting enough participating families. This requires them to prove their capability to cater to the specific needs of prospective families (Maguire et al., 1999). This is especially relevant in the Chinese context, which is characterized by high-stake exams, fierce educational competition (Howlett, 2021), and authoritarian educational governance (Schulte, 2018). This also raises the question of how these alternative schools present themselves to the public and position themselves in the Chinese educational system. In this research, we study one special type of alternative education, i.e., parent-innovative schools in China. We adopted the (dis)connection framework put forward by Kraftl (2013). According to Kraftl (2013), alternative learning space is a negotiated process that incorporates multiple forms of connections and disconnections with different mainstream institutions. School websites, brochures, and promotional materials are widely used by researchers as important sources to study how schools advertise themselves and argue for their legitimacy (Wilson & Carlsen, 2016). In this research, we conducted a qualitative thematic analysis based on the online promotional materials provided by five innovative schools in Beijing. Our analysis revealed the paradoxical efforts of the Innovative schools in negotiating their ‘alternavity’. By advocating for ‘individualized education for every child’, they seem to challenge the mainstream logic that focuses on competition and success. However, they are responding to the new educational demands of the urban middle class and winning themselves a survival niche in another way. While these schools highlight their humanistic educational beliefs in opposition of the utilitarian and exam-oriented mainstream schools, they also adopt some mainstream criteria unconsciously to argue for their legitimacy. More interestingly, while these innovative schools try to align themselves with the national educational agenda, their rhetoric also indicates the potential noncompliance of social elites. Through such negotiation, these schools manage to gain certain autonomy in an authoritarian context, and this phenomenon also sheds light on the struggle between control and autonomy for middle-class parents in post-socialist China.

Howlett, Z. M. (2021). Meritocracy and Its Discontents: Anxiety and the National College Entrance Exam in China. Cornell University Press. Kraftl, P. (2013). Geographies of Alternative Education: Diverse Learning Spaces for Children and Young People. Chicago Policy Press. Maguire, M., Ball, S., & Macrae, S. (1999). Promotion, Persuasion, and Class-taste: Marketing in the UK Post-compulsory Sector. British Journal of Sociology of Education 20(3), 291-308. Schulte, B. (2018). Allies and competitors: Private Schools and the State in China. In G. Steiner-Khamsi, & A. Draxler (Eds.), The State, Business and Education: Public-private Partnerships Revisited (pp. 68–84). Edward Elgar Publishing. Sliwka, A. (2008). The Contribution of Alternative Education. In Organisation of Economic and Cultural Development (Eds.) Innovating to Learn, Learning to Innovate, (pp. 93–112). OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/innovatingtolearnlearningtoinnovate.html. Wilson, T. S., & Carlsen, R.L. (2016). School Marketing as a Sorting Mechanism: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Charter School Websites. Peabody Journal of Education 91(1), 24-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2016.1119564 Xu, W., & Spruyt, B. (2022). 'The Road Less Travelled': Towards a Typology of Alternative Education in China. Comparative Education, 58(4), 434–450. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2022.2108615

With the funding program “Aufholen nach Corona”, the German federal and state governments are supporting various measures to reduce pandemic-related learning deficits among children and young people between 2021 and 2023 (BMFSFJ, 2022). In addition to support offers in core subjects and language support offers, the program includes other measures like class formation and violence prevention. The realization of these offers provides oganizational educational challenges for diversity-sensitive teaching in multiprofessional teams in the inclusive classroom in the highly differentiated German educational system (Rosenbusch, 2005). It traditionally consists of various school types and adapts only gradually to the demands of incluive teaching guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) (UN, 2006; Werning et al., 2008). Teaching in multiprofessional teams in the German inclusive classroom has so far largely been understood as cooperation between subject teachers, special education teachers, and social workers, financed by the state (Widmer-Wolf, 2018). As a rule, they are supported by specialists in school social work and participation assistants, who are financed by independent providers (Weimann-Sandig, 2022). The responsibilities and sponsorships in multiprofessional teams have been further differentiated with the program “Aufholen nach Corona”. The question of diversity thus extends to the staff in inclusive education (Loreman et al., 2005). Against this background, a clear definition of roles in the team, mutual acceptance, and working at eye level appear to be central prerequisites for teamwork in diversity-sensitive inclusive teaching (Heinrich et al., 2014). In addition to the fixed personnel and time resources that should frame joint work in inclusive teaching, there is a need of general and organizational information on diversity and inclusion. Otherwise, diversity in this context quickly turns into discrimination (Göhlich, 2012). These findings were outlined in a study on institutional discrimination using the example of school organization (Radtke & Gomolla, 2002). According to the study, simply raising the awareness of individual teachers regarding diversity can achieve little in view of the discriminatory interplay of political framework conditions and organizational routines; instead, concerted action would have to be taken at different levels of school organization (Gomolla, 2005). Regarding the organizational educational perspectives on diversity and cooperation in multi-professional teams in the inclusive classroom, these hypotheses should be put forward in the symposium with a wider audience.

BMFSFJ – Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (2022). Aktionsprogramm "Aufholen nach Corona für Kinder und Jugendliche". https://www.bmfsfj.de/bmfsfj/themen/corona-pandemie/aktionsprogramm-aufholen-nach-corona-fuer-kinder-und-jugendliche--178422 Göhlich, M. (2012). Organisation und kulturelle Differenz. In M. Göhlich, S. M. Weber, H. Öztürk, & N. Engel (Eds.), Organisation und kulturelle Differenz (pp. 1–23). Springer. Gomolla, M. (2005). Schulentwicklung in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft. Waxmann. Heinrich, M., Arndt, A. K. & Werning, R. (2014). Von "Fördertanten" und "Gymnasialempfehlungskindern". ZISU, 58. Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., & Harvey, D. (2005). Inclusive education: A practical guide to supporting diversity in the classroom. Psychology Press. Radtke, F. O., & Gomolla, M. (2002). Institutionelle Diskriminierung. Die Herstellung ethnischer Differenz in der Schule. Leske & Budrich. Rosenbusch, H. S. (2005). Organisationspädagogik der Schule: Grundlagen pädagogischen Führungshandelns. Luchterhand. UN – United Nations (2006). A Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-2.html Weimann-Sandig, N. (Ed.) (2022).. Multiprofessionelle Teamarbeit in Sozialen Dienstleistungsberufen. Springer. Werning, R., Löser, J. M., & Urban, M. (2008). Cultural and social diversity: An analysis of minority groups in German schools. The Journal of Special Education, 42(1), 47–54. Widmer-Wolf, P. (2018). "Kooperation in multiprofessionellen Teams an inklusiven Schulen". In T. Sturm & M. Wagner-Willi (Eds.), Handbuch schulische Inklusion (pp. 299–314). Budrich.

The need to approach the current climate crisis from our inner worlds is becoming increasingly urgent, as inner transformation is a condition for system transformation (Ives et al., 2019), especially in education where young people are suffering from the pressure of our performance society. Creating space in higher education for students to live their existential questions is still a rare phenomenon though, and requires teachers to adopt a very different, more indirect pedagogy (Ristiniemi et al., 2018; Saeverot, 2013). This rareness becomes more evident, when taken the societal context into account. We live in a society, where it is taboo to explore discomfort, that coincides with exploring existential questions. Instead, we pass students with mental problems on to the healthcare system, which becomes overloaded (Denys, 2020). On top of that, being a teachers means that you work with yourself, your own purpose and identity matters (Kelchtermans, 2009; Palmer, 2017). Creating this safe space for existential questions of students means also that you are willing as a teacher to be vulnerable and disclose yourself (Jebbour & Mouaid, 2019). In this paradox of unique differences among teachers we asked ourselves what teachers need to create space for students to live their existential questions? The research took place at the Bachelor Interdisciplinary Social Science at the University of Amsterdam. As this is a system transformation from "within the heart of the regime" (Grin, 2020, p. 1) of higher education, we choose to base our research on a reflective interactive design research framework, which is aimed at system change (Bos & Grin, 2012). This methodology is based on two types of reflection, first the reflection on the current educational system, and second, the reflection on needs and preconceptions that arise in the design process. This was done by actively creating this space together with teachers, thereby inviting the different perspectives on the topic. First by co-creating design principles for creating this space for existential questions of students. Second, by developing teacher manuals for tutor meetings and instructions for students. What became apparent in this mutual learning process, was that the principle in our change approach, to give teachers room for their own interpretation in creating space for existential questions, was essential. As well in the design phase, as in the action phase. We needed to take the diversity among the teachers seriously.

Bos, A. P., & Grin, J. (2012). Reflexive interactive design as an instrument for dual track governance. In M. Barbier & B. E. Elzen (Eds.), System Innovations, Knowledge Regimes, and Design Practices towards Transitions for Sustainable Agriculture. (pp. 132-153). INRA. https://edepot.wur.nl/242654 Denys, D. (2020). Het tekort van het teveel, de paradox van de mentale zorg. Nijgh & van Ditmar. Grin, J. (2020). 'Doing' system innovations from within the heart of the regime. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 22(5), 682-694. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908x.2020.1776099 Ives, C. D., Freeth, R., & Fischer, J. (2019). Inside-out sustainability: The neglect of inner worlds. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01187-w Jebbour, M., & Mouaid, F. (2019). The Impact of Teacher Self-Disclosure on Student Participation in the University English Language Classroom. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 31(3), 424–436. Kelchtermans, G. (2009). Who I am in how I teach is the message: self‐understanding, vulnerability and reflection. Teachers and Teaching, 15(2), 257–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600902875332 Palmer, P. J. (2017). The courage to teach. John Wiley & Sons. Ristiniemi, J., Skeie, G., & Sporre, K. (2018). Challenging life: Existential questions as a resource for education. Waxmann. Saeverot, H. (2013). Indirect Pedagogy: Some Lessons in Existential Education. Sense Publishers.

An organizational education program will be presented, where Innovation Labs with the goal of regional innovation for sustainable development have been conducted with the participation of regional stakeholders (Heidelmann et al., 2023/forthcoming). The diversity of the participants can be seen on the level of the subject, in the sense of attributes like organizational background, knowledge, class, 'race', and gender. Coming from a Foucauldian (1972) perspective, the paper addresses diversity as a 'discourse diversity’ in the sense that diversity is not so much a question of identity, but a question of (contradictory) discourses (Lyotard, 1994; Koller, 2012). The participating regional Stakeholders, in that sense, are seen as ‘discourse agents’ (Weber et al., 2019). The experience of diversity as experiencing another contradictory discourse to one's own provides the opportunity for learning processes, where the given order (or a world- and self-relation) is questioned through situations of foreignness and the necessity of educational processes arises. Foreignness can thus become the initial impulse for transformational educational processes in learning spaces characterized by diversity and plurality. In the context of Innovation Labs, where a multitude of actors work together in a problem-oriented way and where diversity is the norm, not the exception, this principle becomes the decisive occasion for plural educational processes (Heidelmann, 2023). The paper will present the theoretical foundations of a possible connection between diversity and experiences of foreignness and empirical findings from a longitudinal study conducted in the context of the program. Regarding this findings of a discourse-oriented analysis (Karl, 2007) of biographical interviews with participating stakeholders, it becomes clear that regional stakeholders emphasize the dialogical handling of the difference between contradictory positions and, therefore, discourses within Innovation Labs, which thus become a unique experience (Heidelmann & Klös, 2023/forthcoming). As a result, Innovation Labs can provide a 'Third Space' (Bhabha, 2003), a creative space 'in between' (Buchanan, 2010), and for the articulation and cohesion of contradictory discourses as an iterative 'place of understanding' (Hörster et al., 2004; Weber & Heidelmann, 2021).

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