Discerning the Good

Abstract

This study addresses normativity in the practice of collaborative decision-making in Dutch Catholic school management teams. ‘Discernment’ is used as a heuristic to describe the process and content of collaborative decision-making. With regard to the process, discernment is marked by four distinctive aspects: reflection; trust; welcoming of diversity; and enactment of decisions. As for the content, discernment in schools requires different modes of reasoning, notably reasoning based on a vision of good education. In addition, this study investigates perceived impediments and conditions for improvement with regard to the practice of collaborative decision-making. The data suggest that the process aspect of welcoming diversity is dominant, whereas trust is almost absent. Reflection and enactment manifest to a moderate degree in decision-making. As for the content of decision-making, reasons referring to (formal) vision, reasons of care, instrumental reasons and reasons of control are dominant in school management teams. Within the reasons of vision, notions referring to the purpose of education are nearly absent; whereas references to (core) values that are abstract (not referring to patterned practices) are dominant. Impediments are experienced as related primarily to institutional, school-bound and team-bound cultural factors, as well as to institutional structural factors. Contrarily, conditions for improvement are experienced as related to team-bound cultural factors and material factors, and are thus found primarily within the direct span of control of the school management team.