Established-Outsiders Relations in the Education System: Images of “Us” in School Magazines

This chapter traces the established-outsider dynamic in reproducing national norms at Polish schools to the symbolic mobilization that emerged in the aftermath of the educational reform of 1999, partly dismantled in 2017. Using figurational methodology, the author discusses both macro- and micro-levels of the nationalist mobilization in Polish educational system. On the macro level, she describes the changes introduced in the initial educational reform of 1999 as an instance of functional democratization that resulted in the resistance of the established (old schools) towards the equalization of their status with the outsiders (new schools). On the micro-level, by analysing the discourse of school magazines, the author shows how the established-outsider figuration influenced the actors’ positions, the we-images of school communities, and the latter’s perception of state norms. The chapter foregrounds that the figuration of the national established and outsiders relies on the approximation of national authenticity based in the culture of catching-up with the foundational fiction of the ever-established national community. Just as the outsiders are catching up with the established imitating their cultural practices, the established are catching up with the yet more pertinent nationalist ideals of the glorious past.