Participatory governance in education: between partnership ambitions and political struggles in the canton of Geneva

Abstract

This article examines the governance of public educational action in the context of a project to reform the final stage of compulsory schooling in the canton of Geneva. It examines the role of non-state actors in the reform process, presented by the public authorities as a collaborative partnership. Has the participatory approach enabled interest groups to become real partners? The sociology of public action serves as a theoretical approach for addressing the relationship between public authorities and interest groups. Analyses of observation notes, interviews, parliamentary debates and reports show that the influence of non-state actors is limited by the weight of political issues, which outweigh pedagogical ones.