Shifting Regulative Ideas of Education Policy and Practice - The Case of Quality Assurance in Education in Slovenia

Oct 15, 2026

Analyzes how education policy and practice in Slovenia adopted and transformed quality assurance mechanisms through shifts in regulative ideas, drawing on Foucault’s dispositive framework. The study contrasts juridical, disciplinary, and security dispositifs and argues that Western reconfiguration toward security occurred earlier, while Slovenia experienced a delayed change in the 1990s after democratization and a market economy transition. Uses conceptual, implementation, and regulatory dynamics analysis plus seven expert interviews to assess past trajectories and current conditions in quality assurance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Governance and dispositifs

Slovenia’s delayed transition

Quality assurance in education

doi: 10.26529/cepsj.1078 Shifting Regulative Ideas of Education Policy and Practice: The Case of Quality Assurance in Education in Slovenia Živa Kos1 • Based on Foucault’s concept of the dispositive, the paper attempts to show how societies and schools have been functioning for some time now by regulating three dispositives: juridical, disciplinary, and security. While the crises of the 1970s shifted the combination of dispositives in education in the West towards security, this shift in the rationality of education policy and practice did not occur in Slovenia until the 1990s, following the broader political transition to democracy and a market economy. The paper aims to present these shifts through the structuring of quality assurance mechanisms in education in Slovenia in the previous two decades. First, the concept of quality assurance is presented as part of a broader change in society and education. This is followed by analyses of the dynamics ofthe conceptualisation, implementation, and regulation of quality assurance in education in Slovenia. Complementarily, following Bourdieu’s approach, seven interviews with experts from the field of quality assurance are presented, with the aim of reflecting on the past and shedding light on the current state of affairs in quality assurance in education in Slovenia. Keywords: quality, dispositive, security, education, regulative idea 1 Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; [ziva.kos@guest.arnes.si](ziva.kos@guest.arnes.si). Ugotavljanje in zagotavljanje kakovosti v šolstvu v Sloveniji: zamiki racionalnosti edukacijskih politik in praks Živa Kos • Izhajajoč iz Foucaultevega kategorialnega aparata, družba in šole že dlje časa delujejo na prepletu treh dispozitivov: juridičnega, disciplinskegain dispozitiva varnosti. S krizo sedemdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja zahodne družbe zaznamuje zamik dispozitivov v smer dispozitiva varnosti, medtem ko je ta zamik v edukacijskih politikah in praksah v Sloveniji mogoče zaznati šele v devetdesetih letih dvajsetega stoletja v povezavis prehodom v demokratični politični sistem in tržno ekonomijo. Prispevek tematizira omenjene zamike na primeru vzpostavljanja mehanizmov ugotavljanja in zagotavljanja kakovosti v vzgoji in izobraževanjuv Sloveniji v preteklih desetletjih. Koncept ugotavljanja in zagotavljanjakakovosti je najprej predstavljen kot del širših zamikov v družbi in polju edukacije. Sledi analiza konceptualizacij, implementacije in regulacijeugotavljanja in zagotavljanja kakovosti v vzgoji in izobraževanju v Sloveniji. Izhajajoč iz Bourdieujevega pristopa, prispevek v izhodiščno zastavitev vpenja analizo sedmih intervjujev z eksperti in ekspertinjami s področja ugotavljanja in zagotavljanja kakovosti v vzgoji in izobraževanjuv Sloveniji z namenom refleksije preteklih in prihodnjih izzivov politikin praks ugotavljanja in zagotavljanja kakovosti v šolstvu v Sloveniji. Ključne besede: kakovost, dispozitivi, varnost, vzgoja in izobraževanje, regulativne ideje Introduction Mechanisms of governance of the post-war state in Western society were organised around the security dispositive2 (Foucault, 2008b, 2009), with the productive regulation of liberties, political economy and social security shaped as a series of political interventions that alleviated social problems and regulated the gap between the ‘wealthy’ and the ‘less fortunate’. At that time, Slovenia was still embedded in the socialist rationalities of government and planning as part of a mixed disciplinary and security dispositive (cf. Foucault, 2008b, 2009). In this light, the shift from this mix to the security dispositive in Slovenia came with a delay compared to in the West. The transitions from socialism to representative democracy and the establishment of security mechanisms took place when the post-war welfare state was in decline in the West, as it had become economically ‘unsustainable’. As a result, neoliberal rationality, which criticised

FAQs

What framework does the paper use to study education policy changes in Slovenia?

It relies on Foucault’s concept of the dispositive, focusing on how education is regulated through juridical, disciplinary, and security dispositifs.

Why did Slovenia’s shift toward security dispositifs occur later than in the West?

The paper links the delay to Slovenia’s transitions from socialism to democracy and the establishment of security mechanisms, which took place in the 1990s alongside democratization and a market economy.

How does the paper examine quality assurance in Slovenian education?

It presents quality assurance as part of broader societal and educational shifts, analyzes its conceptualization, implementation, and regulation, and supplements this with seven expert interviews to reflect on past developments and current challenges.

Oct 15, 2026

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