Autonomy and heteronomy in the evaluation of public politics

The case of the evaluation of social-mix improvement plan in Haute-Garonne secondary schools

Abstract

This article questions the notions of autonomy and heteronomy through the case of an evaluative research-intervention (R-I E), concerning the social mixing system in the secondary schools of the Haute-Garonne department. Drawing in turn on organisational learning (Argyris & Schön, 2002) and pragmatist philosophy, we establish a link between the referentialisation process (Figari, 1994) and the participation methods of the stakeholders in the system. Our results are based on two years of participant observation of the evaluation process. Based on the elements of the logbook, we analyse the tension between the parties involved in a political relationship and how this dynamic leads to the emergence of new perspectives on the determination of what is of value. The integration of heterogeneous frameworks in the evaluation of the system thus appears to be a democratic issue and a challenge for the maintenance and development of the system in a perspective that respects the heterogeneity of the actors. The formation of values, in the sense of Dewey (1939/2011), will generate postures of commitment in the evaluative action or of critical exteriority. This dialogical dynamic seems to us to be necessary as a vector for organisational learning. It is also the basis on which we rethink how to mobilise the notions of autonomy and heteronomy in a comprehensive way.