Doing Difference en la escuela primaria: Un estudio comparativo entre Alemania y Argentina a través de la categoría “origen social”

This research paper deals with Doing Difference along the category of social origin in elementary school. The empirical study has a binational design and seeks to identify similarities and differences between German and Argentinian teachers with regard to differentiations based on stereotypical attributions. In the course of this, the extent to which teachers (re-)produce (educational) inequalities through their actions and perceptions will be examined. To this end, interviews were conducted with primary school teachers in both countries from 2020 to 2022. The evaluation of the data material was based on the Grounded Theory Methodology. The empirical findings are discussed with the focus on the concept of recognition equity, framed by explanations of educational equity theory. The findings indicate that both the German and the Argentinian teachers draw differences along the students' family background and establish a connection between de-privileged background/low socio-economic status – deficient/lack of family support – poor academic performance. As a result, the teachers tend to stereotype both students and parents with low socio-economic status negatively and refer in this context to (a) socio-material poverty and its consequences for school learning, (b) family problems and (c) (low) demands on students. The perspectives of the German and Argentinian teachers differ in this respect. Finally, the article attempts to break down the empirical findings and discuss them theoretically in relation to educational equity relating to the actions they take with respect to the problems that they face.