The Values Underlying Teachers’ and Employers’ Expectations

The authors present a grounded theory concerning teachers’ expectations of students and employers’ expectations of graduates. The analysis is based on empirical research while the interpretation of the results is based on critical theory. Employers’ expectations turned out to be wide-ranging and impossible for candidates. Teachers’ expectations, however, reproduced that part of employers’ expectations that can be linked to conformity, devotion, and faithfulness. In light of the authors’ interpretation, education fails to perform an emancipatory function, i.e. it fails to equip students with the critical competence necessary for active involvement in civil society. The labor market, on the other hand, is a dominating force that blocks the development of a discursive, open version of society. Graduates find themselves in a double-sided trap sprung on them, firstly, by education and later by employers.