Equal Opportunity: The Importance of Being in Context

Abstract

The roots of disagreement over the relationship between the principle of equal opportunity and the ideal of equal­ity are examined through a discussion of John Schaar's attempt to demonstrate their incompatibility. It is concluded that crucial questions of meaning cannot be answered without reference to a general context of social, political, and economic theory, and ultimately, to a normative philosophy of man. This variation of meaning with context has tended to be ignored or underestimated in contemporary discussions of equal educational opportunity. Special attention is drawn to the limitations of ordinary language analyses in this respect.