Tertium Comparationis: Issue 1/2026, 32. Volume

This article examines the tension between methodological nationalism and transnationalization in educational research, with a focus on school cultures. Drawing on two empirical studies conducted in Germany and the U.S., the analysis explores how transnationalization shapes school practices as arenas of both privilege and deprivation. The first part reconstructs how internationalization and interculturality become symbolic orders of distinction or exclusion within schools, illustrated by contrasting cases of a grammar school and a comprehensive school. The second part discusses methodological operations necessary to compare beyond national containers, emphasizing translation, field-specific categories, and the tertium comparationis. Finally, a metatheoretical reflection highlights issues of positionality, epistemic injustice, and postcolonial critique. The contribution advances qualitative comparative approaches by conceptualizing transnationalization as a productive lens for research.

Keywords
Transnationalization, Methodological nationalism, comparative educational research, school culture, educational participation, social inequality, inclusion and exclusion, qualitative comparative research, epistemic injustice, postcolonial critique