Working with Foucault in Education

M. Walshaw

Sense Publishers | 2007 | 205 páginas | pdf |3,3 Mb
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Education has a long tradition of opening itself up to new ideas and new ideas are what Working with Foucault in Education is all about. The book introduces readers to the scholarly work of Michel Foucault at a level that it neither too demanding not too superficial. It demonstrates to students, educators, scholars and policy makers, alike, how those ideas might be useful in understanding people and processes in education. This new line of investigation creates an awareness of the merits and weaknesses of contemporary theoretical frameworks and the impact these have on the production of educational knowledge. Working with Foucault in Education engages readers in selected aspects of education. Its ten chapters take a thematic approach and include vignettes that explore issues relating to curriculum development, learning to teach, classroom learning and teaching, as well as research in contemporary society. These explorations allow readers to develop a new attitude towards education. The reason this is possible is that Foucault provides a language and the tools to deconstruct as well as shift thinking about familiar concepts. They also provide the means for readers to participate in educational criticism and to play a role in educational change.

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Foreword xi
1 Getting to grips with Foucault 1
The importance of theory 1
A context for Foucault’s ideas 3
Foucault and poststructuralism 5
A brief history of Foucault’s counter-history 6
Early work 8
From archaeology to genealogy to ethics 9
Key concepts 17
Conclusion 25
2 An archaeology of learning 27
Behaviourism 28
Cognitivism 29
Constructivism 31
Sociocultural formulations 32
Activity/Situativity/Social practice theory 34
Conclusion 37
3 Discourse analysis 39
Discourse 40
Discourse analysis 44
Subject positions and texts 45
The policy text in context 46
Conclusion 62
4 The subjectivity of the learner 65
Subjectivity as constituted in discourses 66
Power 67
Knowledge 69
Donna’s mathematical performance 71
Conclusion 77
5 Students’ identity at the cultural crossroads 79
Identity 80
Colliding discourses 82
Mothers and daughters and low socio-economic status 85
Mothers and daughters and high socio-economic status 89
Reflections on identity 93
6 Learning to teach in context 95
Teachers’ identities’ explained 95
Dividing practices 99
Exploring context in identity construction 102
Three moments of identity 103
Reflections on context in identity construction 109
7 Subjectivity and regulatory practices 111
Disciplinary power 112
Subjectification 114
An exploration into the constitution of teaching 115
Transitory positions 116
Regulatory practices 119
Technologies of surveillance and normalisation 124
Concluding thoughts on the constitution of teaching 127
8 Girls disciplining others 129
Normalisation 129
Stories about girls (and boys) in schooling 131
The study 133
Girls monitoring boys in the classroom 134
Girls monitoring other girls in the classroom 137
Closing comments about disciplining practices 140
9 Research 143
Knowing others 144
Research traditions 144
Rethinking research 146
Constructing reality 149
Breaking away from convention 152
Rachel’s story 155
Reflections on research 163
10 Endings marking new beginnings 165
Looking back 166
Looking forward 168
Bibliography 171
Suggestions for further reading 177
Foucault’s work: A selection 177
Index 181