Dear F list
(I get my Foucault list in digest form, so forgive me not being able to add=
ress the =
original questioner)
Re F and Education.
I am doing my dissertation on just how, genealogically, education/educators=
construct =
subjects. I am drawing mainly on the vivid images in D and P, and examing h=
ow space, =
time and activity are articulated on to the learners' bodies. I am directin=
g my inquiry =
toward the construction of categories of gender, sexuality and class in the=
main. I did =
a preliminary lit search a few months ago and found that:
1. Despite the overwhelming significance that Foucaut's work should have fo=
r educators, =
most resist engagement with his work. (eg, in the decade following his deat=
h, about 40 =
books were published across the social sciences and humanities that dealt i=
n a =
substantive way with F thought/theory/etc, but in education, only one... Ba=
ll's =
book--which is very limited in its North American scope. Deals well with UK=
, Europe and =
Antipodean, though)
2.Many commentators find his work/theory and I assume poststructuralist wri=
ting in =
general, uncomfortable in that it challenges the white, liberal, humanist v=
iew of =
educaiton. Oh yes, many of us, me included, still think we can "make a diff=
erence", and =
cherish little fantasies about 'progress'.If you are able, do an ERIC searc=
h and check =
out some of the comments, like this one (sorry, it's a long quote but good.=
=2E.)
Lynne V. Cheney, in 1995: =
U.S. society has come to be a world where offenses are constantly being red=
efined and =
thinkers deny that there is any absolute truth. How this has happened, its =
effects, and =
what can be done about it are explored. The effects of postmodern relativis=
m are nowhere =
more evident than in education. Many are working to be sure that American s=
chools show =
no favor to, in fact, downgrade, ideas and practices associated with the Un=
ited States =
and its Western heritage. The National History Standards developed in 1994 =
provide the =
most egregious example to date of encouraging students to take a benign vie=
w of other =
cultures while being hypercritical of the one in which they live. Many comm=
endable =
efforts to support minorities and women have been subverted into criticism =
of the =
culture that has dominated. While education is an area where this is immedi=
ately =
apparent, the same tendencies can be seen in debates over political correct=
ness; ideas =
growing out of the thinking of Michel Foucault; the consideration of many f=
eminist =
issues; and trends in the arts, popular psychology (including the recovered=
memories of =
presumed child abuse victims), and the press and its view of politics. Some=
notable =
exceptions to these trends are highlighted as the basis for eventual change=
and a =
reinstatement of regard for objective truth.
Wow...
3. Most educational theorising begins and ends with D and P. Thus panoptico=
ns abound, =
and surveillance and comparisons between jails and schools, but rarely at a=
deep level =
of analysis. Governmentality is starting to become popular in the policy ar=
eas and in =
higher ed. But not much else is happening. =
4. A new book out of NZ, by Sue Middleton, is promising, but not very subst=
antial. It's =
called 'Discplining sexuality: Foucault, Life Histories and Education. (199=
8, Teachers =
College Press). =
5. Does anyone know of any other work being done in education along similar=
lines? I am =
also very interested F's suggestions re 'space' in education, especially re=
garding =
transparency, and partitioning, enclosing etc. I would appreciate any refs =
that might =
come up. =
6. Last comments: Some British writers are making good use of PS and F for =
analyis of =
(adult) education, Usher, Bryant and Edwards etc, and the confessional/turn=
to =
textuality. =
This is all a bit scattered, dashing off my email late in the evening, but =
it is =
fascinating to me that those involved in 'educating'--and I think especiall=
y those in =
higher education, or in university adult education, like myself--are so rel=
uctant to =
engage with F's ideas. Both the old left, and the new right seem to be in a=
snit about =
any kind of F critiques. ...
Because, as Lynne Chisholm, reviewing the one and only book on Foucault an=
d education =
(Ball, 1990) says: =93Foucauldian analysis is a perspective which explicitl=
y fails to move =
beyond critique, is pessimistic and discouraging, even denigrating...I do n=
ot want =
Foucauldian analysis to paralyze education as it has threatened to do in so=
me quarters =
of critical sociology=94. ???
Who knows? =
Regards to the list, which I enjoy immensely!!! =
V-Lee
Valerie-Lee Chapman, PhD Candidate
Dept. of Educational Studies
University of British Columbia
2125, Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6J 1W3
Fax: 604/822-8971; <valeriel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>.
I have come to think that teaching and learning are not a preparation for a=
nything but =
are the thing itself... The classroom is a microcosm of the world; it is th=
e chance we =
have to practice whatever ideals we may cherish.
=
Jane Tomkins, 1990.
(I get my Foucault list in digest form, so forgive me not being able to add=
ress the =
original questioner)
Re F and Education.
I am doing my dissertation on just how, genealogically, education/educators=
construct =
subjects. I am drawing mainly on the vivid images in D and P, and examing h=
ow space, =
time and activity are articulated on to the learners' bodies. I am directin=
g my inquiry =
toward the construction of categories of gender, sexuality and class in the=
main. I did =
a preliminary lit search a few months ago and found that:
1. Despite the overwhelming significance that Foucaut's work should have fo=
r educators, =
most resist engagement with his work. (eg, in the decade following his deat=
h, about 40 =
books were published across the social sciences and humanities that dealt i=
n a =
substantive way with F thought/theory/etc, but in education, only one... Ba=
ll's =
book--which is very limited in its North American scope. Deals well with UK=
, Europe and =
Antipodean, though)
2.Many commentators find his work/theory and I assume poststructuralist wri=
ting in =
general, uncomfortable in that it challenges the white, liberal, humanist v=
iew of =
educaiton. Oh yes, many of us, me included, still think we can "make a diff=
erence", and =
cherish little fantasies about 'progress'.If you are able, do an ERIC searc=
h and check =
out some of the comments, like this one (sorry, it's a long quote but good.=
=2E.)
Lynne V. Cheney, in 1995: =
U.S. society has come to be a world where offenses are constantly being red=
efined and =
thinkers deny that there is any absolute truth. How this has happened, its =
effects, and =
what can be done about it are explored. The effects of postmodern relativis=
m are nowhere =
more evident than in education. Many are working to be sure that American s=
chools show =
no favor to, in fact, downgrade, ideas and practices associated with the Un=
ited States =
and its Western heritage. The National History Standards developed in 1994 =
provide the =
most egregious example to date of encouraging students to take a benign vie=
w of other =
cultures while being hypercritical of the one in which they live. Many comm=
endable =
efforts to support minorities and women have been subverted into criticism =
of the =
culture that has dominated. While education is an area where this is immedi=
ately =
apparent, the same tendencies can be seen in debates over political correct=
ness; ideas =
growing out of the thinking of Michel Foucault; the consideration of many f=
eminist =
issues; and trends in the arts, popular psychology (including the recovered=
memories of =
presumed child abuse victims), and the press and its view of politics. Some=
notable =
exceptions to these trends are highlighted as the basis for eventual change=
and a =
reinstatement of regard for objective truth.
Wow...
3. Most educational theorising begins and ends with D and P. Thus panoptico=
ns abound, =
and surveillance and comparisons between jails and schools, but rarely at a=
deep level =
of analysis. Governmentality is starting to become popular in the policy ar=
eas and in =
higher ed. But not much else is happening. =
4. A new book out of NZ, by Sue Middleton, is promising, but not very subst=
antial. It's =
called 'Discplining sexuality: Foucault, Life Histories and Education. (199=
8, Teachers =
College Press). =
5. Does anyone know of any other work being done in education along similar=
lines? I am =
also very interested F's suggestions re 'space' in education, especially re=
garding =
transparency, and partitioning, enclosing etc. I would appreciate any refs =
that might =
come up. =
6. Last comments: Some British writers are making good use of PS and F for =
analyis of =
(adult) education, Usher, Bryant and Edwards etc, and the confessional/turn=
to =
textuality. =
This is all a bit scattered, dashing off my email late in the evening, but =
it is =
fascinating to me that those involved in 'educating'--and I think especiall=
y those in =
higher education, or in university adult education, like myself--are so rel=
uctant to =
engage with F's ideas. Both the old left, and the new right seem to be in a=
snit about =
any kind of F critiques. ...
Because, as Lynne Chisholm, reviewing the one and only book on Foucault an=
d education =
(Ball, 1990) says: =93Foucauldian analysis is a perspective which explicitl=
y fails to move =
beyond critique, is pessimistic and discouraging, even denigrating...I do n=
ot want =
Foucauldian analysis to paralyze education as it has threatened to do in so=
me quarters =
of critical sociology=94. ???
Who knows? =
Regards to the list, which I enjoy immensely!!! =
V-Lee
Valerie-Lee Chapman, PhD Candidate
Dept. of Educational Studies
University of British Columbia
2125, Main Mall
Vancouver, BC V6J 1W3
Fax: 604/822-8971; <valeriel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>.
I have come to think that teaching and learning are not a preparation for a=
nything but =
are the thing itself... The classroom is a microcosm of the world; it is th=
e chance we =
have to practice whatever ideals we may cherish.
=
Jane Tomkins, 1990.