Gee whiz. While Foucault's thought holds enormous implications for pedagogy, this is
an area that's only recently been addressed. Stephen Ball (an Australian) has
written a lot on the subject. I don't find his stuff to be particularly helpful,
though. He edited a collection called Foucault and Education (I believe) which is
sometimes helpful, but I think oftentimes abandons Foucault and doesn't use his
methods to their fullest.
More recently, a book came out called "Foucault's Challenge," which was a series of
essays about Foucault & education. The problem with many of the essays (for your
purposes) is that they focus on primary, rather than post-secondary education. One
can see how power would be more obvious and transparent in grade school than in
college, where there oftentimes seem to be no rules. The challenge, for me, is
finding strategies in seemingly innocuous practices, and then understanding that it
is these mundane little things that determine my relationships with others.
"Educating for Freedom: The Paradox of Pedagogy" (by Finkel & Arney) includes a
chapter on Foucault & post-secondary education. The issues I had with the rest of
the book aside, they problematize the classroom really well, in my opinion. You
should definitely check it out.
They also point to Ivan Illich, the author of "Deschooling Society" and "Education
Without Schools." Illich problematized schooling, especially compulsory schooling,
and its relation to society. While I'm unfamiliar with him, he carries weight, and I
think he would be hugely relevant to your thesis. Perhaps moreso than Foucault.
I wrote a paper analyzing the effects of a proposed change in distribution
requirements at my school. I'd be happy to share with you the different sets of
relations that I analyzed and how I problematized them. Drop me an email if you're
interested.
Dan Check
Diane Westerhuis wrote:
> I would like to invite comment on a problem I am struggling with in my
> thesis, which is a study of the socio-technological change in \"the university\"
> in a society \"we may properly call the network society, characterized by the
> preeminence of social morphology over social action\" (Castells, 96), which
> others label the postmodern society.
> I have two approaches - looking at ideology and purpose, using the mission
> statement as data, and attempting to understand the subjectivity of the
> institution, the self conscious perspective of the subject, the institution of
> the university.
>
> My problem is when dealing with the \"morphology\" or shape of the society,
> how do we understand the centrality of subjectivity to the organisation of
> social and political relations? I have difficulty analysing subjectivity in this
> study of the university as an institution, and its relation to the state.
> any comments or reflections would be appreciated.
>
> Diane Westerhuis
> School of Psychology and Sociology
> James Cook University
> Townsville, North Queensland.
> Phone (07) 4781 4808
>
> -----------------------------------------------------
> This mail sent through IMP: http://web.horde.org/imp/
an area that's only recently been addressed. Stephen Ball (an Australian) has
written a lot on the subject. I don't find his stuff to be particularly helpful,
though. He edited a collection called Foucault and Education (I believe) which is
sometimes helpful, but I think oftentimes abandons Foucault and doesn't use his
methods to their fullest.
More recently, a book came out called "Foucault's Challenge," which was a series of
essays about Foucault & education. The problem with many of the essays (for your
purposes) is that they focus on primary, rather than post-secondary education. One
can see how power would be more obvious and transparent in grade school than in
college, where there oftentimes seem to be no rules. The challenge, for me, is
finding strategies in seemingly innocuous practices, and then understanding that it
is these mundane little things that determine my relationships with others.
"Educating for Freedom: The Paradox of Pedagogy" (by Finkel & Arney) includes a
chapter on Foucault & post-secondary education. The issues I had with the rest of
the book aside, they problematize the classroom really well, in my opinion. You
should definitely check it out.
They also point to Ivan Illich, the author of "Deschooling Society" and "Education
Without Schools." Illich problematized schooling, especially compulsory schooling,
and its relation to society. While I'm unfamiliar with him, he carries weight, and I
think he would be hugely relevant to your thesis. Perhaps moreso than Foucault.
I wrote a paper analyzing the effects of a proposed change in distribution
requirements at my school. I'd be happy to share with you the different sets of
relations that I analyzed and how I problematized them. Drop me an email if you're
interested.
Dan Check
Diane Westerhuis wrote:
> I would like to invite comment on a problem I am struggling with in my
> thesis, which is a study of the socio-technological change in \"the university\"
> in a society \"we may properly call the network society, characterized by the
> preeminence of social morphology over social action\" (Castells, 96), which
> others label the postmodern society.
> I have two approaches - looking at ideology and purpose, using the mission
> statement as data, and attempting to understand the subjectivity of the
> institution, the self conscious perspective of the subject, the institution of
> the university.
>
> My problem is when dealing with the \"morphology\" or shape of the society,
> how do we understand the centrality of subjectivity to the organisation of
> social and political relations? I have difficulty analysing subjectivity in this
> study of the university as an institution, and its relation to the state.
> any comments or reflections would be appreciated.
>
> Diane Westerhuis
> School of Psychology and Sociology
> James Cook University
> Townsville, North Queensland.
> Phone (07) 4781 4808
>
> -----------------------------------------------------
> This mail sent through IMP: http://web.horde.org/imp/