Biopolitics and the ‘subject’ of labor in science education

Viewing science education as a site of biopolitical engagement—intervention into forces that seek to define, control, and exploit life (biopower)—requires that science educators ask after how individuals and populations are governed by technologies of power. In this paper, I argue that microanalyses, the analysis of everyday practices and discourses, are integral to biopolitical engagement, are needed to examine practices that constitute subjectivities and maintain oppressive social conditions. As an example of a microanalysis I will discuss how repetitive close-ended lab/assessment tasks, as well as discourses surrounding careers in science, can work to constitute students as depoliticized, self-investing subjects of human capital. I also explore the relationship between science education, (bio)labor and its relation to biopolitics, which remains an underdeveloped area of science education. This paper, part of my doctoral work, began to take shape in 2011, shortly after the 2008 economic crisis achieved a tiny breached in the thick neoliberal stupor of everyday (educational) life.     

Body_machine? Encounters of the human and the mechanical in education,industry and science

This paper unveils the body_machine as a key element of dynamic mental maps that have come to shape both educational praxis and research. It traces and analyses instances in which the human and the mechanical encountered each other in metaphorical, material and visual forms, thereby blurring to some extent the boundaries between them while capturing and mobilising specific forms of knowing and acting. The paper studies, first, how certain ‘orienting frames of reference’ and associated ‘experimental systems’ managed to materialise around the body_machine and penetrate theory and praxis; and, second, what visual and textual sources related to a vocational school may reveal about where and how the body_machine has come to operate in education, industry and science. The paper centres on early twentieth-century photographs and analyses these not only as media presenting, representing and interrogating common thought and practice but also as agents of meaning-making around the body_machine.     

The use of ICT in the teaching and learning of physical education in compulsory education: how do we prepare the workforce of the future?

This paper reports on research into the use of ICT within a one‐year initial teacher education (ITE) course in the UK, specialising in physical education (PE). The study examined how the course, which operates in both university and school‐based settings, endeavoured to support trainees' use of ICT in PE and then to identify areas where the programme could be improved in this respect. It also noted any specific training or resourcing needs which may be required to implement the recommended improvements. The findings showed the high level of enthusiasm of the trainees, university tutors and school‐based PE teachers for making more use of ICT in teaching and learning PE, and their willingness to make changes in their practice to accommodate this. It also revealed a severe shortage of subject‐specific professional development, and a widespread lack of understanding of needs, which was felt to have contributed to the lack of relevant ICT resources to which most school PE departments had access.

Cet article résume l'étude sur l'utilisation de l'informatique en Angleterre durant la première année de formation à l'enseignement de l'éducation physique (EPS). Cette étude examine comment le cours basé à la fois à l'université et à l'école, encourage les étudiants en formation à utiliser l'informatique en EPS et à identifier éventuellement les différents points d'amélioration à apporter à ce programme. Il est également rapporté la liste de toutes les formations où les ressources qui pourraient éventuellement être nécessaires à l'application de ces points d'amélioration. Les résultats montrent le haut niveau d'enthousiasme des étudiants en formation, des tuteurs de l'université et des professeurs d'EPS dans les écoles pour une extension de l'utilisation de l'informatique durant l'enseignement et l'apprentissage en EPS, ainsi que leur volonté d'apporter les changements nécessaires pour accommoder le programme dans la pratique de leur cours. Il est également révélé un sévère manque de sujets spécifiques au développement professionnel et une large incompréhension des besoins requis, qui ont ralenti le développement des ressources pour l'informatique, ressources auxquelles la plupart des département de EPS des écoles avaient accès.

Dieses Paper berichtet über die Forschung im Gebrauch von Informatik im Rahmen einer Einjahr‐Lehrerausbildung im Sportunterricht in Grossbritannien. Die Studie untersuchte, wie die Ausbildung, die sowohl auf der Universität als auch in der Schule stattfindet, versuchte, Auszubildende im Gebrauch von Informatik zu unterstützen. Infolgedessen identifizierte sie Gebiete, in denen das Programm in dieser Hinsicht verbessert werden könnte. Auch merkte die Studie spezifische Ausbildungs‐ bzw. Resourcingsbedürfnisse, die erforderlich sein könnten, um die empfohlenen Verbesserungen zu fördern. Die Ergebnisse zeigten unter Auszubildenden, Universitätstutoren und Sportlehrern eine hohe Begeisterung, eine erhöhte Verwendung von Informatik im Sportunterricht und Änderungen in der eigenen Praxis einzuführen. Die Studie zeigte auch einen schweren Mangel an fachbezogener Berufsausbildung und ein weitverbreitetes, mangelhaftes Verständnis für die entsprechenden Bedürfnisse, was zum Mangel an Informatikressourcen, zu denen die meisten Sportfachbereichen Zugang hatten, beigetragen habe.

Este papel informa de la investigación del uso de la informática dentro de un curso de la formación inicial de profesores que se especializa en la educación física en Gran Bretaña que duro un año. La investigación estudió como el curso, que tiene lugar en las universidades y en los colegios, tuvo la intención de apoyar los aprendices a usar la informática dentro de la educación física y de identificar aspectos donde se podría mejorar la programa. También, la investigación notó la formación específica y los recursos que podrían ser necesarios para realizar las reformas recomendadas. Los resultados mostraron el entusiasmo alto de los aprendices, de los profesores de las universidades y de los profesores de la educación física en los colegios por el uso de la informática en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la educación física y por su deseo de cambiar su práctica. También, la investigación mostró una falta severa de la formación profesional y de la comprensión de necesidades que han contribuido a una falta de recursos apropiados para la mayoría de departamentos escolares de la educación física.     

Assessment and the improvement of education∗

This article explores the school coordinator role in initial teacher training (ITT) in England. Recognising that mentoring is fully embedded and highly researched in ITT, it argues the role of the coordinator, while integral to partnerships, is far less researched. This paper investigates tensions in the role, between managing programme-wide quality assurance, teaching professional studies and developing school-based mentors. These questions were explored through multi-site case-studies with four HEIs and their partner schools in four linked phases of data collection. Data analysis established a range of different conceptualisations of the role, with only limited evidence of a development role with their mentors. The authors argue for policies which establish a more coherent conceptualisation of the role, and an agreed nomenclature. A key recommendation is to free coordinators from bureaucratic demands on their time to enable them to exemplify a new ‘professional multilingualism’.     

Who aspires to higher education? Axes of inequality,values of education and higher education aspirations in secondary schools in Luxembourg and the Swiss Canton of Bern

This article reports a study that investigated secondary school students’ higher education aspirations (towards university studies, ISCED 6 and above) and how these differ between student groups as well as how these are impacted by values of education. Panel data of more than 300 secondary school students in two countries, Luxembourg and Switzerland (the Swiss Canton of Bern) was analysed. Schools are structured differently in the education systems of Luxembourg and the Swiss Canton of Bern. The results of our analysis show that students in the Luxembourgish sample more often aspire to higher education than in the Swiss sample. Disparities in higher education aspirations were also more pronounced in the Luxembourgish sample, boys and students from families of low socio‐economic status (SES) were less likely to aspire to higher education. While the effects of values of education are generally scarce, stimulation in terms of anticipated enjoyment and interest derived from participation in higher education seems to have a positive effect on higher education aspirations.     

Introducing a neo‐Weberian perspective in the study of globalisation and education: structural reforms of the education systems in France and Israel after the Second World War

Only since the 1990s has the impact of globalisation on education drawn scholarly attention, primarily due to the impact of international school achievement surveys. This study argues that the globalisation of education began much earlier, with the establishment of intergovernmental agencies, such as UNESCO and the OECD, and the adoption of American educational models after the Second World War. The neo‐Weberian perspective I propose focuses on knowledge producers and education global networks and incorporates an analysis of the specific national context and their peculiarities without losing sight of the globalisation process and its homogenising character. Knowledge producers constitute a status group that increases its social and academic capital through advancing global education models locally. The analysis of reforms in the education systems of France and Israel after the Second World War shows how the diffusion of global educational models that stress equality of opportunity enhanced local transformations and affected national policies. Such an analysis elaborates the process whereby knowledge producers, linked to global networks, constructed ‘social problems’ according to the education knowledge production institutionalised in each country and the socio‐politic conditions of each society, and how their alliance with highly ranked functionaries brought about structural reforms aiming at the ‘democratisation of education’ in France and Israel.     

Teacher education policy in Ireland and the challenges of the twenty‐first century

In line with the principles of the Bologna Process, teacher education systems across Europe are converging along a common path. Taking the Republic of Ireland (Ireland) as a case study, this paper examines the European agenda in relation to teacher education and asks how individual nation states are coping with the demands of greater comparability and compatibility. It suggests that while structurally, teacher education in Ireland has undergone significant reform in order to conform to a wider European agenda, significant gaps remain in existing teacher education policy particularly in relation to continuous professional development which will, if not addressed, impede Ireland’s capacity to adequately prepare teachers for the challenges of the twentieth‐first century.     

E‐learning and the transformation of social interaction in higher education

This article examines the way in which e‐learning is transforming the nature of social interaction in higher education. In this new educational environment, radical societal transitions and the opportunities afforded by modern communication technologies together produce formidable challenges. Significant as these challenges may be, concentration upon problems of a practical kind draws attention away from the more theoretical concerns in understanding e‐learning. By drawing together developments in social, educational and communicational theory and Gilly Salmon’s hands‐on approach to teaching and learning online, this article reveals some unintended consequences: e‐moderation and the use of e‐tivities may perpetuate the very conditions that limit our chances of dealing successfully with the challenges posed by e‐learning. While theory may muddle what might otherwise be communicated meaningfully to those in search of practical answers, theoretical developments provide concepts and frameworks that can be placed in the service of a critical understanding of e‐learning and the transformation of social interaction in higher education.     

Academics’ perceptions of the benefits and challenges of self and peer assessment in higher education

Despite compelling evidence of its potential effectiveness, uptake of self and peer assessment in higher education has been slower than expected. As with other assessment practices, self and peer assessment is ultimately enabled, or inhibited, by the actions of individual academics. This paper explores what academics see as the benefits and challenges of implementing self and peer assessment, through the analysis of interviews with 13 Australian academics. Thematic analysis of our qualitative data identified seven themes of benefits and five challenges. Our academics showed strong belief in the power of self and peer assessment as formative assessment, contrary to past literature which has focussed on the accuracy of students’ marking. This paper therefore brings insights as to not only what academics value about self and peer assessment but also identifies potential inhibitors in practice. Recommendations are made about improving the design and implementation of self and peer assessment in higher education.     

Speech education ‐ ways and means of political education in Germany

This study of the utility of evidence differs from previous studies in its use of a respondent‐generated matrix of information and sources. This matrix comprised three dimensions (expertness × trustworthiness‐acquaintanceship x information type] and was used to produce Q‐statements which subjects sorted according to a most useful‐Jeast useful criterion in three hypothetical decision‐making situations. The Q‐analysis revealed several types of persons, including: types which found directive information most useful, types which preferred unknown but competent sources, and types which depended upon sources who were known and trusted regardless of the kind of information the source offered.     

Trends and developments in postgraduate education and training in the UK†

This paper argues that ‘partnership’ is an essential part of the marketization of education. Whilst the market fragments and promotes individualism, ‘partnership’ promotes involvement, commitment and responsibility. It is, though, an involvement, commitment and responsibility based on individual vested interest; a necessary prerequisite to protect one's ‘investment’. In harnessing this, control upon the individual is exerted. ‘Partnership’ is presented here as double‐edged for both parents and teachers. Whilst parents may call teachers to account, ‘partnership’ acts as a form of control upon parents. Employing ‘surveillance’ as a conceptual framework, the nature and purpose of ‘partnership’, together with its management by teachers, is discussed. The paper argues that partnership serves as a device for monitoring parents and engendering what Foucault describes as ‘disciplinary power’ which is ensuring that parents learn to be ‘good’ parents as defined by the teachers and adopt a set of values that match those of the school.     

Inclusive physical education? A study of the management of national curriculum physical education and unplanned outcomes in England

One key aspect of the growing policy emphasis on educational inclusion in England has been the tendency for physical education (PE) to be used as an important vehicle of social policy targeted at promoting the inclusion of young disabled people and those with special educational needs in mainstream schools. Drawing on aspects of figurational sociology, the central objective of this study is to examine the extent to which PE teachers have been able to achieve the government’s inclusion policy goals articulated in the 2000 National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) for England. The findings indicate that using the NCPE as a means to pursue the government’s educational inclusion policy goals has had unplanned outcomes that have the effect of undermining the extent to which the government is able to use inclusion to make a greater contribution to the promotion of young people’s experiences of PE. It is also argued that these outcomes that no‐one had planned or intended may, for some of the groups involved, be seen as undesirable consequences that emanate from teachers’ attempts to manage the contradictory pressures brought about by pursuing the priorities of government.     

Vocational education and the binary higher education system in the Netherlands: higher education symbiosis or vocational education dichotomy?

The Netherlands has a binary higher education system in which academic education and higher professional education at EQF levels 5–8 co-exist. There is also secondary vocational education at EQF levels 1 up to 4. In this paper, I analyse policy documents resulting from the Bologna Process and argue that under neo-liberal conditions, higher professional education brings opportunities for both students and employers, but also creates a socio-economic tension in terms of employability. The gap between higher professional education and secondary vocational education adds to the formation of a labour market in which higher professional education graduates are prepared to an international labour market but employability pressure is being put on lower skilled employees, creating unequal employability opportunities for vocational education graduates.     

Variation in the development of teachers’ understandings of assessment and their assessment practices in higher education

This paper reports a study into the development of staff understanding of assessment and assessment practice. Eight teachers from two universities constructed an initial concept map about assessment that was discussed in a one-to-one semi-structured interview. A year later, a new map was created and the interview focused on change in thinking and practice. Multiple models of assessment were evident in the participants’ understandings at the same time and change was characterised by subtle evolution in thinking. Development in practice was more significant and often associated with the foregrounding of assessment for learning. Vignettes are used to illustrate the variation in nature and scale of development. Interplay between this development of practice and understanding was multidirectional and external context played an important role. The approach offers detailed insight into the relationship between assessment thinking and practice and demonstrates that both research and academic development need to go beyond conventional approaches to conceptualising the development of academics and take account of the finer grained complexities of assessment thinking and practices.     

Co-operatives and education in the Basque Country: the ikastolas in the final years of Franco’s dictatorship

This article analyses the creation of the schools called ikastolas throughout the Basque Country from the 1960s onwards. The name ikastola refers to a unique school model whose major characteristic is to teach the majority of subjects in the Basque language, or euskera. It outlines the reasons why some of these schools took a co-operative organisational form and describes their major characteristics. The first part analyses the opportunities created under the Francoist regime for this kind of school, despite the repressive character of the dictatorship in other fields. The second part of the paper examines the important influence of the Mondragón co-operative movement, especially through its financial institution, in the creation of these educational co-operatives. The third and last part emphasises the role played by social mobilisation in defence of the Basque language in the creation of these schools and how this factor tied in with a co-operative governance system.     

Lost in translation? Comparative education research and the production of academic knowledge

The worth of academic knowledge tends to be tested against global metrics of citations and articles published in high-ranking English language academic journals. This paper examines academic knowledge production in three local fields of research with different national languages (English, Finnish and French). It focuses on knowledge production on the topic of apprenticeship where there are distinctive differences in the three local research fields and the associated patterns of academic publication over a 15-year period. The findings suggest that publication patterns are still largely tied to the respective national languages. Concerns are raised about the limited visibility of non-Anglophone local contexts and conceptual frameworks as filtered through global academic knowledge production processes. The language practices in the production of academic knowledge need to be challenged to ensure that knowledge from these sources is not lost in translation or in the re-contextualisation for global audiences.     

The 1923 Egyptian Constitution – vision and ambivalence in the future of education in Egypt

The 1923 Constitution prepared the legal framework for Egypt’s semi-independence from British imperial control under a newly established liberal monarchy. This Constitution carried a promise for a significant change in setting the ground for a nascent national system of mass elementary education for boys and girls that would also be free of charge and compulsory. As I discuss in this article, this vision hardly matched Egyptian socio-economic and cultural realities of the time. I explore this gap through a study of the deliberations of the Constitutional Commission that first drafted and later debated the various articles of the Constitution. I argue that the Constitutional Commission followed a consensus, in both Egypt and abroad, over the necessity of establishing a national system of mass education as a means for a broader social reform. Setting high expectations, this consensus would simultaneously enhance national education and the future setbacks that would beset its implementation.