Foucault News

Preservice elementary teachers’ understandings of competing notions of academic achievement coexisting in post-NCLB public schools (2013)

Clare O'Farrell

19 February 2014

Brown, K.D., Goldstein, L.S.
Preservice elementary teachers’ understandings of competing notions of academic achievement coexisting in post-NCLB public schools (2013) Teachers College Record Volume 115 Number 1, 2013, p. 1-37

Further info

Abstract
Background/Context: Since the 2002 implementation of No Child Left Behind, teaching in public school contexts has become more complex and challenging. Today, public school teachers at all grade levels are accountable for maintaining a steady focus on their students’ academic achievement. However, many teachers have found themselves wrestling with two conflicting understandings of academic achievement. These two conflicting understandings reflect two existing discourses used to frame students’ acquisition of school-centered knowledge and skills: academic progress and academic success.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of the Study: In this article, we focus on the coexisting discourses of academic achievement circulating within in our participants’ teaching credential preparation experience. We present the data, drawn from the first two sets of interviews completed for our larger study of preservice teachers’ understandings of the relationship between sociocultural factors and academic achievement, that document our participants’ confusion and uncertainty about the meaning of “academic achievement.” We draw from the notion of discourse, as theorized by Michel Foucault, to foreground the need to establish specific terminology-namely, academic progress and academic success-to clarify the various aspects of academic achievement and to facilitate discussion of this critically important construct.

Research Design: The study draws from a basic or generic qualitative methodology in which the aim is to understand a situation by exploring, analyzing, and interpreting the perspectives and understandings of individuals within that situation. The findings come from data generated across two interviews conducted with preservice teachers at the beginning and conclusion of their first semester in the professional development sequence of their elementary (pk-4) teacher education program.

Setting: The study takes place at a large urban university teacher education program in the U.S. South.

Population/Participants/Subjects: Participants are a racially and ethnically diverse set of 12 preservice teacher candidates. Ten were pursuing a elementary generalist teaching credential, and 2 were pursuing a elementary generalist-bilingual teaching credential.

Foucault related posts on the Social Theory Applied blog

Clare O'Farrell

no comments

18 February 2014

The Social Theory Applied blog started out as a theory and educational research blog but as Mark Murphy, who runs the blog, explains it has recently broadened its focus

Please note that the remit of the site is to become broader than its original focus on educational research – now to cover the field of social science research generally. This change in emphasis is in line with my own intellectual interests but also reflects my strong belief that research in fields such as education should not be considered in isolation from other connected fields such as social work, urban studies, etc.

Here is a link to mainly education focused posts relating to Foucault

The blog welcomes new contributions.

Videos : Autour de Michel Foucault, « La Société punitive (1972-1973) » (2013)

Clare O'Farrell

no comments

17 February 2014

1ère session : Autour de Michel Foucault, « La Société punitive (1972-1973) »

Video recordings Links to videos of all sessions.

Date de réalisation : 17 Janvier 2013
Durée du programme : 83 min

Autour de Michel Foucault, « La Société punitive (1972-1973) »
EHESS – Salles du conseil A et B et salle Jean-Pierre Vernant – 190-198 avenue de France – 75013 Paris
Journée d’étude organisée par Bernard Harcourt le mardi 17 décembre 2013 de 10 h à 13 h, salles du conseil A et B, de 14h30 à 18h ; salle Jean-Pierre Vernant (8e étage).

Avec Étienne Balibar ▪ Pascal Beauvais ▪ Guy Casadamont ▪ Olivier Cayla ▪ Daniel Defert ▪ Corentin Durand ▪ François Ewald ▪ Antoine Garapon ▪ Frédéric Gros ▪ Bernard Harcourt ▪ Liora Israël ▪ Fabien Jobard ▪ Rainer Maria Kiesow ▪ Daniele Lorenzini ▪ Paolo Napoli ▪ Pierrette Poncela ▪ Sacha Raoult ▪ Stephen Sawyer ▪ Michel Senellart ▪ Arianna Sforzini ▪ Mikhaïl Xifaras.

Programme

1ère session

10h : Ouverture de la journée d’étude
10h à 11h20 : Interventions d’Étienne Balibar, Daniel Defert, Corentin Durand et Pierrette Poncela.
Modérateur : Bernard Harcourt

2ème session

11h30 à 12h50 : Interventions d’Antoine Garapon, Rainer Maria Kiesow, Daniele Lorenzini et Mikhaïl Xifaras
Modérateur : François Ewald

3ème session

14h30 à 16h : Interventions de Guy Casadamont, Liora Israël, Fabien Jobard et Sacha Raoult
Modérateur : Michel Senellart

4ème session

16h15 à 17h45 : Interventions de Pascal Beauvais, Arianna Sforzini et Stephen Sawyer
Modérateur : Frédéric Gros
17h45 à 18h : Fermeture de la journée d’étude

Neoliberal Reason and Its Forms: De-Politicisation Through Economisation (2013)

Clare O'Farrell

no comments

16 February 2014

Madra, Y.M., Adaman, F.
Neoliberal Reason and Its Forms: De-Politicisation Through Economisation (2013) Antipode, Article in Press.

Abstract
This paper offers a historically contextualised intellectual history of the entangled development of three competing post-war economic approaches, viz the Austrian, Chicago and post-Walrasian schools, as three forms of neoliberalism. Taking our cue from Foucault’s reading of neoliberalism as a mode of governmentality under which the social is organised through “economic incentives”, we engage with the recent discussions of neoliberal theory on three accounts: neoliberalism is read as an epistemic horizon including not only “pro-” but also “post-market” positions articulated by post-Walrasian economists who claim that market failures necessitate the design of “incentive-compatible” remedial mechanisms; the Austrian tradition is distinguished from the Chicago-style pro-marketism; and the implications of the differences among the three approaches on economic as well as socio-political life are discussed. The paper maintains that all three approaches promote the de-politicisation of the social through its economisation albeit by way of different theories and policies.

Author Keywords
Austrian School, Chicago School, post-Walrasian School; Economisation; Michel Foucault

DOI: 10.1111/anti.12065

Jason Adams and Creston Davis, Intro to Critical Theory: Frankfurt to Foucault. Course (2014)

Clare O'Farrell

no comments

15 February 2014

Course offered by the Global Center for Advanced Studies located in Michigan, USA.

They also have a facebook page

Intro to Critical Theory: Frankfurt to Foucault

INSTRUCTORS:
Jason Adams and Creston Davis

GUESTS:
Dorothea Olkowski, Eleanor Kaufman, Azfar Hussain (tentative)

DATES:
Feb 2/3 and 9/10 2014

COST:
$99

COURSE DESCRIPTION: According to Max Horkheimer, theory is critical insofar as it seeks “to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them.” With students having attained a grasp on both the merits and demerits of 18-19th century critical theory in CTPE 701a, this seminar will closely examine the birth of the Frankfurt School, as well as seminal theorists over the course of the 20th century, including Benjamin, Adorno, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Fanon, Césaire, Deleuze and Foucault, as well as the foremost secondary readers of these figures. The student will engage the primary texts (provided digitally by the instructors) as well as secondary texts and the course will be appended by guest speakers, likely including Dorothea Olkowski, Slavoj Zizek, Eleanor Kaufman, Azfar Hussain, as well as instructors and student generated discussions, as we evaluate the radical turn that 20th century critical theory provides in philosophy & social theory, as well as its limitations.

PLEASE NOTE: This mini-course can be taken in parts a, b and c to form the three-module course that is a required prerequisite for all certificate and diploma-seeking GCAS students, who will then attend in-residence Summer Institutes in their field of interest (CTPE 601abc and CTPE 701abc are both required). It is also available as a standalone course for junior faculty members seeking professional development opportunities, as well as the general public or non-credit seeking students, without any additional requirements.

With thanks to Janet Abbey for this information

Deborah Cook, Adorno, Foucault and critique (2013)

Clare O'Farrell

2 comments

14 February 2014

Deborah Cook, Adorno, Foucault and critique (2013) Philosophy and Social Criticism, 39 (10), pp. 965-981.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453713507016

Abstract
Adorno and Foucault are among the 20th century’s most renowned social critics but little work has been done to compare their ideas about the activity of critique. ‘Adorno, Foucault and Critique’ attempts to fill this lacuna. It takes as its starting point the Kantian legacy that informs Adorno’s and Foucault’s notions of critique, or their ‘ontologies of the present’, as Foucault calls them. Exploring the ontological foundations of critique, the article then addresses the principal objects of critique: domination and fascism. It ends with a comparative account of the central aims of Adorno’s and Foucault’s critiques of western societies.

Author Keywords
Critical theory; Critique; Immanuel Kant; Michel Foucault; Poststructuralism; Theodor Adorno

Resisting the seduction of “ethics creep”: Using Foucault to surface complexity and contradiction in research ethics review (2013)

Clare O'Farrell

no comments

13 February 2014

Guta, A., Nixon, S.A., Wilson, M.G.
Resisting the seduction of “ethics creep”: Using Foucault to surface complexity and contradiction in research ethics review (2013) Social Science and Medicine, 98, pp. 301-310.

Abstract
In this paper we examine “ethics creep”, a concept developed by Haggerty (2004) to account for the increasing bureaucratization of research ethics boards and institutional review boards (REB/IRBs) and the expanding reach of ethics review. We start with an overview of the recent surge of academic interest in ethics creep and similar arguments about the prohibitive effect of ethics review. We then introduce elements of Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework which are used to inform our analysis of empirical data drawn from a multi-phase study exploring the accessibility of community-engaged research within existing ethics review structures in Canada. First, we present how ethics creep emerged both explicitly and implicitly in our data. We then present data that demonstrate how REB/IRBs are experiencing their own form of regulation. Finally, we present data that situate ethics review alongside other trends affecting the academy. Our results show that ethics review is growing in some ways while simultaneously being constrained in others. Drawing on Foucauldian theory we reframe ethics creep as a repressive hypothesis which belies the complexity of the phenomenon it purports to explain. Our discussion complicates ethics creep by proposing an understanding of REB/IRBs that locates them at the intersection of various neoliberal discourses about the role of science, ethics, and knowledge production.

Author Keywords
Canada; Discourse; Ethics creep; Ethics review; Foucault; Interviews; Neoliberalism

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.09.019

Bibliography of work on Foucault and education

Clare O'Farrell

6 comments

12 February 2014

I have just finished (more or less) compiling a list of English language works on Foucault and education for my M.Ed (Master of Education) students. I thought this might also be of use to others so I have set up a permanent page for it here at Foucault News.

Large as it is, the bibliography is by no means comprehensive, and you are invited to post any missing items, corrections or other additions in the comments section on the page for the bibliography for inclusion in the main document. As such, the bibliography will remain a work in progress.

With thanks to Megan Kimber for assistance in finding many of the journal articles.

Principal self-government and subjectification: the exercise of principal autonomy in the Western Australian Independent Public Schools programme (2013)

Clare O'Farrell

no comments

11 February 2014

Gobby, B.
Principal self-government and subjectification: the exercise of principal autonomy in the Western Australian Independent Public Schools programme (2013) Critical Studies in Education, 54 (3), pp. 273-285.

Abstract
The launch of the Independent Public Schools (IPS) programme in Western Australia (WA) in 2010 reflects the neoliberal policy discourse of decentralisation and school self-management sweeping across many of the world’s education systems. IPS provides WA state school principals with decision-making authority in a range of areas, including the employment of staff and managing school budgets. Using an analytical toolkit provided by Michel Foucault and Foucauldian scholarship, this article examines how the IPS programme functions as a regime of government and self-government. Data collected from two IPS principals is used to examine the subjective effects of power as it is exercised in the IPS regime. The article finds that the IPS initiative introduces new possibilities for principals to actively participate in practices of self-formation, through which these principals self-steer, exercise their freedom and govern themselves and their schools. It illustrates how governmental mechanisms depend on, harness and shape the autonomy of these principals, and how their individual practices of self-government align with neoliberal governmentalities.

Author Keywords
governmentality; Independent Public Schools; neoliberalism; school principals; self-management

DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2013.832338

Stuart Elden, Beyond Discipline and Punish: Is it time for a new translation of Foucault’s Surveiller et punir? (2014)

Clare O'Farrell

no comments

9 February 2014

Progressive Geographies

Alan Sheridan’s translation of Foucault’s Surveiller et punir as Discipline and Punish is almost forty years old, and it is sometimes said that great works of literature need to be retranslated each generation. (For some examples of this for works of theory, see my post here). Foucault scholarship has advanced quite dramatically in the last forty years. The collected shorter writings, and especially the lecture courses, have given us a new sense of what Foucault was doing. The debates in the secondary literature have moved on too – Sheridan’s Michel Foucault: The Will to Truth was the first book on Foucault in English in 1980. Compare that book to more recent secondary studies and you’ll get a sense of how debates have changed.

Sheridan deserves enormous credit for the work he did, translating several of Foucault’s books and writing that first, important, study of his work. A good many…

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