Session Information
23 SES 12 C, Democracy and Education in Performative Regimes
Paper Session
Contribution
In Democracy and Education,John Dewey argued for the mutually dependent relationship linking a legitimate education system and a thriving democracy. A century later, many would argue that democracy and education have been decoupled and ‘disenchanted’ by economics with competitiveness in terms of wealth creation as the overriding criteria by which any political or educational program is now judged (Davies, 2014; Biesta, 2013; Brown, 2015; Pharr & Putnam, 2000). Of course, democracy and education are not fixed givens but are each characterised by a series of tensions between, for example, equality and freedom, leadership and participation, stable structure and dynamic change/agency. Against this background, this paper aims to examine the quality and strength of the links between democracy and education, specifically with regard to teacher education. We argue that recent teacher education policy initiatives in Europe, Australia and North America have quietened democratic debate about education by establishing problematic levels of normativity in the profession and stabilizing a false consensus about what constitutes educational good and the teacher’s role in realizing that good. Not surprisingly in recent years, teacher educators have become the object of critical interest because they play a key role in the ‘production’ of teachers and the transformation of teaching in schools.The progressive management of teacher education via the outsourcing of policy to international organizations (OECD; World Bank), and philanthropic foundations (Clinton Foundation; New Schools Venture Fund), the proletarianization of teacher educators in universities (Ellis, McNicholl, Blake and McNally, 2014), and the standardization of professional competence, are key components in systemic reform of education in the interest of the market (Furlong, 2013).Such policies forge a decisive link between teacher education and a “consensus democracy” (Newman, 2007, p. 146), concealing society’s differences, naturalizing political regimes of truth, and producing teachers in keeping with the interests of the dominant, ‘post-ideological’ hegemony (Hansen, Phelan & Qvortup, 2015).
A reversal of the type of policies identified above is called for if teacher education is to play its role in expanding “oppositional space” within educational institutions with a view to teacher educators and teachers challenging the relations of power that undermine democratic public life (Aronowitz & Giroux, 1991, p. 89). Our research questions are: Can teacher education, with its historical relation to the state, as the ruling hegemony, and to the profession, as a corporate, monistic form of association, ever be a democratizing force in society, or indeed within the profession? What kind of conditions would need to prevail in teacher education to achieve this? Drawing on agonist theories of Mouffe (2013), Connelly (2000), and Honig (1993), and their concern with human agency amidst forces that seek to contain it, we argue that if the link between democracy and teacher education is to be secured teacher education policy and practices must reflect a tragic view of human life, promote constitutive pluralism, and invite engagement with conflicting views, might help forge a strong link between democracy and teacher education. The challenges that teacher education faces in any such attempt are substantial, however, involving entanglements of both local (state; profession) and global dimension.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Ball, S. J. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Education Policy, Vol. 18 (2), 215-228. Baruk, J. & Gidron, A. (2015). Active Collaborative Education: A Journey Toward Teaching. The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Biesta, G. J. J. (2009). Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 33–46. Biesta, G. J. J. (2011). Learning Democracy in School and Society: Education, Lifelong Learning and the Politics of Citizenship. The Netherlands, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Furlong, J. (2013). Globalisation, neoliberalism, and the reform of teacher education in England. The Educational Forum, 77(1), 28-50. Grumet, M. R. (2010). The public expression of citizen teachers. Journal of Teacher Education, 61(1-2), 66-76. Henley, D., & Young, J. (2009). Trading in education: The Agreement on Internal Trade, labour mobility and teacher certification in Canada. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 91. Retrieved from www.umanitoba.ca/publications/cjeap/articles/henleyyoung.html Mouffe, C. (2013). Agonistics: Thinking the world politically. London. Verso. Mouffe, C. (2005). On the political. Abingdon: Routledge. Mouffe, C. (2000). The Democratic Paradox. London. Verso. Wenman, M. (2013). Agonistic Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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