In Foucault’s idea, the art of governing is to bring economic considerations into political practice; to govern a country is equivalent to handle the economy of the entire country, aimed at promoting the economic development of the country and the welfare of people. Application of governmentality also exists in current education system; a series of management strategies is applied for controlling the education of students, this is not only simply from the government authority, but based on the globalized competition in education. In this essay, I will be discussing how Michel Foucault’s governmentality is implicated in Hong Kong teacher education.
Govern as a verb, it must involved both the governing object and the object being governed. While to govern something, means that the object is at a state which is pending to be improved. In another way, this state of “to be improved” is the prerequisite of being govern. The improvement is the target that governing authorities set for the body to be governed, it could be the increase of gross domestic product, full employment of citizens etc. Without these targets, the governing authorities cannot carry out the action of govern, and the governed body will not be able to be governed. In other words, governing authorities without the reason of existance, governmentality cannot operate.
Foucault’s investigation on governmentality, focused on the problem of personal subjectivity, is to care for the problems of “who are we” and problems that we are facing. Foucault also pointed out that, the main purpose was not on “what are we” but is to refuse to be “what are we”, his words are:
“The conclusion would be that the political, ethical, social, philo- sophical problem of our days is not to t...
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...54-1984, volume one, Ethics (pp. 253-280). London, UK: Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1997ii). The masked philosopher. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), A. Sheridan (Trans.). Essential works of Foucault, 1954-1984, volume one, Ethics (pp. 321- 328). London, UK: Penguin.
Gordon, C. (1991). Governmental rationality: an introduction. In G. Burchell, C. Gordon and P. Miller (Eds.), The Foucault effect (pp. 1-51). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Masschelein, J. (2006). Experience and the limits of governmentality. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 38(4), 561-576.
Simons, M., & Masschelein, J. (2009).“The art of not being governed like that and at that cost”: Comments on self-study in the studies of governmentality. In M. A. Peters, A. C. Besley, M. Olssen, S. Maurer & S. Weber (Eds.), Governmentality studies in education (pp. 527-548). Rotterdam, NL: Sense Publishers.
(Flynn 1996, 28) One important aspect of his analysis that distinguishes him from the predecessors is about power. According to Foucault, power is not one-centered, and one-sided which refers to a top to bottom imposition caused by political hierarchy. On the contrary, power is diffusive, which is assumed to be operate in micro-physics, should not be taken as a pejorative sense; contrarily it is a positive one as ‘every exercise of power is accompanied by or gives rise to resistance opens a space for possibility and freedom in any content’. (Flynn 1996, 35) Moreover, Foucault does not describe the power relation as one between the oppressor or the oppressed, rather he says that these power relations are interchangeable in different discourses. These power relations are infinite; therefore we cannot claim that there is an absolute oppressor or an absolute oppressed in these power relations.
Labaree discusses how the United State’s education is in a school syndrome, as people in America want schools to teach society’s ideals as well as let people express their individuality. These two demands are polar opposites that cannot be achieved. As the focus goes towards balancing these in hopes of improving society as a whole, the bettering of actual student learning is put on pause. Labaree talks about the beginning of education reform, in the 19th century, being the most successful in developing society; however, as education reform continued throughout time, its effectiveness wore off. He then addresses how the desire for education reform is more about improving society than it is about learning. He finishes his argument by providing possible solutions to fixing this problem, but states that fixing this problem will never happen because no one is willing to give up both demands. Overall, Labaree goes in wonderful detail explaining the problems of education reform. What made me choose this article was that he addressed the desire that people have on school systems in promoting both society normality and individuality. This correlates well with my topic in whether public school systems promote conformist ideals or individuality.
United States Department of Education. The Educational System in the United States: A Case Study. By the U.S.D.E. in 1998. 28 November. 2002 http://www.ed.gov/pubs/USCaseStudy/
Laurence, L (1967). Politics in Education. New York, NY: The Center for Applied Research in
Many Americans do not question the credibility of the education system within the country because they believe it forms good citizens and creates a stepping-stone to success. John Taylor Gatto is an American teacher who has experience in the classroom for thirty years and has now devoted his life to critiquing American schools exploiting his own experiences. In his essay “Against School”, he argues that the 12-year system of school may not be necessary, due to its curriculum, and that it may be a tactic of manipulation from the government to promote obedience. I agree with his argument because there are many paths to individual success outside of public education, such as homeschooling or vocational school.
Education has become stagnant. Intelligent individuals are still being molded, but the methods of education are creating individuals who lack free will. Through deep analytical understandings of education, both Walker Percy’s essay, “The Loss of the Creature,” and Paulo Freire’s essay, “The Banking Concept of Education,” have been able to unravel the issues and consequences of modern-day education. Despite creating clever people, Percy and Freire believe that the current form of education is inefficient because it strips away all sovereignty from the students and replaces it with placid respect for authorities, creating ever more complacent human beings in the long run.
Golder, B. 2009. Foucault, anti-humanism and human rights. Published online by the Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia, Underdale, SA, 2009.
Beauchamp, T. L.(2003). A Defense of the Common Morality. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 13(3), 259-274.
Problems with Foucault: Historical accuracy (empiricism vs. Structuralism)-- Thought and discourse as reality? Can we derive intentions from the consequences of behavior? Is a society without social control possible?
Cochran, Clarke, Lawrence Mayer, T.R. Carr, Joseph Cayer, Mark McKenzie, and Laura Peck. "Education: Conflict in Policy Direction." American Public Policy: An Introduction. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 334-335. Print.
Theory: Michel Foucault argues a number of points in relation to power and offers definitions that are directly opposed to more traditional liberal and Marxist theories of power. Foucault believed that power is never in any one person's hands, it does not show itself in any obvious manner but rather as something that works its way into our imaginations and serves to constrain how we act.... ... middle of paper ... ... Giddons, A. (2007). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'.
First, institutions control nearly all of the individual’s time. Second, institutions control the individual’s body. (Foucault, “Truth and Juridical Forms” 79-81) As such, “the operation of these institutions implied a general discipline of existence that went far beyond their seemingly precise ends” (Foucault, “Truth and Juridical Forms” 81). Institutions control the entire livelihood of the individual such that his time and body may be transformed into productive labor time and labor power. For example, in school, the individual does not only learn arithmetic and other like subjects, but also the correct, most efficient way to accomplish such.
“Power is exercised only over free subjects, and only insofar as they are free. By this we mean individual or collective subjects who are faced with a field of possibilities in which several ways of behaving, several reactions and diverse compartments may be realized.” (Foucault)
John Taylor Gatto, in his essay “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and why”, argues that the contemporary purpose of education in public schools is to produce “harmless electorate,” “a servile labor force,” and “mindless consumers” (28). According to Gatto, he is blaming public schools by explain that the purpose of education is to shape students to certain expectations and habits without their interests. He argues that students “want to be doing something real” (Gatto 23). Also, He explains that they produce a manageable working class and “mindless consumers” (27-28). His point is that students want to learn something new that help them in their life better than actual books from school which don’t apply their interests and their experience (23). So he recommends home-schooling as option to schools (24). Gatto claims that contemporary schools “adopted one of the very worst aspect...
Morgan, Michael L., ed. Classics of Moral and Political Theory. 5th ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2011. Print.