The imagined subject of schooling in the logic of policy

ABSTRACT

National education policies reference a representation of an imagined subject of schooling derived from a broader social imaginary that underpins the projects of the state, in a process which I refer to here as ‘the logic of policy’. I offer an account of how this representation is derived and propose three conceptual elaborations of this view. I then consider ways in which shifts occur in this social imaginary, especially at moments of substantial social, economic and political change, and ways in which these shifts are communicated. This imagined subject is referenced in processes involving both state and non-state entities, mediated by historically specific governance instruments.

The main part of this paper offers an illustrative historical example of the working of this logic in the context of the Cape Colony and apartheid South Africa, where the instrument of governance that was central to this process was the commission of enquiry. The concluding section briefly considers whether the logic of policy works in much the same way in a contemporary policy environment, where new policy technologies have largely displaced the commission of enquiry

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• policy
• subject of schooling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. These ‘levels’ align with Bernstein’s (1996) notions of a regulative discourse (pertaining to moral and social dispositions and capacities) and an instructional discourse (pertaining to competencies within pedagogic discourses, or school subjects).

2. The term ‘public’ is used loosely, here, in line with official classification of schools. In South Africa, a relatively small – but growing – percentage of learners are enrolled in private schools. However, ‘government’ or ‘public’ schools are allowed to charge school fees, and roughly half the schools do so. It is not uncommon for these fees to be as high as $2500 per annum.

3. See for example OECD (2015).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Heather Jacklin

Heather Jacklin was a senior lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Cape Town until her retirement at the end of 2017. Her work focuses on the relation between the classroom, the school and broader systems of governance within particular historical contexts.