Relational thinking in education: topology, sociomaterial studies, and figures

Abstract

Over the last few years, different sociomaterial research orientations have emerged. In this article, we argue that most of these orientations are relying on a relational mode of thinking, that is, a way of conceiving of educational practices in terms of the relations between the different actors present in these particular practices. In doing so, these various sociomaterial studies share many of their theoretical assumptions with social topology, an approach inspired by the mathematical field of topology. In educational research, however, this connection between sociomaterial and sociotopological accounts is not commonly made. Therefore, this article calls for a more intricate interweaving of topological thinking with better-known sociomaterial approaches. Furthermore, we assert that using visualisations might play a crucial role in this respect. To that effect, we introduce the Foucauldian and Deleuzian notion of the diagram. This notion of the diagram, as the technique that brings the orders of the visual and the articulable together, is conceived as a promising technique in order to investigate different aspects of educational practices. In a concluding section, the article offers some suggestions as to what the general potential of adopting such relational studies in the field of education might be.

Keywords:

• Educational research
• topology
• sociomaterial approaches
• relations
• forms
• diagram

Notes

1. This is a rather loose interpretation of Deleuze’s and Foucault’s theorizings of the diagram. Deleuze and Foucault are centrally interested in the diagram because they consider the diagram as a central place where power is being made. Although their reflections are centrally directed at such mechanisms of power, we believe it equally to be possible to deploy the diagram in a more affirmative way and focus on what such diagrams make possible.