New and improved educationalising: faster, more powerful and longer lasting

Abstract

This paper is a historical and critical analysis of changes in features of educationalisation focusing on how educationalisation has been characterised over time by a peculiar interweaving of knowledge and social reform. The history of the American Social Science Association provides a backdrop; drawing on the theories of Deleuze, this paper highlights historical differences between previous and current educationalisation features in research and schooling. Building on the Deleuzian analysis, the paper then examines characteristics of Problem-based Learning, as an example of educationalisation, in so far as it casts education as an engineering task. The paper concludes with a critical analysis of norm-referenced standards in educational research and schooling, questioning the relationship between education and empowerment.

Keywords:

• American social science association
• Deleuze
• societies of control
• assessment
• accountability
• life-long learning
• problem-based learning

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge Paul Smeyers and Marc Depaepe from the Vlaanderen Research Community, Fund of Scientific Research, Leuven, Belgium. Without their gracious support, this research would not have been possible. Thanks also to Richard Smith for his perceptive reading and suggestions for strengthening the paper.

Notes

Notes

1. See, e.g., http://www.jpb.com/creative/brainstorming.php

2. By choosing those terms of contrast, Deleuze (1992) is apparently suggesting an alternative to Foucault's theories of discipline.

3. I recognise that one factor influencing the research-training requirement is the university's response to an increasingly litigious society. The university requires training courses as a way of protecting its legal interests. This factor does not diminish the relevance of high-frequency assessments as a mechanism of educationalisation.

4. An exception to assessment-based marketing occurred with Absolut vodka. A phenomenon in the advertising field, Absolut ran an ad campaign that was personal and quirky. The marketers’ decision-making process rejected all accepted wisdom about how to make advertising decisions. The result was wildly successful. See Lewis (1996).

5. http://www.healthychurch.net/

6. See http://www.act.org/aboutact/history.html

7. This paper exemplifies that educationalising trend.

8. I was hopeful when I ran across a citation for an article called, ‘Sentencing learners to life: retrofitting the academy for the information age’, but it turned out that only the title is pertinent here.

9. US standardised test designers reject any test items that refer to farms or farming. They argue that test questions about farms put urban children in a disadvantaged position.

10. See Herrnstein and Murray (1994).