Showing papers by "Thomas S. Popkewitz published in 2016"

On the Use of Educational Numbers: Comparative Constructions of Hierarchies by Means of Large-Scale Assessments

Abstract: Our text is focusing on two central knowledge problematics. First, the relation between education and a specific technology, framed by ideologies on modernity and meritocracy, understood as a selection to different and hierarchical positions in society by means of education performances. Second, the development and expansion of national, regional and international assessments and the increasing use of them within educational practice, policy and bureaucracy is acknowledged. In doing so we note that an historical tradition within education to compare and use data evolved into a specific technology for framing education with a centrality of numbers. Educational numbers came as such to be transformed from representations of education into education per se. This could happen due to societal historical connections to reasoning about modernity and meritocracy, which were considered as central in the development of the state and society. Porter (1995) is making an argument about that the reason that numbers came to be central in the development of society had to do with that numbers are perceived as «objective» and as such «neutral», but in reality this is in many respect false, and even contradictory. Instead, numbers should be perceived as a technology of steering and managing society and the state, a technology based on connotations of «objectivity», but also as a technology of distance and neutrality. What we are making an argument about is connected to Porters statements. We state that comparisons and the use of numbered data for describing education dependent on parallel societal processes, in science, society and state, came to be transformed into that numbered data on education came to be perceived as education per se. This development can be described in several aspects, but we are primarily describing it through emphasizing some historical comparative and data aggregative collaborations within science and governmental organizations and later the growing importance of transnational agencies and international, regional and national assessments. How to reference this article Pettersson, D., Popkewitz, T. S., & Lindblad, S. (2016). On the Use of Educational Numbers: Comparative Constructions of Hierarchies by Means of Large-Scale Assessments. Espacio, Tiempo y Educacion , 3(1), 177-202. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14516/ete.2016.003.001.10

A fundamentação estatística, o governo da educação e a inclusão e exclusão sociais

Abstract: Resumo: O Programa Internacional de Avaliacao de Estudantes (PISA), da Organizacao para a Cooperacao e o Desenvolvimento Economico (OCDE), pode ser entendido historicamente como uma forma particular de dizer a verdade sobre as pessoas e a mudanca. Primordial nesse estilo de raciocinio da investigacao contemporânea e das reformas escolares e a estatistica. Historicamente, as estatisticas modernas envolvem o paradoxo da administracao das populacoes pelo Estado em nome da independencia e da liberdade. Os calculos internacionais contemporâneos e o ranking do desempenho dos alunos incorporam esse paradoxo da administracao das populacoes. Os seus numeros fabricam os principios sobre quem e - e como devera ser - a crianca. A fabricacao que torna a crianca certo tipo de pessoa e produzida por intermedio das distincoes, categorias e magnitudes incorporadas nas estatisticas. Alem disso, a comparabilidade nos inventarios ou perfis dos tipos de pessoa produz, no impulso para a inclusao, diferencas e exclusoes. A analise realizada neste artigo e direcionada para os estudos da ciencia e para as politicas do conhecimento.

Statistics Reasoning, Governing Education and Social Inclusion and Exclusion

Abstract: OECD’S PISA can be understood historically as a particular way of telling the truth about people and change. Central to this style of reasoning in contemporary research and school reforms is statistics. Historically, modern statistics entail the paradox of the state administration of populations in the name of freedom and liberty. Contemporary international calculations and ranking of student performance embody this paradox of the administration of populations. Their numbers fabricate principles about who the child is and should be. The fabrication or making the child as a kind of person is produced through the distinctions, categories, and magnitudes embedded in statistics. Further, the comparativeness in the inventories or profiles of classes of people produces difference and exclusions in the impulse to include. The analysis is directed to science studies and the politics of knowledge. Resumo O Programa Internacional de Avaliacao de Estudantes (PISA), da OCDE, pode ser entendido historicamente como uma forma particular de dizer a verdade sobre as pessoas e a mudanca. Primordial neste estilo de raciocinio da investigacao contemporânea e das reformas escolares e a estatistica. Historicamente, as estatisticas modernas envolvem o paradoxo da administracao das populacoes pelo Estado em nome da independencia e liberdade. Os calculos internacionais contemporâneos e o ranking do desempenho dos alunos incorporam este paradoxo da administracao das populacoes. Os seus numeros fabricam os principios sobre quem e – e como devera ser - a crianca. A fabricacao que torna a crianca num tipo de pessoa e produzida atraves das distincoes, categorias e magnitudes incorporadas nas estatisticas. Alem disso, a comparabilidade nos inventarios ou perfis dos tipos de pessoas produz, no impulso para a inclusao, diferencas e exclusoes. A analise e direcionada para os estudos da ciencia e a politica do conhecimento. Resume Le Programme International pour le suivi des Acquis des Eleves (PISA) de l'OCDE peut etre compris historiquement comme un mode particulier de dire la verite sur les sujets et le changement. Primordial de ce style de raisonnement de la recherche contemporaine et de la reforme de l'ecole est la statistique. Historiquement, les statistiques modernes impliquent le paradoxe de l’administration des populations par l'Etat au nom de l'independance et de la liberte. Les calculs internationaux contemporains et le classement de la performance des eleves integrent ce paradoxe de l’administration des populations. Leurs numeros fabriquent les principes sur qui est l'enfant et comment il devrait etre. La fabrication qui fait de l'enfant une sorte de personne est produite par les distinctions, les categories et les grandeurs incorporees dans les statistiques. En outre, la comparabilite dans les inventaires et les profils des types de personnes produit difference et exclusions dans la poussee pour l'inclusion. L'analyse est dirigee vers les etudes de la science et la politique de la connaissance.